NG 260

New game 260 is now available.  Apologies for the unannounced lateness; I forget to leave enough time to get this up.


Round 1: O I U N B D T D S

I had BOUND and BOUNDS.  Shortly after time I saw the seven of OUTBIDS.

The other sevens are DUSTBIN and OBTUNDS (OBTUND: "to blunt; dull; deaden").

My selection: BOUNDS
Best: OUTBIDS


Round 2: A I O E N C L C T

I had AEON, OCEAN, CONCEAL, LECTION ("a lesson, or portion of sacred writing, read in divine service"), and CONCEIT.  Just a bit after time I saw the eight of CANTICLE.

The other eight is LACTONIC, the adjective derived from LACTONE ("one of a class of internal esters derived from hydroxy acids").

The other sevens are COCAINE / OCEANIC, LACONIC / CONICAL, LACTONE, TOENAIL / ELATION, ACONITE, CALCITE, CALCINE ("to oxidise by heating"), ALOETIC (adjective derived from ALOE), and COELIAC ("of or relating to the cavity of the abdomen").

My selection: CONCEAL
Best: CANTICLE


Round 3: Target 828 from 75 1 2 7 3 8

The target is near 11*75; I went with the solution 828 = (8 + 3)*75 + 2 + 1.

My selection: 828 = (8 + 3)*75 + 2 + 1


Round 4: O I E I D R S R O

I had DIRE, DORIES, DOORS, and RODEOS.

There's a decent spread of sixes, as it turns out (with the more common ones being RIDERS, ORDERS, and ROSIER).  But the seven is OROIDES (OROIDE: "an alloy containing copper, tin, etc., used to imitate gold").

Update: Victor points out that there is an eight here of ODORISER.  That leads to the other seven of ODORISE.

My selection: RODEOS
Best: ODORISER


Round 5: E O O R S K L H S

I had SORE, ROOKS, LOOSER, SHORES, correctly rejecting HOOKLESS, HOOKERS, and LOOKERS.

The other seven here is KOSHERS (KOSHER having both noun and verb senses).

My selection: HOOKERS


Round 6: Target 654 from 25 100 1 7 2 5

The target is 6*109, but my first thought was the descent from 700.  The difference is 46, which is 25 + 21 and the resulting tweak was 654 = 7*(100 - 2 - 1) - 25.  (Somewhat simpler was 654 = 7*100 - 2*25 + 5 - 1.)  Then I went back to that factorisation for the alternative solution 654 = (5 + 1)*(100 + 7 + 2).

My selection: 654 = 7*(100 - 2 - 1) - 25


Round 7: U E E P T F S R C

I had FEET, UPSET, FESTER, and PERFECTS / PREFECTS.

Those are the only eights; the sevens are PERFECT / PREFECT, REFUTES, REPUTES, RESPECT, SPECTRE / SPECTER (American spelling of SPECTRE) / SCEPTRE / SCEPTER (American spelling again) / RECEPTS (RECEPT: "Psychology an idea formed by the repetition of similar percepts, as successive percepts of the same object"), and PERFUSE ("to overspread with moisture, colour, etc.").

My selection: PERFECTS


Round 8: Target 924 from 50 100 25 9 9 3

Fortunately the target is divisible by 3, so the small numbers are not as problematic as they might be.  The idea of adjusting from 900 seems clear; I went with 924 = 9*(100 + 50/25) + 9 - 3 at first.  Then I noted an alternative approach of 924 = 9*100 + (50/25)*(9 + 3).

My selection: 924 = 9*(100 + 50/25) + 9 - 3


Round 9: DUNK IN HAM

I was nowhere near solving this one.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: HUMANKIND