NG 233

New game 233 is now available.


Round 1: G F A U S R A O K

I had FAGS, FUGS (FUG: "a stuffy or smoky atmosphere"), SUGAR, FROGS, and SAGARO (a type of cactus, or so I thought).  Unfortunately, as later checking revealed, I had the wrong spelling; the correct word is SAGUARO.

Of course, SAGUARO can also be formed, and is the only seven.  There do not appear to be any sixes -- the plural form of AGORA is explicitly given as AGORAE only, not AGORAS.  There are several other fives, including FORKS, FOURS, and AURAS.

My selection: [invalid -- SAGARO]
Best: SAGUARO


Round 2: T I T A F P E S S

I had PATTIES, PASTIES, and FATTIES.

Somehow I missed the option of PASTIEST here, but that turns out to have been rather fortunate -- it is not listed.  Lucky for me, as I'd certainly have tried it if I had seen it.  This same issue (although in the form of PASTIER) tripped up Cem Gurkan back in episode 376, but fortunately did not cost him the game then.

So seven looks like the best on offer, with the others being FASTEST, FIESTAS, and PATSIES / TAPISES ("a piece of cloth resembling an apron or short sarong worn over and around the skirt of a traditional woman's costume in the Philippines").

My selection: PATTIES


Round 3: Target 121 from 25 100 6 3 2 7

The standard method will surely work, but I worked up from 100 instead with the shorter 121 = 100 + 3*7.

My selection: 121 = 100 + 3*7


Round 4: C R U B E L A M I

I had CURB, a speculate BRUCE (I was getting mixed up between BIRCH and SPRUCE, I think) / CUBER (not listed), CRUEL, CURABLE, MIRACLE / RECLAIM / CLAIMER, CRUMBLE, and BALMIER.

Seven is the best to be done; the others are CLAMBER, CALIBRE / CALIBER, CLIMBER, AURICLE ("a part like or likened to an ear"), CLUMBER ("one of a breed of spaniels with short legs and long, heavy body, valued as retrievers"), ALEMBIC ("a vessel with a beaked cap or head, formerly used in distilling; an ancient retort"), and URAEMIC (adjective derived from URAEMIA: "the morbid condition resulting from the retention of urinary constituents").

A CEMBALO is a dulcimer, or something similar, but the Macquarie does not list the plural form of CEMBALI (Chambers allows both CEMBALI and CEMBALOS).

My selection: MIRACLE


Round 5: P N O I C G E E C

I had PION (a type of subatomic particle), COPING, and CONGEE.  If only that P had been an R then CONCIERGE would have been an option.

A little after time I spotted the seven of EPIGONE ("an inferior imitator or follower of an important writer, painter, etc."), and it turns out to be the only one.  The other sixes are EPIGON (variant spelling of EPIGONE) / PIGEON, PEEING, PONGEE ("a silk of a plain weave made from filaments of wild silk woven in natural tan colour"), and COIGNE (variant spelling of QUOIN: "an external solid angle of a wall or the like").

My selection: COPING
Best: EPIGONE


Round 6: Target 307 from 50 100 25 4 6 3

My first instinct was to get to 300 as 4*75, but fortunately I paused to contemplate how to get the final offset of 7 and realised that I wanted to keep the 4 and 3 around.  I made things more complicated for myself than they needed to be with 307 = 6*25 + 50 + 100 + 4 + 3, then found the simpler option of 307 = 6*50 + 4 + 3.

My selection: 307 = 6*50 + 4 + 3


Round 7: H R E A T D U O D

I had HEAR, EARTH, THREAD, and READOUT.  I spent a while looking for longer after time, but could not find it.

There are two eights, though: AUTHORED and OUTDARED.  I'd forgotten that OUTDARE was valued -- it is a short step from READOUT to that.  The other sevens are OUTDARE and HOARDED.

My selection: READOUT
Best: AUTHORED


Round 8: Target 563 from 100 50 9 1 5 4

The offset of 13 is 9 + 4, and it's just a matter of getting to 550 aside from that.  I started with 563 = 5*100 + 50 + 9 + 4, then noted an alternative of 563 = 9*(50 + 1) + 100 + 4.

My selection: 563 = 5*100 + 50 + 9 + 4


Round 9: TASTED POD

I was cruising through potential conundrums too quickly at the point this turned up, so I gave up on it too early.  Oh, well.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: POSTDATED