NG 309

New game 309 is now available.


Round 1: N N C E A H B S O

I had CANE, BEACH, BENCH, and CANOES / OCEANS.  After time I noted some other semi-dubious sixes of BONCES (not valid), NONCES (of arguable validity), and BACONS.  That last led me to find the seven of BEACONS; it's a combination that turns up moderately often (along with DEACONS) but I generally struggle to see it.

The other sevens are SONANCE ("the condition or quality of being sonant", which is to say of having sound") / ANCONES (plural of ANCON: "any projection, as a console, supporting a cornice or the like"), CHANSON ("a song, especially a French song"), and NONCHES (NONCH as a noun: "Prison Colloquial a method of shop-lifting in which the goods stolen are concealed in a coat or jacket not worn but nonchalantly draped over one shoulder, ostensibly because of the heat"; there is an associated verb sense of stealing in this way, whence NONCHES).

My selection: CANOES
Best: BEACONS


Round 2: T U C T U O C R R

I had hoped for a final E to redeem this mix with COUTURE, but it was not to be.  (Nor was the next vowel an E, for that matter.)  I had TOUT and TROUT, considering but correctly rejecting OUTCUT (not valid) / CUTOUT (only listed as CUT-OUT with the hyphen).  After time I noted TUTOR and COURT as other fives.

Five is the best to be done; the others are OCCUR and CRUOR (an obsolete term for "coagulated blood, or that portion of the blood which forms the clot").

My selection: TROUT


Round 3: Target 442 from 25 4 10 1 3 9

The standard method would suggest making this as 18*25 - 8.  That wasn't the easiest of combinations, but I noted it could also be written as 2*(9*25 - 4), which is much more approachable from those numbers.  The resulting solution was 442 = (3 - 1)*(9*25 - 4).  Then I realised that this implied the factorisation 2*221, and I happen to know offhand that 221 is 13*17.  That led me to two other solutions: 221 = (10 + 4 + 3)*(25 + 1) and 221 = (10 + 3)*(25 + 4).

My selection: 442 = (10 + 3)*(25 + 9)


Round 4: L I E S I P N A F

I had ISLE (just to be different), PILES, SPINEL (a mineral), PLANES, LIAISE, and SPANIEL.

There are two eights here: FINALISE and LIFESPAN (the main entry is given as two words, but the one-word form is listed as an acceptable variation).  The other sevens are FINALES, FINIALS (FINIAL: "the ornamental termination of a pinnacle, gable, etc., usually foliated"), and SPLENII (plural of SPLENIUS, a muscle of the back and neck).

My selection: SPANIEL
Best: LIFESPAN


Round 5: O R K G N A D I O

I had dubious GROK (not valid) and KONG (also not valid), ROAN, ORGAN, DRAGON, and ADORING.  After time I checked up on GORDIAN, but as expected it requires the capital letter.

The other sevens are DRAGOON / GADROON (yet another architectural term to go with ANCONES and FINIALS, a GADROON is "an elaborately carved or indented convex moulding"), ROOKING (ROOK as a verb: "to cheat; fleece; swindle"), and DARKING (DARK as a verb being given as an obsolete synonym for DARKEN).

But there is an eight lurking in this mix: RIGADOON ("a lively dance, formerly popular, for one couple, characterised by a peculiar jumping step, and usually in quick duple rhythm").  I recall David finding RIGADOONS once (and Lily matched him with GRANDIOSO, but it does not seem to be in the episodes that I have covered.  That suggests it was in season three, most likely.

My selection: ADORING
Best: RIGADOON


Round 6: Target 547 from 100 25 75 10 7 8

My first want was to put the 10 and 7 aside to make a 3, and use the other four numbers to get to 550.  I was not able to achieve that, however, and had to switch tacks.  The target is near 7*75, so that's a plausible starting point; that sufficed for one off with 548 = 7*75 + 25 - (10 - 8).  Then I thought about the offset of 22 a bit more and found a solution: 547 = 7*75 + 8*100/25 - 10.

Perhaps more obvious was the following variation of that last approach: 547 = 7*75 + 8 + 100/25 + 10.

My selection: 547 = 7*75 + 8*100/25 - 10


Round 7: E T Z S D E B O R

I had ZEST, STEED, wondered about ZESTED (valid), BESTED, ZEROES, RODEOS, DESERT, BERETS, and amused myself with the idea of BOREDEST.  I rejected that, but thinking about it now it clearly satisfies the single syllable rule and should have been accepted on the show.  Oh, well.  After time I finally saw a seven of OERSTED (a unit of magnetic field strength), and checked up on SORBETED but it was not valid.

There is an eight here: BESTRODE.  The other sevens are DEBTORS, BEDSORE / SOBERED, TEREDOS (TEREDO: "a shipworm (genus Teredo)"), and BORTZES (BORTZ being a variant form of BORT: "flawed, low quality diamonds, and diamond fragments, valuable only for crushing to diamond dust").

My selection: ZEROES
Best: BESTRODE


Round 8: Target 313 from 100 75 10 1 2 6

Getting close with 3*100 seemed desirable, and a 3 could be had as either 2 + 1 or 6/2.  The latter lent itself handily to tweaking, and I had the solution 313 = (6/2)*(100 + 1) + 10.

My selection: 313 = (6/2)*(100 + 1) + 10


Round 9: MISSES IMP

Lots of duplication, but considering the -ISM fragment helps get one to the answer of PESSIMISM.

My selection: PESSIMISM (2.1s)