NG 296

New game 296 is now available.


Round 1: N T G A A M T E E

I had GNAT / TANG, MANGA, MAGNATE, and was unsure about GATEMAN / NAMETAG and GATEMEN.  After time I noted MANATEE as another seven.

The Macquarie does list GATEMAN at the end of the entries for GATE; that makes it fine, but puts GATEMEN into an unfortunate grey area of the rules, since the plural form is not listed.  Of course, it would be perverse to rule it out, but I like to nitpick.  Also, NAME TAG is only listed as two words.

The almost-eight here is TEGMENTA; that is the plural form of TEGMENTUM, but the Macquarie does not list either.  The other sevens are MAGENTA, TENTAGE, and EMANATE / ENEMATA (one of the plural forms of ENEMA).

My selection: MAGNATE


Round 2: N N I E D Q R A O

I had NINE, DINNER, ORDAIN, and ANDIRON ("one of a pair of metallic stands used to support wood in an open fire").

The other seven here is ANEROID.

My selection: ANDIRON


Round 3: Target 496 from 25 50 4 3 10 6

I recognised the target as the third perfect number, and thus the factorisation 16*31, but was not able to get that to work out.  Once I reverted to the standard method this was disappointingly easy: 496 = 10*50 - 4.

My selection: 496 = 10*50 - 4


Round 4: C S E A A F O R C

I had CASE, FACES, and FORCES.  After time I noted FRACAS as another six, and a little later found ROSACEA for seven.

The other sevens are CARAFES and CARCASE (variant form of CARCASS).

My selection: FORCES
Best: CARAFES


Round 5: C F C P R O T I A

I had CROP, an unsure PROTIC (not valid), and PAROTIC ("situated about or near the ear") / APRICOT.

The other seven is ACROTIC (adjective derived from ACROTISM: "absence or weakness of the pulse").  The sixes are TROPIC, FACTOR, CAPTOR, PROFIT, AORTIC, ARCTIC, ATOPIC (adjective derived from ATOPY: "a genetic tendency to develop allergic reactions"), and PICARO (variant form of PICAROON: "a rogue, thief, or brigand").

My selection: APRICOT


Round 6: Target 556 from 50 25 100 5 1 9

I started with 5*100 + 50, but could only get to one away with that approach.  When I stopped to think I realised that I wanted to keep the 5 and 1 separate for the final 6; the question was then whether the other numbers could get to 550.  It turned out that they could, yielding the answer 556 = 9*50 + 100 + 5 + 1.

There's a few other solutions, of which my favourite is 556 = (50*100 + 5 - 1)/9.

My selection: 556 = 9*50 + 100 + 5 + 1


Round 7: R L B D O S E U I

I had LORD, LORDS, SOLDER, BOULDERS / DOUBLERS (I was unsure about this, but a DOUBLER is listed as "a ram over six months old, counted as two sheep in a shearer's tally"), BOLIDES (BOLIDE: "a large, brilliant meteor, especially one that explodes"), SOLDIER, BRUISED, BOULDER / DOUBLER, and BROILED.

The other eights are BUILDERS / REBUILDS

My selection: BOULDERS


Round 8: Target 536 from 100 50 7 1 2 2

I wanted to make the target as 550 - 2*7, possibly with tweaking.  The subproblem is then to get to 550 without using up the necessary small numbers.  Somehow I overlooked the relatively straightforward option of 7*50 + 2*100 -- leading to the solution 536 = 7*(50 - 2) + 2*100 -- and instead stumbled my way to 536 = ((2 + 1)*100 - 7)*2 - 50.  I also noted another solution of 536 = 7*(100 - 2) - (2 + 1)*50.

My selection: 536 = ((2 + 1)*100 - 7)*2 - 50


Round 9: TIPI DECOR

I almost jumped in with PERIODIC, then DEPICTOR (not valid, incidentally -- the Macquarie wants DEPICTER), then PREDICTOR, but fortunately caught myself each time.  After I settled on the -IC ending as likely I managed to flail my way to PERIDOTIC; I couldn't see anything better, and fortunately it turned out to be correct (it is the adjective derived from the gem PERIDOT).  A tough conundum!

My selection: PERIDOTIC (26.3s)