NG 258

New game 258 is now available.


Round 1: A U A M H R D R S

I had ARUM, DRAMA, and MARAUDS.

The other seven is DHARMAS.

My selection: MARAUDS


Round 2: Q G R U E S T E H

I assume I was not the only one hoping for a final O instead of that H, allowing GROTESQUE.  I had URGE, URGES, REQUEST, and GESTURE.

Those appear to be the only sevens.

My selection: REQUEST


Round 3: Target 983 from 100 10 1 4 3 7

The standard method clearly suggests making this as 1000 - 17, and a tweak finishes it off: 983 = 10*(100 - 1) - 7.

My selection: 983 = 10*(100 - 1) - 7


Round 4: S K L I E A R C E

I had SILK, LIKES, a heat-of-the-moment incorrect LACKIES (LACKEYS is what I was thinking of, of course), SLACKER, CEREALS, wondered about SCARLIKE, LEAKIER, and SCALIER.  I angsted over whether to try SCARLIKE or not, and in the end decided to chance it (over CEREALS).  That was the wrong decision, as SCARLIKE is not valid.

My selection: [invalid -- SCARLIKE]
Best: CEREALS


Round 5: E O E T R T N C F

I had ROTE, OTTER, FENCER, and ENFORCE.

ENFORCE is the only seven -- OFTENER might be allowed by some sources, but not the Macquarie -- but there is an eight: TRECENTO ("the 14th century, with reference to Italy, and especially to its art or literature").

My selection: ENFORCE
Best: TRECENTO


Round 6: Target 305 from 25 6 10 5 1 8

I started out straightforwardly enough with 305 = (10 + 8 - 6)*25 + 5, then used the factor of 5 for a shorter solution: 305 = (6*10 + 1)*5.

My selection: 305 = (6*10 + 1)*5


Round 7: I O I T D R N F B

I had IDIOT and then wondered about INDRIFT, which seemed like a plausible cricketing term.  I thought I might have tried this before, though, and didn't like it, which is why I was happy to spot FIBROID as a safer seven.  This was particularly good as INDRIFT is not valid.

The other seven is FIBROIN ("an insoluble protein, a principal component of spider webs and silk"); some sources might allow DINITRO, but it is not in the Macquarie.

My selection: FIBROID


Round 8: Target 304 from 2 8 5 4 7 5

I started pulling out factors of 2, and found that the target was 8*38 or 16*19.  The latter seemed difficult to use, but I managed to get the former to work with 304 = ((5 + 5)*4 - 2)*8.

My selection: 304 = ((5 + 5)*4 - 2)*8


Round 9: SHUN SKIES

With so many S's the -NESS fragment is hard to go past, and soon led to HUSKINESS.

My selection: HUSKINESS (3.7s)