NG 241

New game 241 is now available.


Round 1: M R I A S Y A O T

I had ARMS, MORAYS, and RATIOS.  After time I noted another six of STROMA ("the colourless, sponge-like, framework of a red blood corpuscle or other cell"), but anything longer proved beyond me.

There are sevens here, though, with the most common being one I've found in the past: AMORIST.  The other sevens are AMATORY, OSTIARY ("a doorkeeper, as of a church"), AMRITAS (AMRITA: "Hindu mythology the ambrosial drink of immortality", or the immortality so conferred), and TRISOMY ("the abnormal addition of a chromosome to the normal pair, particularly trisomy of chromosome 21 which causes Down syndrome").

Some sources would allow RAMOSITY (derived from RAMOSE: "having branches"), but not the Macquarie, so seven is the limit.

My selection: RATIOS
Best: AMORIST


Round 2: K E P I U S R E D

I had PIKE, SPIKE, SPIKED, amused myself with SUPERKID (not valid, of course), then found SPRUIKED for eight (thanks, no doubt, to Sam finding SPRUIKS in NG 99).

The other eight is DUPERIES.  The sevens are RESIDUE / UREIDES (certain derivatives of urea), PERUSED / SUPERED (SUPER as a verb: "to treat (land) with superphosphate") / PERDUES (PERDUE being a variant spelling of PERDU, which has an obsolete noun sense of "a soldier placed in a dangerous position"), PRESIDE, SIRUPED (SIRUP being an American spelling of SYRUP), DUSKIER / DUIKERS (DUIKER being a type of African antelope), PESKIER, and PERUKES (PERUKE: "a wig, especially of the kind worn by men in the 17th and 18th centuries").

My selection: SPRUIKED


Round 3: Target 719 from 75 25 50 5 1 4

Oh, dear, I completely lost my way on this one.  The first obvious observation was that making the target as 725 - 6 is tempting, which would require making 725 from 75, 50, 25, and 4.  I failed to see a route to that, though.  Instead I thought I spotted a way to make it as 4*180 - 1, which would have required making 175 from 75, 50, and 25 (4*(175 + 5) - 1 = 719).  That is not manageable, and in the process of attempting to get there I became confused and wrote down 5*(75 + 50 + 4) - 1 + 25, which is 669, 50 away from the target.  I realised I had done something wrong, but was out of time to get anything correct down.

After time I wrote down 2 away with 721 = (5 + 1)*(75 + 50) - 25 - 4, then one away with 720 = (5*(50 + 1) - 75)*4, and finally found a solution of 719 = (50/5)*(75 - 1) - 25 + 4.

There are two other solutions.  The first goes back to the original approach that I passed over, making the target as 719 = 25*(25 + 4) - 5 - 1, where one of those 25's is 75 - 50.  The other solution will be a little familiar to the 4 large investigators but in different guise: 719 = (25*75 + 1)/4 + 5*50.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: 719 = (50/5)*(75 - 1) - 25 + 4


Round 4: G E C A T I L E S

I had CAGE, CAGIEST, ELASTIC, and LEGATES.  After time I noted LIGATES as another seven.

The eights here are LEGACIES / ELEGIACS (ELEGIAC being a type of verse).  The other sevens are ELEGIAC, AIGLETS (AIGLET being a variant spelling of AGLET: "a metal tag at the end of a lace"), LACIEST / LATICES (one plural form of LATEX), ELEGIST / ELEGITS (ELEGIT: "a writ of execution against a judgement debitor's goods or property held by the judgement creditor until payment of the debt"), EAGLETS / TELEGAS (TELEGA: "a crude Russian cart having four wheels and no springs"), SECTILE ("capable of being cut smoothly by a knife"), and CELESTA ("a musical instrument consisting essentially of steel plates struck by hammers, and having a keyboard").

My selection: ELASTIC
Best: LEGACIES


Round 5: N S E O C N U E M

I had NOSE, CONES, NONCES, OUNCES, and CONSUME.

There is an eight here: ENOUNCES.  The other seven is ENOUNCE.

My selection: CONSUME
Best: ENOUNCES


Round 6: Target 958 from 100 50 3 9 4 8

Straightforward: 958 = 9*100 + 50 + 8.  For fun, afterwards I found an alternative option of 958 = (100/4 - 9 + 3)*50 + 8.

My selection: 958 = 9*100 + 50 + 8


Round 7: T R A O W H L I T

I had ROTA, WART, THROW, and THWART.  After time I noted HARLOT as another six.

Six seems to be the limit, with the others being TAILOR / RIALTO, THROAT, WRAITH, THORIA WITHAL, and WITTOL ("a man who knows of and tolerates his wife's infidelity").  To my surprise AWHIRL is not listed.

My selection: THWART


Round 8: Target 863 from 50 25 6 1 5 7

The target is only 12 away from the tempting 875, but getting to the 875 uses up the 5 and 7.  It still sufficed for one away with 862 = 7*(5*25 - 1) - 6, and in the end that was the best I could do.

It turns out that there is a unique solution to this, the rather hard to find 863 = (50 - 5)*(25 - 6) + 7 + 1.  Well done to commenter Victor for finding this solution after time!

My selection: 862 = 7*(5*25 - 1) - 6  [1 off]
Best: 863 = (50 - 5)*(25 - 6) + 7 + 1


Round 9: TINIER GAS

I got lost here -- I spent a while on -ING then moved on to -IEST, but somehow overlooked the right option of GRAINIEST.  In the end I had no plausible answer.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: GRAINIEST