New game 251 is now available.
Round 1: O E I S C Y H A N
I had ICES, CHOSE, CHAINS, wondered about HYACINE but realised I was mentally crossing HYACINTH and HYALINE ("something glassy or transparent"), and CYANOSE. I was slightly dubious about that latter -- possibly as a result of previous investigations -- but I decided to chance it. Alas, it is not listed.
The sevens are ACINOSE ("consisting of acini", which are (in one definition) the small parts of a compound fruit like a blackberry or mulberry) and SYCONIA (plural of SYCONIUM: "a multiple fruit developed from a hollow fleshy receptacle containing numerous flowers, as in the fig"). But the eight in this mix is HYOSCINE (a trademarked name for scopolamine).
My selection: [invalid -- CYANOSE]
Best: HYOSCINE
Round 2: M P U I K T U W R
Oh, dear, what a mix. I had TRIM and -- eventually! -- TRUMP.
Five is the best to be done; the only other one is TWIRP, a variant spelling of TWERP.
My selection: TRUMP
Round 3: Target 981 from 75 100 25 6 10 2
The standard method applies easily, and getting to the nearby 1000 is straightforward. The resulting solution was 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6.
My selection: 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6
Round 4: D P E E L B E C U
I had DEEP, BLEED, and PEELED. I was also amused to see DEEP BLUE there, not that it was useful in this instance.
There were sevens here, however, and I should have seen BLEEPED. The others are DECUPLE ("tenfold") / CUPELED (American spelling of CUPELLED; CUPEL as a verb is "to heat or refine in a cupel", while as a noun it is "a receptacle or furnace bottom in which silver is refined").
My selection: PEELED
Best: BLEEPED
Round 5: I E I M R D T O S
I had RIME, MIRED, STORED, STEROID, STORMED, and MOISTER. I saw the obviously invalid METROIDS, too, but could not find the valid anagram of it. After time I noted EDITORS as another seven.
The eight in the mix which I might have found -- but it is a word I struggle to see, even though it comes up often enough -- is MORTISED. The other eight is DIORITES (DIORITE being a type of rock).
My selection: STEROID
Best: MORTISED
Round 6: Target 965 from 100 50 1 5 7 7
A large target looked like it might be troublesome, and my first instinct was that the nearest easy multiple of 25 was 7*150 = 1050. The difference was 85, which is 84 + 1, and 84 is 7*12. It all worked out rather helpfully to give me the solution 965 = 7*(100 + 50 - 7 - 5) - 1. Then I considered trying to make the target as 1000 - 7*5 (possibly with tweaking involved). The 1000 could be made as 7*100 + 6*50, and the tweak finished it off: 965 = 7*(100 - 5) + (7 - 1)*50.
My selection: 965 = 7*(100 + 50 - 7 - 5) - 1
Round 7: O I E T D R R A B
I had DIET, TARRIED, ABORTED, BROADER, and saw but knew to reject ADROITER. After time I noted some of the other sevens I had seen within time: BORATED (which Tim Clay played against me in one round in episode 326), ARBITER / RAREBIT, and DEBITOR.
Seven is the limit here, with quite a few others available. They are ORBITED / DEORBIT, ORBITER, TRIBADE, BOARDER, TARDIER, BRAIDER, BROIDER (an archaic variation of EMBROIDER), TABORED (TABOR: "to play upon, or as upon, a tabor; drum"), and TABORER.
My selection: TARRIED
Round 8: Target 889 from 25 50 1 9 8 7
I was in all kinds of trouble with this mix. I saw that it was 875 + 2*7, but neither part of that seemed particularly approachable. I wrote down a fallback three off 892 = (9 + 8)*50 + 1) + 25, and was only able to improve it to two off with 887 = (9 + 7)*(50 + 8 - 1) - 25.
After time I realised an option I was missing, and got to one off with 890 = (25 - 7)*50 - 9 - 1. Then I finally noticed the factor of 7, which I should have observed immediately from my earlier observation about the target being 875 + 2*7. Oh, well. The cofactor is 127, and I was rather pleased to find a way to make that work with 889 = (8*(25 - 9) - 1)*7. This turns out to be the only solution.
My selection: 887 = (9 + 7)*(50 + 8 - 1) - 25 [2 off]
Best: 889 = (8*(25 - 9) - 1)*7
Round 9: SIXTY TEEN
I got distracted by various things here, but eventually concentrating on the EX- and -ITY fragments got me to the answer of EXTENSITY.
My selection: EXTENSITY (22.8s)
7 comments:
This was a game where I had several doubtful words that I thought I would brave over the safer options. Here goes:
CINCHES over CHAINS
TRUMP
(6*2)*75+100+10-75=985 and after time 10*(100-2)=980 (1 off)
BLEEPED over PEELED
SORTIED over SORTED
x-out of range and after time 5*(100+50+((7-1)*7)=960 (5 off)
TARRIED
(9+1)*(25+50+8+7)=890 (1 off)
x- made up word of EXISTENTY
1. CANOES. I think you've snuck a second "C" in there, Mike.
2. TRUMP
3. 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6
4. BLEEPED
5. MORTISED
6. 965 = (100-5)*7 + (7-1)*50
7. TRIBADE
8. 889 = ((25-9)*8-1)*7
9. EXTENSITY - 25.2s. Unfamiliar with this, usually X-words are easier.
You're right about the C Sam. And well done on getting that conundrum. I've never heard of it either. Fantastic on the numbers too!
1. chains
2. imput
3. (10x100)-6x(75/25)=982 (1 off)
4. beeped (missed the bleeped!)
5. stormed
6. 5x(50+1) +(7x100)+7=962 (3 off)
7. aborted
8. [(25-7)x(50-1)]+8=890 (1 off)
9. x (thought about extensity but didn't think it was a word...)
Thanks for the number solutions - kicked myself over Round 3!
Great numbers work from Sam
1. CASINO
2. TRUMP
3. 981 = 10*100 - 25 + 6
4. PEELED
5. MORTISED
6. 1-away: 964 = 7*(100 + 1) + 5*50 + 7
7. ORBITED
8. 1-away: 890 = (25 - 7)*50 - 9 - 1
9. EXTENSITY - 15.2s - agreed, obscure word
Cheers on the numbers, folks, I was very happy with them. Rounds 6 & 8 both used common offsets of 7 from multiples of 25, I suppose that was my angle in.
Nice work to find BLEEPED, Mike -- it eluded me completely.
Likewise well done, Sam, and also on MORTISED. Excellent numberwork today, too.
Louise: There's no IMPUT in my dictionary; were you thinking of IMPUTE or INPUT, perhaps? Nice work to get to just one away in round 8, also -- it was a tough one.
Post a Comment