NG 227

New game 227 is now available.


Round 1: S A I J N N O F A

I had NINJA, NINJAS (although I prefer to use simply NINJA as the plural form, both are considered acceptable plurals), ANIONS, FANONS (FANON: "a striped scarf-like vestment worn by the pope over the alb when celebrating solemn pontifical mass"), and FANIONS (FANION: "a small flag used to mark surveying stations").

FANIONS looks like the only seven, and the other sixes are FANION and NASION ("Anatomy the intersection of the internasal suture with the nasofrontal suture, in the mid-sagittal plane"; Wikipedia explains it better: "Its manifestation on the visible surface of the face is a distinctly depressed area directly between the eyes, just superior to the bridge of the nose").

My selection: FANIONS


Round 2: R C T N O I K I S

I had CORN, STINK, TRICKS, and INTROS.  I was hard up finding anything longer although I was sure that such must exist; it took several minutes afterwards for me to find the eight of CROSTINI ("(in Italian cookery) rounds of buttered or oiled bread baked to a crisp golden brown and served with savoury toppings").

That was the only eight, but there were some findable sevens: INCISOR, IRONIST ("someone who makes much use of irony"), CITRONS (CITRON being a type of fruit), and CITRINS (CITRIN being another name for vitamin P).

My selection: TRICKS
Best: CROSTINI


Round 3: Target 527 from 100 75 1 7 3 3

Too easy if you know the 75-times table; I went with 527 = 7*75 + 3 - 1.

My selection: 527 = 7*75 + 3 - 1


Round 4: P T G E A E R D S

I had PAGE, GREAT, PREDATES (PREDATE: "to date before the actual time"; I was thinking instead of what predators do, but that sense is only listed as part of the phrase PREDATE ON, and so would not be valid), and PRESAGED (PRESAGE: "to portend, foreshadow").

The other eights are RESTAGED, TRAPESED (TRAPES being a variant form of TRAIPSE) / PEDERAST, and PARGETED (PARGET as a verb: "to cover or decorate with parget"; PARGET as a noun: "British gypsum, or plaster stone").

My selection: PRESAGED


Round 5: C T O I A S D I R

I had COATI, COATIS, CAROTID, and CAROTIDS.

The other eights are CARDITIS ("inflammation of the pericardium, myocardium, or endocardium, separately or in combination") and AORISTIC ("indefinite; indeterminate").

The other sevens are DRASTIC, DIARIST, SATIRIC, TRIADIC (adjective derived from TRIAD) / TRIACID ("denoting acid salts containing three replaceable hydrogen atoms"), DACOITS (DACOIT: "Indian English one of a band of armed thieves; bandit"), and CIRSOID ("varix-like; varicose").

My selection: CAROTIDS


Round 6: Target 204 from 50 75 7 7 10 8

I almost got lost down a rabbit-hole here.  I recognised the target as 12*17 (and just yesterday I converted 204 inches to 17 feet while discussing a mathematics problem with a friend) and the 17 was there as 10 + 7.  I was not able to get the rest to work out, though (and later checking confirmed that this cannot be made to work).  I wrote down a fallback one away 203 = 8*(75 - 50) + 10 - 7, then considered my options.

I then looked at the other possible factorisations, since 12*17 is 6*34 or 3*68... and 68 was easy to make.  The 3 was also manageable, and so I was rather relieved to have a solution after all: 204 = (10 - 7)*(75 - 7).

My selection: 204 = (10 - 7)*(75 - 7)


Round 7: L A A R C S U O S

I had CARL (an archaic term for a farmer), CARLS, LASCAR ("Obsolete an Indian or South-East Asian sailor (or sometimes soldier, etc.)"; I was worried about capitalisation -- it turns out to be OK -- since I only dimly recalled encountering it from a Sherlock Holmes story (The Man with the Twisted Lip) and it might have been a racial group in context) / RASCAL, OSCULAR ("relating to the mouth or kissing") / OCULARS, CAROUSAL ("a noisy or drunken feast or other social gathering; jovial revelry"), and CAROUSALS.

The other eight here is AROUSALS.  The other sevens are AROUSAL, LASCARS / RASCALS / SCALARS, CASUALS, CAROLUS ("any of various coins issued under monarchs named Charles, especially an English gold coin struck in the reign of Charles I, originally worth 20 and later 23 shillings"), and SARCOUS ("consisting of or relating to flesh or skeletal muscle").

My selection: CAROUSALS


Round 8: Target 754 from 25 50 6 1 3 8

A tough target, although getting close should be easy.  I wanted to use the standard method but making the offset of 4 after getting to 750 was beyond me (and not possible, it turns out).  I had one away as a fallback with 753 = (8 + 6 + 1)*50 + 3, and that was where I had to stay.

The key to solving this, at least for me, would have been to notice the factorisation 58*13.  That's rather hard to do, I'll grant!  But the 58 is clearly provocative and two solutions follow reasonably easily: 754 = (50 + 8)*(25 - 6*(3 - 1)) and 754 = (50 + 8)*(25 + 1) / (6/3).

There is one other solution, making the target as 2*377.  It is 754 = ((50 - 6)*8 + 25)*(3 - 1).

My selection: 753 = (8 + 6 + 1)*50 + 3  [1 off]
Best: 754 = (50 + 8)*(25 - 6*(3 - 1))


Round 9: RARE KITES

I almost went the wrong way here with AIRSTRIKE, but caught the error in time.  I got hung up on the -IEST ending for far too long before looking at -IER, at which point STREAKIER was soon unearthed.

My selection: STREAKIER (13.9s)