NG 216

New game 216 is now available.


Round 1: O I E S D F N O C

I had DOES, NOISED, and after the first seven letters thought that a C would be nice for CONFIDES.  After the second O turned up I was also interested in an L for SOLENOID, but it was the C that showed up and CONFIDES was my eight.

It seems to be the only eight; the sevens are CONFIDE, FOODIES, SECONDO ("the second or lower part in a duet, especially in piano duets"), SECONDI (plural of SECONDO) / CODEINS (CODEIN being a variant spelling of CODEINE), and CONOIDS (CONOID: "a geometrical solid formed by the revolution of a conic section about one of its axes").

My selection: CONFIDES


Round 2: O K W E I S R O G

I had WOKE, WIRES, thought of WOOKIES but it's obviously invalid (and besides, it should be spelled WOOKIEES), noted the dubious comparatives GOOSIER (which I know has turned up in Scrabble lists but is not in the Macquarie) and SOOKIER, and then ORGIES as a safe six (although not one the show would have liked declared).  SOOKIER was a bit too unlikely, so I went with ORGIES.  A bit after time I spotted ROOKIES as the safe seven, and I'm a bit vexed to have not seen that after WOOKIES.

SOOKIER is indeed invalid, and ROOKIES looks like the only seven.  The other sixes are ROOKIE, WOOERS, GOOIER, and SOOKIE (variant spelling of SOOK: "a poddy calf").

My selection: ORGIES
Best: ROOKIES


Round 3: Target 438 from 50 75 3 1 2 8

I started off with 8*50 to get close, and then realised that the remaining 38 was near half of 75.  That led quickly to the solution 438 = 8*50 + (75 + 1)/2.  Then I tried a descent from 450, getting a little lost before finding a suitable answer of 438 = (8 - 2)*(75 - (3 - 1)).

My selection: 438 = 8*50 + (75 + 1)/2


Round 4: A U S I R S U N A

I had AIRS, noted the presence of RUSSIA but not seriously so (however, it turns out to be acceptable, with a lowercase meaning as a variant form of RUSSIAN LEATHER: "a fine, smooth leather produced by careful tanning and dyeing, especially in dark red; originally prepared in Russia, but imitated elsewhere"), SAUNAS, SAURIAN (very able found by David in episode 343 (hi, Sam!), it means "lizard-like"), and -- although a bit hesitantly -- SAURIANS for eight.  I was pretty sure, but not certain, that SAURIAN would have an associated noun sense, and fortunately it does ("a saurian animal, as a dinosaur or lizard").

SAURIANS is the only eight; the other seven is ANURIAS (ANURIA: "the absence or suppression of urine").

My selection: SAURIANS


Round 5: E U A R P R G A R

I had UREA, PARURE ("a set of jewels or ornaments") / UPREAR, and amused myself with PURRAGE but six was my limit.

The other sixes are PURGER, ARGUER, and ARREAR.  But there is a seven here: PARERGA, the plural of PARERGON ("subordinate or secondary work, standing apart from one's main occupation"), a word I was rather pleased to spot in NG 125 (where I even mentioned the plural form).  Kudos to anyone who found that!

My selection: PARURE
Best: PARERGA


Round 6: Target 701 from 50 100 6 7 4 10

Getting to 700 is easy, with the remaining 1 being the only mildly tricky part.  I started with 701 = 7*100 + (6 + 4)/10 and finished with the alternative 701 = 7*100 + 6 - 50/10.

While writing this up I noted that a more natural way to make the 1 is as 7 - 6, and doing so might lead one to see the solution 701 = (10 + 4)*50 + 7 - 6.

My selection: 701 = 7*100 + 6 - 50/10


Round 7: I E A M D T I T F

I had MEDIA / AIMED, FITTED, and MATTED.  I wanted another E for MEDIATE (and then for MEDITATE), but the I was no help... or so I thought for a while before consideration of the -ITATE fragment got me to IMITATED just in time.  Phew!

After time I noted FATTED as another six, and that is all the sixes listed.  The seven is IMITATE.

My selection: IMITATED


Round 8: Target 436 from 50 100 25 8 7 3

I focused on the standard method; the offsets are 11 and 14, and although the 14 was tempting since we had a 7 (definite tweaking territory) the 8 and 3 also make 11 and that seemed a better option.  My first attempt was 436 = 7*50 + 100 - 25 + 8 + 3, and then I noted an alternative of 436 = 7*(50 + 25) - 100 + 8 + 3.

My selection: 436 = 7*50 + 100 - 25 + 8 + 3


Round 9: TINTINESS

I was presented with this conundrum in different form, and guessed that it was probably TINTINESS after 8.5s.  It turns out that I was half-right; that was one of the answers from the word list, but there was another: INSISTENT.  And with TINTINESS (as expected) not being listed in the Macquarie this becomes valid conundrum territory.

My selection: [invalid -- TINTINESS]
Best: INSISTENT