NG 273

New game 273 is now available.


Round 1: G P I T T O T E R

I had an unsure POTTIE (valid, although one has to look under POTTY to find it), another unsure POTTIER (not valid), and GOITRE / GOITER.  I decided to change POTTIER, unfortunately.

There is no seven (some other sources would allow TIPTOER); the other sixes are TIPTOE, POTTER, TITTER, and TOTTER.

My selection: [invalid -- POTTIER]
Best: TIPTOE


Round 2: P H O O K D S E F

I had HOOP, SHOOK, HOOPED, and SPOOKED.

The other seven is SPOOFED.  The other sixes are HOOKED, SPOKED, SHOOED, HOOFED, and EPHODS (EPHOD: "a kind of Hebrew priestly vestment, especially that worn by the high priest").

My selection: SPOOKED


Round 3: Target 352 from 75 2 5 4 3 6

I spotted the factorisation 11*32, which is also 4*88, and that led me to the solution 352 = (75 + 5 + 6 + 2)*4.

My selection: 352 = (75 + 5 + 6 + 2)*4


Round 4: W I C E S T I S G

I had ICES, TWICE, and CITIES.  For a moment I thought that WESTIES was there, but that would need another E.

The other sixes are WISEST and ICIEST.

My selection: CITIES


Round 5: O S L E O N L R S

I had SOLE, LOOSE, LOOSEN, lamented that that last S was not an E for RELLENOS (RELLENO: "a Philippine dish consisting of stuffed poultry"), then wished that one of the L's had been an E for LOOSENERS, and finally came back to reality with LOOSENS for seven.

The other sevens are ENROLLS (American spelling of ENROLS) and SOONERS (SOONER as a noun being colloquial for "a lazy person").

My selection: LOOSENS


Round 6: Target 748 from 25 100 50 1 5 9

A tough target to reach -- that 1 is rarely helpful.  It did make one away easy enough, though; I went with 749 = 5*(100 + 50) - 1.

There are only two solutions to this round, both making the target as (3750 - 10)/5.  They are 748 = ((100 + 50)*25 - 9 - 1)/5 and 748 = ((100 - 25)*50 - 9 - 1)/5.

My selection: 749 = 5*(100 = 50) - 1  [1 off]
Best: 748 = ((100 + 50)*25 - 9 - 1)/5


Round 7: S E N E D N U T L

I had SEEN, NEEDS, STUNNED, and TUNNELED (American spelling).

TUNNELED does seem to be the only eight; the other sevens are TUNNELS, NESTLED, ELUENTS (ELUENT: "a solvent used in eluting"), and TELEDUS (TELEDU being an animal a bit like a badger).

My selection: TUNNELED


Round 8: Target 830 from 75 10 8 7 9 1

I went straight to 10*83 and soon had 830 = (75 + 8)*10.

My selection: 830 = (75 + 8)*10


Round 9: IDIOT AXON

Here it was the OX and -ATION fragments that led quickly to the answer of OXIDATION.

My selection: OXIDATION (1.6s)