NG 259

New game 259 is now available.


Round 1: E E O E P B S M T

I had BEEP, OBESE, ESTEEM, TEPEES, was briefly tempted by TEMPOES (not valid), and amused myself with the idea of BESMOTE.  Good sense prevailed, and six was my limit.

There is a seven, though: METOPES (METOPE: "Architecture one of the square spaces, either decorated or plain, between triglyphs in the Doric frieze").  The other sixes are METOPE, TEMPOS, EMOTES, TOPEES (TOPEE: "(in India) a helmet of sola pith"), MESTEE (variant form of MUSTEE, an obsolete word meaning "the offspring of a white person and a quadroon"), and BESEEM ("to be fit for or worthy of").

My selection: ESTEEM
Best: METOPES


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

I had FACT, CRAFT, FACTOR, FACTORS, and SATIRIC.

Those are the only sevens, but there is an eight: AORISTIC ("indefinite; indeterminate").  I also feel like mentioning FIASCO as one of the more interesting sixes.

My selection: FACTORS
Best: AORISTIC


Round 3: Target 217 from 25 8 4 10 1 2

I first aimed to get there upwards from 8*25, and a tweak got me there with 217 = 8*(25 + 2) + 1.  I'd also observed the factorisation 7*31 and and eventually managed to make that work with 217 = (8 - 1)*(25 + 4 + 2).

Of course, the standard method suggests getting there from 225 instead, and that was rather easier: 217 = (10 - 1)*25 - 8.

My selection: 217 = 8*(25 + 2) + 1


Round 4: T T A E D K O U C

I had TEAT, DATE, OAKED, OUTED, TACKED, DOCKET, and TUCKED.

There are sevens to be had: OUTDATE and OUTTAKE / TAKEOUT.  But there is an eight, also: OUTACTED.

My selection: DOCKET
Best: OUTACTED


Round 5: I I E A L S N R T

I had AISLE, LATRINES, wondered about INERTIALS but did not like it (it turns out not to be valid), RAINIEST, INERTIAL, INERTIAS, and finally found the nine that I was sure was there: SAINTLIER.  We'd had this mix before 60 games ago, in NG 199 (which I still have to get around to writing up properly), which is why I was so sure there was a full monty here.  After time I noted another eight of TRENAILS (TRENAIL being a variant spelling of TREENAIL: "a cylindrical pin of hard wood for fastening together timbers in ships, etc.").

The other eights are AIRLINES, ENTRAILS / RATLINES (RATLINE being a nautical term: "any of the small ropes or lines which traverse the shrouds horizontally, serving as steps for going aloft"), LITANIES / ALIENIST (an obsolete term for "a psychiatrist or other specialist in mental diseases"), and NITRILES (NITRILE: "any of a class of organic cyanides with the general formula RCN").

My selection: SAINTLIER


Round 6: Target 546 from 100 25 5 2 6 9

The target is clearly 6*91, leading to the solution 546 = (100 - 9)*6.  Then I looked at the more straightforward approach 546 = 6*100 - 2*25 - (9 - 5).

My selection: 546 = (100 - 9)*6


Round 7: A E A O G S C H D

I had SAGE, DOSAGE, amused myself with GASHEAD (memorably tried by Shaun Ellis in episode 292, but unfortunately that is not part of my recapped episodes), then GASHED and DACHAS.

Six does appear to be the limit, with the others being CASHED / CHASED, CADGES, COSHED, ADAGES, and DAGOES.

My selection: DOSAGE


Round 8: Target 883 from 100 50 4 8 9 3

The target is 17 away from 900, and 17 is 9 + 8.  A tweak finishes off this solution to give 883 = 9*(100 - (4 - 3)) - 8.  Then I tried the option of 8*110 + 3 and managed to make it work with the solution 883 = (100 + 50/(9 - 4))*8 + 3.

My selection: 883 from (100 + 50/(9 - 4))*8 + 3


Round 9: CACTI COPE

Lots of C's, and somehow I quickly saw the answer of COPACETIC, an American colloquialism that the Macquaries defines as "extremely satisfactory".  I think I had recently read something that used it, which is why it was fresh in my memory.

My selection: COPACETIC (1.8s)