NG 229

New game 229 is now ready.


Round 1: O E U O T F L D T

I had FOOT, FLOUT, FLOUTED, and was uncertain about FOLDOUT.  Rightly so, as it turns out -- the hyphen is required.

The other sevens are TOOTLED, FOOTLED (FOOTLE: "to talk or act in a silly way"), and OUTTOLD.

My selection: FLOUTED


Round 2: A E E I K T F M A

I had a joking IKEA, TAKE, an even more joking TAKEI, FAKIE (a skateboarding term), and MAFIA.

Five looks like the limit, with the other one being TAFIA ("a kind of rum made from the lower grades of molasses, refuse sugar, etc.").

My selection: FAKIE


Round 3: Target 397 from 25 75 6 8 6 7

Getting close should be straightforward, but getting exactly to the target is somewhat challenging.  I got lost for a while trying to reach it precisely, though.  The first attempt was to get to 400 with 8*(75 - 25), but even getting one away from that point requires a tweak.  I moved further away in the hopes of getting closer, and eventually wrote down a one away 396 = 6*(75 - 8) - 6 and had to stay with that.

(Seen while writing this up is that I could have made the descent from 450 work, or rather from 425; the offset is 28, which is 6*6 - 8, so a solution is 397 = 6*(75 - 6) - 25 + 8.)

After time I considered one of those products I know: 6*7*8 = 336.  The offset is 61, which is 75 - 14 (not obviously useful), or 25 + 36, which turns out to be useful and yields 397 = 6*(7*8 + 6) + 25.

My selection: 396 = 6*(75 - 8) - 6  [1 off]
Best: 397 = 6*(7*8 + 6) + 25


Round 4: L L I R O D I S E

I had RILL ("a small rivulet or brook"; my personal association with the word is Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge), ROIL, DRILL, DRILLS, SOLDIER, and SILLIER.  After time I added DOLLIES, IDOLISE, and finally IDOLISER for eight.

IDOLISER is the only eight; the other seven is DOILIES.  The Macquarie's vagaries strike again as DILLY is listed ("something remarkable of its kind; a delightful or excellent person or thing") but the plural form is not.

My selection: SOLDIER
Best: IDOLISER


Round 5: I I E A N D T S A

I had DINE and STAINED / DETAINS.  After time I noted INSTEAD as another seven.

There is an eight here, though: DAINTIES.

My selection: STAINED
Best: DAINTIES


Round 6: Target 497 from 100 25 5 4 10 6

My first instinct was to make this as 7*71, but it does not seem feasible to do so.  The next idea was 500 - 3 but a 3 is hard to come by, particularly if one starts from 5*100.  Fortunately I stumbled upon the idea of making the 500 as 4*125 and the remaining calculations worked out: 497 = 4*(100 + 25) - 6*5/10.

My selection: 497 = 4*(100 + 25) - 6*5/10


Round 7: I O E O I R R M T

I had MOIRÉ ("a design pressed on silk, rayon, etc., by engraved rollers"), TREMOR, ROOMIER, and wondered about MOTORER (not valid, of course; the appropriate word would be MOTORIST).

The other seven is ROOTIER.

My selection: ROOMIER


Round 8: Target 847 from 50 25 7 6 5 8

I observed that the target was 7*121, or 7*11*11.  This tempted me towards 11*77, but making both the 11 and 77 proved beyond me.  Eventually I was able to use the original form, noting that the offset from 75 was 46, which could be made from the remaining small numbers: 847 = 7*(50 + 25 + 8*5 + 6).

There's a decent spread of solutions, but the simplest is probably 847 = (25 - 5)*(50 - 8) + 7.

My selection: 847 = 7*(50 + 25 + 8*5 + 6)


Round 9: ZERO DIVES

I pulled out the OVER- fragment, and the Z usually ends up being part of -IZE; there was not much left to do after that to get OVERSIZED.

My selection: OVERSIZED (1.9s)