NG 224

New game 224 is now available.


Round 1: R P N U O I S R A

I had POUR, RUIN, SPURN, PRISON, and PARISON ("a preliminary shape or blank, from which a glass article is to be formed").  I also briefly contemplated RAINPOURS as a hybrid of RAINFALLS and DOWNPOURS, but rightly rejected it.

Seven looks like the best to be done; the others are SOPRANI, UPROARS, SPORRAN, and OURARIS (OURARI being another name for curare).

My selection: PARISON


Round 2: N L E R R A A S T

I had LEARN, LEARNS, and ANTLERS / SLANTER (taking advantage of the single-syllable rule for adjectives).  A bit after time I looked back at the mix and found NARRATES for eight.

The other eight is ASTERNAL ("Anatomy not reaching to or connected with the sternum").  The other sevens are NARRATE, ARSENAL, SEALANT, RANTERS, RENTALS / STERNAL ("of or relating to the sternum") / SALTERN ("a plot of land laid out in pools for the evaporation of sea water to produce salt"), and SNARLER (in addition to "someone or something that snarls" it also means "Military Colloquial the official notification to a member of the armed forces serving overseas that he or she is to be sent back to Australia after committing some misdemeanour"; plus it is a New Zealand colloquialism for a sausage).

It would seem reasonable to allow ERRATAS, as ERRATA is often used to refer to a list of errata.  However, the Macquarie only lists ERRATA as the plural of ERRATUM, so this is not valid.

My selection: ANTLERS
Best: NARRATES


Round 3: Target 116 from 25 50 10 7 1 2

I pulled out the factor of 2 -- the cofactor is 58 -- and soon had 116 = 2*(50 + 7 + 1).

My selection: 116 = 2*(50 + 7 + 1)


Round 4: A R L O E L S T A

I had REAL, STROLL, tried to recall if AREOLAS was an acceptable plural of AREOLA (it is not), wondered about STALLER, and was relieved to see STELLAR as the safe seven.

After time I checked up on OESTRAL / OLESTRA (neither valid), ALLOTERS (requires a doubled T), and OLEASTRAL (which seems reasonable as the adjective form of OLEASTER, but no such form seems to have been required and it is not valid).

There are eights here: LATERALS (LATERAL as a noun: "a lateral part or extension, as a branch or shoot") and REALLOTS / ROSTELLA (plural of ROSTELLUM: "any small, beaklike process").

The other sevens are LATERAL, ROSELLA, and REALLOT.

My selection: STELLAR
Best: REALLOTS


Round 5: W G F R O E I N P

I had FROG, FORGE, FOREIGN, FOREWING, and POWERING.  I was not completely certain about FOREWING ("either wing of the anterior pair of an insect's two pairs of wings") so was happy to have the alternative eight to declare (although I would have chanced FOREWING if necessary).

That's everything longer than six listed.

My selection: POWERING


Round 6: Target 136 from 25 50 75 8 1 6

The offsets are 11 and 14, and the 14 is 8 + 6 which leads directly to a solution: 136 = 75 + 50 + 25 - 8 - 6.  Then I saved a number with a tweak: 136 = 6*(25 - 1) - 8.

After time I pulled out the factors of 2 to determine that the target is 8*17.  Since 17 is 25 - 8 the question was whether the other numbers could get a second 8, and they could, with the resulting solution being 136 = 8*(25 - 8), where one of those 8's is (6*75/50- 1).

My selection: 136 = 6*(25 - 1) - 8


Round 7: C C D M I E O E F

I had DICE, MEDICO, and COMEDIC.  After time I checked up on OEDEMIC, but that is not the appropriate adjectival form of OEDEMA (which is OEDEMATOUS or OEDEMATOSE).

The other seven here is ECOCIDE ("the wanton destruction of an environment") and the other six is COIFED (COIF as a verb: "to cover or dress with, or as with, a coif", where COIF as a noun is "a close-fitting cap of various kinds, as one worn by European peasant women").

My selection: COMEDIC


Round 8: Target 866 from 25 50 3 4 9 5

I noted that the target was 9 away from 875, and so it was a matter of getting to 875 without the 9.  A little experimentation produced 866 = (3*4 + 5)*50 + 25 - 9, then I used the familiar factorisation of 875 to find the shorter 866 = (3 + 4)*5*25 - 9.

My selection: 866 = (3 + 4)*5*25 - 9


Round 9: EGO CUTTER

I pretty much saw this at once, but took a little time to check that it was correct.  COURGETTE is another term for zucchini, and I recall encountering it from British TV when I was growing up; I think the first instance I recall is from an episode of Butterflies, but I'd be hard pressed to narrow it down.

My selection: COURGETTE (3.5s)