NG 236

New game 236 is now ready.


Round 1: C T U I F C O E S

I had OTIC and STUCCO.  I kept trying to double the F instead of the C for OFFICES or SUFFICE, but at least managed to catch the error each time.  The only halfway plausible longer candidate I could find was FECTIOUS, but of course that is not valid either.  If only that E had been an A then ACOUSTIC would have been an option.

Six is the best on offer, with the others being FOETUS, CUTIES, SOFTIE, COITUS, FUSTIC (a type of tree), and FICOES (plural of FICO: "Archaic the merest trifle").

My selection: STUCCO


Round 2: T O I M O N M O P

I had OMIT, MOTION, and POTION / OPTION.  I had hoped for a final C for COMMOTION, but also observed that an R instead of one of those M's would have allowed PROMOTION.

Those are the only sixes listed, but there is a seven: TOMPION is a variant spelling of TAMPION ("a wooden plug or stopper placed in the muzzle of a piece of ordance when not in use, to keep out dampness and dust").

My selection: MOTION
Best: TOMPION


Round 3: Target 963 from 25 100 6 4 3 9

The factorisation 9*107 was pretty clear, and led directly to the solution 963 = 9*(100 + 4 + 3).

My selection: 963 = 9*(100 + 4 + 3)


Round 4: I T M E I N R E D

I had TIME, TIMER, could not recall if MINTER was valid (it is), ENTIRE, correctly rejected REMINTED, DEMERIT, and very briefly thought that DETERMINE was available before I realised that the vowels were not right for that.

There is an eight here: DIRIMENT (an adjective: "that renders absolutely void; nullifying").

The other sevens are MERITED / RETIMED / MITERED (American spelling of MITRED) / DIMETER ("Prosody a verse or line of two measures or feet"), INTERIM / TERMINI, EMERITI (plural of EMERITUS: "an emeritus professor, etc.", where the adjective sense of EMERITUS is "retired or honourable discharged from active duty because of age, infirmity, or long service, but retained on the rolls"), ERMINED ("covered or adorned with ermine"; presumably the fur is meant, not the animal), and NITRIDE / INDITER (INDITE: "to compose or write, as a speech, poem, etc.").

My selection: DEMERIT
Best: DIRIMENT


Round 5: L H A E L P A I R

I really wanted a final D for HELIPAD here, but without it I struggled.  I had HEAL, wondered if HELLA had made it into the dictionary yet (it has, it turns out: "exceptionally"), PHIAL, rightly rejected PALLIER, and HAILER.  After time I noted PARIAH as a nicer six, and then somewhat later found HARELIP for seven.  I also checked on RAPHAEL, but as expected there is no lowercase sense listed.

The other seven is APHELIA (plural of APHELION: "the point of a planet's, comet's, or artificial satellite's orbit most distant from the sun").  But there is an eight lurking here: PARHELIA (plural of PARHELION: "a bright circular spot on a solar halo; mock sun; usually one of two or more such spots seen on opposite sides of the sun, and often accompanied by additional luminous arcs and bands").

My selection: HAILER
Best: PARHELIA


Round 6: Target 863 from 25 50 3 8 7 8

I got a little lost here, but managed to emerge with one-away after starting with 16*50 as an approximation and realising how to improve it.  The resulting effort was 864 = (8 + 8)*(50 + 7 - 3).

It turns out there are two solutions, one of which starts from 17*50.  That was an approach I wanted to take but overlooked the means of making the 17.  Commenter Victor found it, however -- well done!  Fortunately the remaining numbers cooperate to give a solution: 863 = (25 - 8)*50 + 3*7 - 8.

The other solution is fairly hard to find, I would have said: 863 = ((25 + 8)*8 + 7)*3 + 50.

My selection: 864 = (8 + 8)*(50 + 7 - 3)  [1 off]
Best: 863 = (25 - 8)*50 + 3*7 - 8


Round 7: N R E U D S E E S

I had RUNE, UNDER, SUNDER, rightly rejected UNDERSEES (although OVERSEES is fine, of course), and RUDENESS.  I pondered an UNDRESSEE briefly, but of course it is not valid either.

RUDENESS appears to be the only eight, and there's a decent number of sevens to be found here.

My selection: RUDENESS


Round 8: Target 226 from 25 50 6 6 9 7

Definitely one for the standard method, and there's plenty of options.  I went with 226 = 9*25 + 6/6 for my solution.

My selection: 226 = 9*25 + 6/6


Round 9: MUSE FOLLY

I got hung up on -FULLY for a bit, but once I put that notion aside I was able to find the answer of FULSOMELY.

My selection: FULSOMELY (5.1s)