NG 220

New game 220 is now ready.


Round 1: G O I E S N M O O

Ergh, five vowels greatly reduces the effectiveness of the usually-helpful -ING fragment.  I had GOES, SINGE, rightly rejected MOOSING, MONIES, and then floundered for a bit.  Somehow I hit on the MON- fragment and found the unexpected MONGOOSE for eight.

It's probably just as well that fifth vowel turned up, as the next consonant was an R, meaning that I would have had to decide if GERONIMO was pluralisable.  It turns out to be listed as an interjection, so (as I understand it) it is not pluralisable.

MONGOOSE appears to be the only eight; the sevens are NOISOME and NOOGIES.

My selection: MONGOOSE


Round 2: D B K E P A O O S

I had BAKED, BOOKED, and SPOOKED.

SPOOKED looks like the only seven; the other sixes are SOAKED, SPOKED, BASKED, SOAPED, ADOBES / ABODES, and ADOBOS (ADOBO: "a Philippine dish of pork or chicken stew cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic").

My selection: SPOOKED


Round 3: Target 461 from 100 75 1 7 4 6

I considered the standard method, and for some reason started off by looking at the descent from 475.  This might have been because the offset of 14 is divisible by 7 (which we have); in any case, it fortunately worked out to give me a solution: 461 = 4*100 + 75 - 7 - 6 - 1.  Then I realised that the offset of 11 was easier to come by, and the resulting solution was rather simpler: 461 = 6*75 + 7 + 4.

My selection: 461 = 6*75 + 7 + 4


Round 4: C C T I O G S U S

I had OTIC ("of or relating to the ear"), STOIC, STOICS, and STUCCOS.

STUCCOS looks like the only seven; the other sixes are STUCCO, SCOUTS, COITUS, and CISCOS (CISCO being a type of fish).

My selection: STUCCOS


Round 5: N E E U A A S R N

I had SANE, ENSURE, and ENSNARE.

The other seven is ANURANS (ANURAN: "a frog or toad").

My selection: ENSNARE


Round 6: Target 221 from 100 50 9 4 3 6

The target is 13*17, but that seems difficult to use.  The standard method is also tempting, as the offset of 4 is there and the rest is just getting to 9*25.  A little thought produced the solution 221 = 9*50/(6/3) - 4.  Then I looked at some tweaking options and found the shorter 221 = 4*(50 + 6) - 3.

My selection: 221 = 4*(50 + 6) - 3


Round 7: E D R T I E R N E

I had TIRED, DIETER, RETIRED, REINDEER, and TRENDIER.

The other eights are INTERRED and TENDERER (not the comparative of the adjective TENDER, but the agent noun derived from the verb TENDER).

My selection: REINDEER


Round 8: Target 613 from 50 100 25 10 4 6

A tough one -- not enough odd numbers.  I would have liked to make this as 625 - 12 but it just was not feasible.  In the end I had to settle for a one-away 614 = 4*(100 + 50 + 6) - 10, with the complicated nature of that a good indication about how far I was getting lost in these approaches.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, and one off is the best to be done.  Still, it would have been rather simpler to go with 614 = 6*100 + 10 + 4.

My selection: 614 = 4*(100 + 50 + 6) - 10


Round 9: BAR DOTARD

It was slightly easier in this form to untangle the BOARD/BROAD fragment than in the form I first saw (or so I believe).  Once that is done it is hopefully not too hard to find the solution of DARTBOARD.

My selection: DARTBOARD (9.7s)