NG 245

New game 245 is now available.


Round 1: S E S A D T U A S

I had SEAS, SATED, SAUTÉS, and vacillated over ASSUADES but decided that I didn't like it quite enough.  Just as well, as it is not listed (nor is it in my Chambers), although ASSUASIVE is ("soothing; alleviative").  The OED does mention ASSUADE ("to present as advice, to urge persuasively") but says that it is both obsolete and rare, so it is not surprising that it did not end up in the Macquarie.

So six seems to be the best on this mix, with the others being SAUTÉD, ASSETS / TASSES (TASSE being a variant form of TASSET: "one of a pair of pieces of armour for the upper thighs suspended from the waist plates by straps"), SUSSED, and STEADS / STADES (STADE: "Geology a period of time represented by a glacial deposit").  I was astounded to discover that SASS is not listed, so SASSED is not valid.

My selection: SAUTÉS


Round 2: D A B K A N T O A

I had BAND, BATON, KATANA, and then was surprised to find the eight of DATABANK.

The only other word of five or longer is TANKA (both a form of Japanese poetry and a Tibetan religious scroll painting).

My selection: DATABANK


Round 3: Target 442 from 75 25 1 8 5 10

That standard method proves its worth once again.  I went with 442 = (5 + 1)*75 - 8 at first, then the longer alternative 442 = 10*(75 - 25 - 5) - 8, and finally managed to use the factorisation 26*17 via 442 = (25 + 1)*(75/5 + 10 - 8).

My selection: 442 = (5 + 1)*75 - 8


Round 4: M O H P A F E T E

I had FAME, FATHOM, and EMPATH.

The other sixes are TEMPEH ("a fermented soybean cake") and METOPE ("Architecture one of the square spaces, either decorated or plain, between triglyphs in the Doric frieze").  But there is a seven: APOTHEM ("Mathematics a perpendicular from the centre of a regular polygon to one of its sides").

My selection: FATHOM
Best: APOTHEM


Round 5: I O R L G E C R U

I had ROIL, GIRL, RECOIL, and CURLIER.

The other seven here is the rather nice COURIER.

My selection: CURLIER


Round 6: Target 582 from 100 25 4 10 10 9

The target is 6*97, but making both a 6 and a 97 was beyond me.  I wrote down a fallback one away 581 = (10 - 4)*100 - 10 - 9, and in the end that was where I had to stay.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, so one off is the best to be done.

My selection: 581 = (10 - 4)*100 - 10 - 9  [1 off]


Round 7: R I S U V R O B I

I had VIRUS, rightly rejected BIOVIRUS, and similarly VIBROUS and VIBROS.

While checking up on those latter afterwards I saw that VIBRIOS was valid for seven (VIBRIO: "any bacterium of the genus Vibrio [...]").  That is the best to be done, as one might expect.  The sixes are VIBRIO, BURROS, and ORIBIS (ORIBI being a type of antelope).

My selection: VIRUS
Best: VIBRIOS


Round 8: Target 783 from 100 25 7 9 2 10

My first attempt at getting close got me to one away with 784 = (10 - 2)*100 - 9 - 7.  I had noticed that I could get to my favourite 875, and the offset of 92 was manageable: 783 = 7*(100 + 25) - 9*10 - 2.

Seen while writing this up is the simpler 783 = 7*(100 + 9) + 2*10.

My selection: 783 = 7*(100 + 25) - 9*10 - 2


Round 9:  FINER GROG

Pull out the -ING, and a bit of thought will unearth REFORGING from that.  I was distracted by the phone ringing so messed up the timing, it should have been a little quicker than shown.

My selection: REFORGING (6.7s)