NG 242

New game 242 is now available.


Round 1: G T I E C M A I B

I had CITE, MICE, IMAGE, GAMBIT, and GAMETIC.

The other seven is MEGABIT.  Some sources might allow BIGTIME, but the Macquarie requires it to be hyphenated.

My selection: GAMETIC


Round 2: R E T D I A N S A

I had TIRED, TIRADE, TRAINED, STRAINED, and hoped for a final vowel since four of the five options complete to a full monty.  (The exception is I, which is of no use.)  I was thinking about this just a few days ago, in fact; I had a little difficulty with remembering the +E option of RESINATED, but had come up with DETAINERS in the meantime.  In any case, the option with an A is a mathematical term: STERADIAN ("the SI supplementary unit of solid angle [...]").

Not surprisingly, there's a few other eights here: DETRAINS, RADIATES / DATARIES (DATARY: "Roman Catholic Church an officer, now cardinal, at the head of a certain office or department of the Curia who investigates the firness of candidates for benefices in the gift of the papal see"), RADIANTS (RADIANT: "a point or object from which rays proceed"), and ANTISERA (one plural form of ANTISERUM: "serum containing antibodies, obtained by inoculation of animals, and used for injection into other animals to provide protection from a specific disease") / SANTERIA ("the high form of voodoo practised in the Caribbean islands, having its origin in the west African worship of nature gods who were transformed into the saints of Catholicism").

My selection: STERADIAN


Round 3: Target 907 from 100 75 25 7 6 4

All just a question of how to get to 900 without using the 7; I started with 907 = 6*(100 + 75 - 25) + 7, then took another tack with 907 = (6 + 75/25)*100 + 7.  Finally I opted for a more complicated option that avoided one of the large numbers: 907 = 4*(6*25 + 75) + 7.

My selection: 907 = 6*(100 + 75 - 25) + 7


Round 4: P G E E S S O U M

I had PEGS, SEEPS, and POSSUM.  After time I noted MOUSSE as another six.

The other sixes are SEGUES, MOUSES (allowed as a verb form, and also as the plural of MOUSE in the computer sense), SPOUSE, SPUMES (SPUME: "to foam; froth"), and EPOSES (EPOS: "an epic").  Note that OPUSES is not allowed, as the plural form of OPUS is explicitly listed as OPERA.

But the seven here is ESPOUSE.

My selection: POSSUM
Best: ESPOUSE


Round 5: H T C I E L O O T

I had ITCH, LITHE, TELIC ("tending to a definite end"), CLOTHE, CITOLE (a musical instrument), and wondered about HELOTIC as an adjective derived from HELOT ("a serf or slave; a bondman") but correctly rejected it.  After time I noted OCELOT as another six.

There is a seven here, though: OTOLITH ("a calcareous concretion in the internal ear of vertebrates and in the balancing organ of some invertebrates").

My selection: CLOTHE
Best: OTOLITH


Round 6: Target 837 from 50 75 100 4 8 1

My first instinct was successive approximation via 8*100 + 50, and a little tweak got that to one away: 838 = 8*(100 - 1) + 50 - 4.  Then I realised that I could apply the same kind of tweak upwards from 825 to solve it: 837 = 8*(100 + 1) + 4 + 75 - 50.

There is only one other solution: 837 = (50 - 1)*(100 - 75 - 8) + 4.

My selection: 837 = 8*(100 + 1) + 4 + 75 - 50


Round 7: S R A O S T A N A

I had OARS, SOARS, and SONATAS.  A shame about that final A -- an I would have allowed ARTISANS, or an E would yield SENATORS.

SONATAS appears to be the only seven.

My selection: SONATAS


Round 8: Target 126 from 75 25 100 6 1 3

Too easy, alas: 126 = 100 + 25 + 1.

My selection: 126 = 100 + 25 + 1


Round 9: EIGHT KNEW

As usual, I got distracted by the -ING fragment for a bit too long.  But I found my way to WEEKNIGHT soon enough.

My selection: WEEKNIGHT (5.6s)