NG 221

New game 221 is now available.


Round 1: W S K I E G E T R

I had SKEW, GEEKS, wondered if GREEKS might have a lowercase sense listed (it does not; the possibility I was contemplating was as a shortening for GREEK SOCIETY, an American term used to describe college fraternities (and sororities) due to their use of Greek letters to identify them), GREETS, and TIGERS.  After time I noted SKEWER as another six.

KEISTER is not listed, so six appears to be the limit.  There are quite a few other sixes, of which the more common entries are WRITES / WRIEST, EGRETS, and STRIKE / TRIKES (TRIKE being colloquial for a tricycle).

My selection: TIGERS


Round 2: E U C H P S T I O

I had PUCE, PUCES, PUTSCH ("a revolt or uprising"), contemplated but rightly rejected POUCHIEST, PITCHES, and OPHITES (OPHITE being a type of stone).  After time I noted down POUCHES as another seven.

The eights here are POSTICHE ("artificial, counterfeit, or false") / POTICHES (POTICHE: "a vase or jar, as of porcelain, with rounded or polygonal body narrowing at the top").

The other sevens are POTICHE, PITEOUS, HOSPICE, TOUCHES, PICEOUS ("of, relating to, or resembling pitch"), and POETICS ("literary criticism dealing with the nature and laws of poetry").

My selection: PITCHES
Best: POSTICHE


Round 3: Target 813 from 25 75 10 9 10 9

When the small numbers were revealed I was concerned -- very little leeway in those!  But the target was obliging; whether approaching this by dividing by 10 or by 9 it is not hard to see that the nearby 810 is 9*9*10, and the offset of 3 emerges handily from the large numbers: 813 = 9*9*10 + 75/25.

My selection: 813 = 9*9*10 + 75/25


Round 4: M B N A E I R L O

I had NAME, MARINE, correctly rejected BOILERMAN, RAILMEN / MINERAL, ALMONER, and contemplated but also rightly rejected IRONABLE.  After time I noted another seven of MARLINE ("a small cord of two loosely twisted strands, used for seizing").

Some sources might allow BROMELAIN, but it's not in the Macquarie and seven looks like the best on offer.  The others are BROMINE, EMBROIL, ROMAINE / MORAINE, AILERON / ALIENOR ("Law someone who transfers property"), MANLIER, BALMIER, NIMBLER, and NOMBRIL ("the point on an escutcheon between the middle of the base and the fess point").

My selection: MINERAL


Round 5: B I O E S H T T I

I had SHOW, ETHOS, HOTTIES, lamented that the last T was not a C for BIOETHICS, BOTHIES (BOTHY: "a hut or small cottage, especially for lodging farmhands or workers"), and somehow pulled BIOTITES out of the mix.  I did mention it once in episode 62, but presumably I've seen it some times since while checking on other words, as it seems an unlikely word to remember from one occasion.  BIOTITE is not a BIO- word, but rather a mineral named after Jean-Baptiste Biot.

BIOTITES looks like the only eight, and the other seven is (unsurprisingly) BIOTITE.

My selection: BIOTITES


Round 6: Target 322 from 75 100 50 1 9 5

A decidedly tricky mix; one would like to make it as 325 - 3 but achieving the 3 is not entirely feasible.  I got to 325 as 5*75 - 50 (although 5*50 + 75 would have done as well), and without the 5 even getting an offset of 4 was awkward.  Fortunately the 1 allowed the tweak to make 9 - 5 also, and I was able to get to one away with 321 = 5*(75 + 1) - 50 - 9.

The target turns out to be unreachable and one away is the best possible.

My selection: 321 = 5*(75 + 1) - 50 - 9  [1 off]


Round 7: N R A E T S A O C

I had NEAR, STERN, wondered if ANCORETS might be a variant spelling of ANCHORETS (ANCHORET itself being a variant form of ANCHORITE: "someone who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion; hermit; recluse") but correctly decided it was not, NECTARS, and ENACTORS.  After time I spotted ANCESTOR as the preferable anagram of those letters.

Those look like the only eights; there are a good many sevens here, more than I feel like listing, but I will mention COASTER as one of the more findable ones.

My selection: ENACTORS


Round 8: Target 571 from 75 100 1 10 1 2

Again when the small numbers went up I thought this would be difficult, as the lack of middle values is generally a bad sign (and 1's are also mostly unhelpful).  While looking at what was involved in getting close -- specifically, to 575 -- I saw that I could make a 5 from 10/2 and get there, and the pair of 1's turned out to be perfect for tweaking that to a solution.  So a little to my surprise I had a solution of 571 = (10/2)*(100 - 1) + 75 + 1.

This turns out to be the only solution.

My selection: 571 = (10/2)*(100 - 1) + 75 + 1


Round 9: USED LOGIC

A tough conundrum; I'd not heard of the word but once I stumbled on the right sequence of consonants I knew that it must be right.  Later checking indeed confirmed that GLUCOSIDE is the answer ("one of an extensive group of compounds which yield glucose and some other hydroxylic substance when treated with a dilute acid or glucosidase").

My selection: GLUCOSIDE (20.4s)