NG 248

New game 248 is now available.


Round 1: D I H N E T E C A

I had HIND, ETHINE, ITCHED, CHEATED, CHANTED, ENACTED, and ECHIDNA.  I wondered about a possible adjective form of ECHIDNATE, but it was never a serious contender.

However, one plural form of ECHIDNA is ECHIDNAE, yielding an eight.  The other eight is ECHINATE ("spiny; bristly").  That has a variant form of ECHINATED, so this round produces a full monty.

The other sevens are CHAINED and ENTICED.

My selection: CHEATED
Best: ECHINATED


Round 2: R C S A O C T I F

I had SCAR, wondered about OSCAR (surprisingly, valid, as it has a colloquial sense of "cash; money" derived from Oscar Asche), ACTORS, ACROSTIC, and FACTORS.

The other seven is ACROTIC (adjective derived from ACROTISM: "absence or weakness of the pulse").  I'm a little surprised to see that OCICATS is not listed.

My selection: ACROSTIC


Round 3: Target 675 from 50 2 3 6 1 8

The target is 25*27, and that's hard to go past.  The resulting solution was 675 = 3*(8 + 1)*50/2.  Then I looked at working down from 700 and found the alternative solution 675 = (8 + 6)*(50 - 2) + 3.

My selection: 675 = 3*(8 + 1)*50/2


Round 4: M N T O A T G A K

I had MOAT, wondered about NATTŌ (not valid), MANGO, sadly knew that GOATMAN was not valid, MANGA, and TANGO.

There is a six here: ANATTO, a variant spelling of ANNATTO (a type of tree, or the dye obtained from its seeds).

My selection: MANGO
Best: ANATTO


Round 5: L I B O S AW N I

I had BOIL, BOILS, and LIAISON.

The other seven is ALBINOS.

My selection: LIAISON


Round 6: Target 985 from 25 75 5 3 7 2

A clear goal is to get to 1000 and adjust downward.  A little thought made that work with 985 = (7 + 3)*(75 + 25 - 2) + 5.  Then I pulled out the factor of 5 (or alternatively tweaked by it, depending on how one views these things) to get 985 = 5*(2*(75 + 25) - 3).  Finally I experimented a little; the target is 910 + 75, and 91 is 7*13.  Playing around with that idea led to another solution of 985 = (5*25 + 3 + 2)*7 + 75.

My selection: 985 = (5*25 + 3 + 2)*7 + 75


Round 7: S E D E T O R O C

I had SEED, STEED, STORED, ROOSTED, DOCTORS, SECTORED / ESCORTED, and then was rather pleased to find the option of CREOSOTED.  I was not sure that it would be all right, but I did know that creosote was applied to things and it seemed plausible that it had acquired a verb sense as a result.  This reasoning turned out to be correct.

The other eight is CREOSOTE.  The other sevens are SCOOTER, SCOOTED, CRESTED, CESTODE (one of a class of parasitic flatworms), and OERSTED (a unit of magnetic field strength) / TEREDOS (TEREDO: "a shipworm (genus Teredo)").

Update: Sam attempted SCOOTERED, and Victor pointed out that it is valid.  SCOOTER as a verb is listed with the meaning "to go, or travel in or on a scooter".

My selection: CREOSOTED


Round 8: Target 985 from 75 25 7 10 8 9

Heh, the same target as the previous round.  Once again, get to 1000 and adjust.  It's a bit more straightforward this time: 985 = 10*(75 + 25) - 8 - 7.

My selection: 985 = 10*(75 + 25) - 8 - 7


Round 9: CRIB HENGE

Not much to say about this, either; after pulling out the -ING and putting CH together, BREECHING was a short step away.

My selection: BREECHING (3.1s)