NG 304

New game 304 is now available.


Round 1: E O I T D N O T B

I had DIET, wondered about TINED (not valid), NOTED, TONITE ("an explosive made of guncotton, a nitrate, and a nitro compound, used especially for blasting"), INDEBT, and wondered about BITONED (not valid).  I didn't like it enough, so six was where I stayed.  After time I noted BOOTED and BONITO (a type of fish) as other sixes.

Six does seem to be the best; the others are BITTEN, TOOTED, BOOTIE, TINTED, BITTED, and TOONIE (a Canadian term for their two dollar coin).

My selection: TONITE


Round 2: W O E A M S G B N

I had MEOW, MEOWS, GAMES, WOMAN, an uncertain BAGMEN (valid), a slightly uncertain SWAGMEN (that I would have chanced, and it is valid), and then saw AMBONES as a seven I knew was all right (AMBONES is a plural of AMBO: "(in early Christian churches) one of the two raised desks from which gospels and epistles were read or chanted").

After time I noted BEMOANS as a more obvious anagram of AMBONES, and somewhat later glanced back at this round and saw the eight of GAMBESON ("a medieval military garment of leather or quilted cloth, padded, and worn under mail, but also worn as the pricipal garment of defence").

GAMBESON is the only eight; the other sevens are MANGOES, NOSEBAG, and ENWOMBS.

My selection: AMBONES
Best: GAMBESON


Round 3: Target 649 from 9 3 10 2 2 4

An awkward target for thos numbers; it's only one away from 9*72, but there's no 1 handy.  I wrote down a fallback one off 650 = (9*(4 + 3) + 2)*10, and that ended up being the best I could do.  I noticed the factorisation of 11*59, but both of those are also awkward with the numbers as given.

The target is unreachable, and one off is the best to be done.

My selection: 650 = (9*(4 + 3) + 2)*10  [1 off]


Round 4: I Y H L I S E S R

I had LIES, ISLES, and RELISH.  I contemplated HISSIER and HISSILY, but not seriously and indeed neither is valid.  After time I checked up on HISSER, and it turns out to be valid.

The other sixes are IRISES, SHIRES, and SHYERS.

My selection: RELISH


Round 5: C I S N G P A E E

I had SING, PINGS, CASING, SPACING, and ESCAPING.  I also observed that an O instead of the C would have allowed the nine of ESPIONAGE, and lamented that PEACE SIGN was not likely to be valid.

Eight is indeed the best to be done, with the others being SAPIENCE and AGENCIES.  The other sevens are SEEPING, CEASING, SCAPING (SCAPE as a verb being an archaic variant of ESCAPE), ENCAGES, INSCAPE ("the essential inner nature of a thing, person, emotion, etc."), and EPIGEAN (variant form of EPIGEAL: "of an insect, living near the surface of the ground, as on low herbs or on other surface vegetation").

My selection: ESCAPING


Round 6: Target 969 from 25 5 10 4 6 7

The target is 6 away from 975, which is 13*75 or 39*25.  Fortunately a 39 could be made without using up the 6, giving me the solution 969 = (7*5 + 4)*25 - 6.

My selection: 969 = (7*5 + 4)*25 - 6


Round 7: O R C A D N R H I

I had ORCA, CARD, CARDON (not valid -- I was getting confused with LARDONS, a variant form of LARDOONS, as I knew that CARDOON was valid) / DACRON ("a strong synthetic polyester fibre resistant to creases"), HADRON, ANCHOR, INROAD, wondered about HADRONIC, and then found CARRION for seven.  That made the risk of HADRONIC less tempting, but I decided to chance it and fortunately it is valid.

HADRONIC is the only eight; the other sevens are ORCHARD and CORRIDA ("a bullfighting event").

My selection: HADRONIC


Round 8: Target 368 from 50 100 3 6 9 5

The standard method requires an offset of 18, which is easily available as 3*6.  The rest works out easily enough; I went with 368 = 9*50 - 100 + 3*6.

My selection: 368 = 9*50 - 100 + 3*6


Round 9: COD CENSUS

I chose this explicitly after having been presented with the similar CONCUSSES (which took me longer than I would have liked, as all the S's were a bit unhelpful).  I try to avoid conundrums which are plurals or verb forms ending in S (although the show has had at least two such that I am sure about), hence this adjustment.

My selection: [N/A -- conundrum chosen explicitly]
Best: CONCUSSED