NG 255

New game 255 is now available.


Round 1: O A A U G H Q B T

An ugly starting mix.  I had QUAHOG (a type of clam), which I was pleased about until the final T allowed another six of BOUGHT.  Oh, well.

The other six is QUOTHA (an archaic interjection meaning "indeed").

My selection: QUAHOG


Round 2: R O D C O S I T S

I had CORD, CORDS, and DOCTORS.

The other seven is TOROIDS.  The Macquarie does not list DISROOT, so DISROOTS is not an eight here.

My selection: DOCTORS


Round 3: Target 923 from 25 8 10 2 5 1

The target is 37*25 - 2, which seemed like a tempting option.  Unfortunately 37 is not the most formable of numbers, and I wrote down a fallback two off 925 = (5*8 - 2 - 1)*25.  Very late in the piece I spotted the option I wanted, though, and found the solution of 923 = (5*(10 - 1) - 8)*25 - 2.

I had also considered the option of 920 + 3, but was overly focused on making the 920 as 10*92.  A step back after time and I found another option: 923 = 8*(5*25 - 10) + 2 + 1.

There's a couple of other options, but something I wish I had seen was the factor of 13 (with cofactor 71).  That yields the solution 923 = (8 + 5)*(2*(25 + 10) + 1).

My selection: 923 = (5*(10 - 1) - 8)*25 - 2


Round 4: M T L I E A D C D

I had MILT ("the secretion of the male generative organs of fishes"), MILE, DILATE, CLAIMED / DECLAIM, and CITADEL / DIALECT.

MALEDICT is not listed, so seven is the best to be done.  The others are MEDICAL / DECIMAL, CLIMATE, DILATED, and DELTAIC / EDICTAL.

My selection: CAMELID


Round 5: A A O E B R K N S

I had BEAR, BREAK, BANKER, and BANKERS.  No sign of SEABARON being a thing, so seven was the limit.

The other sevens are BONKERS, ANORAKS, and SEABORN / BORANES (BORANE: "a hydride of boron [...]").

My selection: BANKERS


Round 6: Target 356 from 50 100 75 5 5 9

The offset of 6 seemed difficult, and surprisingly the offset of 19 was more manageable, with a tweak: 356 = 5*(75 - 100/50) - 9.

My selection: 356 = 5*(75 - 100/50) - 9


Round 7: E E O I N S S R N

I had NOISE, NOISES, and SENIORS.

Some sources would allow IRONNESS, but it's not in the Macquarie so seven is the best to be done.  The others are SINNERS, SOIREES, SEÑORES (plural of SEÑOR), ONENESS, SONNIES, SONSIER (comparative of SONSY: "Scottish, Irish buxom or comely"), SEINERS (people who fish with a seine) / SEREINS (SEREIN: "a very fine rain falling from a clear sky after sunset") / SERINES (SERINE being a chemical), and EOSINES (EOSINE being a variant spelling of EOSIN, one of various similar types of dye).

My selection: SENIORS


Round 8: Target 364 from 50 25 75 9 6 9

I found this a very hard numbers round, because so many of the values are divisible by 3 and the target is not, nor is the obvious offset of 4.  In the end I had to settle for one away with 365 = 9*50 - 75 - 25 + 9 + 6.

After time I thought properly about the issue of divisibility by 3, and noted that both 364 - 25 and 364 + 50 were divisible by it.  The latter is 414, in fact, which is divisible by both 6 and 9 and thus looks much more promising.  So the general plan was to make that target as 414 - 75 = 9*46 - 75 or 6*69 - 75, and a happy accident led me to a solution of the first form: 364 = (25 + 75 - 9*6)*9 - 50.

There is another solution using this idea: 364 = ((25 - 9)*9 - 75)*6 - 50.  Another solution makes the target as 4*91 via 364 = (75 + 25 - 9)*(9*6 - 50), and the final solution seems hard to spot: 364 = (75*25 + 9)/6 + 50.

My selection: 365 = 9*50 - 75 - 25 + 9 + 6  [1 off]
Best: 364 = (25 + 75 - 9*6)*9 - 50


Round 9: LIVID GLEN

Pulling out the -ING fragment as usual led in short order to DEVILLING.

My selection: DEVILLING (1.2s)