NG 223

New game 223 is now ready.  Enjoy!


Round 1: A C U W T F E T I

I had FACT, FACET, ACUTE, ATTIC / TACIT, and wondered about CATTIE as a variant spelling of CATTY ("a unit of weight used in Asia for the sale of rice, fruit, etc., equal to approx. 625 grams").  I didn't like it, though, and rightly so -- only the spelling CATTY is listed.

There is a six here, though: FAUCET.  The other fives are TWICE, CUTIE, and TACET ("(in a music score) an indication that an instrument or voice is to be silent for a time").

My selection: FACET
Best: FAUCET


Round 2: D L N B L A A O O

I had BLAND, BALLAD, and BALLOON.

BALLOON is the only seven; the other six is ANODAL.

My selection: BALLOON


Round 3: Target 199 from 50 100 2 9 9 3

Getting to 200 is straightforward, and the remaining offset of 1 is easy also: 199 = 2*200 - 9/9.  For good meaure I noted another solution of 199 = 100 + 9*(9 + 2).

My selection: 199 = 2*100 - 9/9


Round 4: R N H C T O A E I

I had TORCH, ANCHOR, ANCHORET (which I mentioned two days ago in NG 221: "someone who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion; hermit; recluse"), CHAROITE (an unusual gemstone ably found by David in the plural back in episode 7), REACTION / CREATION, and then belatedly realised -- as I did mention in NG 221 also -- that ANCHORET is a variant spelling of ANCHORITE.

There is another nine here: ANTECHOIR ("an enclosed space in front of the choir of a church").  The other eights are ANTIHERO, INCHOATE, and ANORTHIC (another term for TRICLINIC: "denoting or relating to a system of crystallisation in which the three axes are unequal and intersect at oblique angles").

My selection: ANCHORITE


Round 5: M S T P A A E M I

I had STAMP, PASTA, and PASTIME / IMPASTE.  I also noted MEAT PIES, but obviously that is two words.

There are a pair of eights here: PSAMMITE ("any sandstone") and IMAMATES (IMAMATE: "the office of an imam").  The other sevens are IMAMATE and MISMATE / TAMMIES (plural of TAMMY, a variant form of TAMIS: "a cloth sieve or strainer").

My selection: PASTIME
Best: PSAMMITE


Round 6: Target 330 from 50 100 8 9 7 5

I got a little lost at first as I spent too much time thinking about 325 + 5.  But at some point I realised the factorisation 5*66 and that got me to the solution 330 = 5*(50 + 9 + 7).  Then I observed that the offset of 20 was manageable as 100/5 and found the alternative solution 330 = 7*50 - 100/5.

My selection: 330 = 7*50 - 100/5


Round 7: O U I T R G T A B

I had TOUR, GROUT, OUTRIG, GUITAR, and OUTBRAG.  Fortunately I've had to look up OUT- words a lot during the course of this blog, so I knew that was listed.

The other seven here is TUGBOAT

My selection: OUTBRAG


Round 8: Target 623 from 25 100 50 75 6 10

Ooh, a tough one, at least for me -- I expect Sam to have had fewer problems.  Getting to 625 is easy enough from the large numbers, but an offset of 2 thereafter is less so.  I ended up thinking I would have to settled for something nearby, and as I started with 6*100 I realised that the rest rather fortuitously worked out: 623 = 6*(100 + 75/25) + 50/10.  A pleasing solution!

There are two other solutions; the Sam-like one is 623 = 6*100 + (10*50 + 75)/25.  The other solution makes it as 648 - 25: 623 = (75 + 6)*(10 - 100/50) - 25.

My selection: 623 = 6*(100 + 75/25) + 50/10


Round 9: START UNIT

I doubt I would have solve this in time, but in practice I thought it was yet non-common word and buzzed in early with the invalid TRUANTIST.

My selection: [invalid -- TRUANTIST at 7.1s]
Best: ANTITRUST