NG 314

New game 314 is now available.


Round 1: N H F I A L M A C

I had FAIN, HAIL, ANIMAL, FLINCH, MANIAC, and rightly rejected MANICAL and MACHINAL.

Six is the best on offer here; the others are LAMINA / MANILA, FACIAL, CAIMAN, and CALAMI (plural of CALAMUS: "the hollow base of a feather; a quill"; it is also a type of plant).

My selection: MANIAC


Round 2: E S I H I G T T O

I had HIES, SIGH, EIGHTS, TIGHTS, HOGTIES, GHETTOS, and HOTTIES.  Just a little after time expired I recalled the mineral GOETHITE and its variant form GÖTHITE, making GÖTHITES a valid eight.

The other seven here is EGOTIST.

My selection: HOGTIES
Best: GÖTHITES


Round 3: Target 106 from 75 4 10 2 5 5

I wrote down a prosaic 106 = 75 + 5*5 + 4 + 2, then sought to avoid the 75 and eventually managed it with 106 = 2*(5*10 + 5) - 4.  After time I noted an arguable simpler approach of that form: 106 = (5 + 5)*10 + 4 + 2.

My selection: 106 = 2*(5*10 + 5) - 4


Round 4: A R O E U D R C R

I had ROUE, ARDOUR, ADORER, and CRUDER.  After time I noted ORDURE ("filth; dunge; excrement") and RECORD as other sixes.

Six does seem the best to be done here; the others are ROARED, ROARER, CURARE, DOURER, and CARDER (someone who uses a card in the sense of "a toothed implement or wire brush used in disentangling and combing out fibres of wool, flax, etc., preparatory to spinning").

My selection: ARDOUR


Round 5: O E N I D S C M T

I had DONE, NODES, SECONDI (plural of SECONDO: "the second or lower part in a duet, especially in piano duets"), DEMONIC, DEMONIST, and DOMESTIC.

The possible other eight is DEMOTICS (DEMOTIC: "the demotic script of ancient Egypt").  The other sevens are DEMOTIC, MEDICOS, INCOMES, NOTICED / CTENOID ("comb-like or pectinate; rough-edged"), NOTICES / SECTION, MOISTEN, DOCENTS (DOCENT: "a guide, as in a zoo, museum, etc., often a volunteer with some training"), ENDMOST, MINDSET, MISDONE, COEDITS / CESTOID ("(of worms) ribbon-like"), CODEINS (CODEIN being a variant spelling of CODEINE), and MODISTE ("a maker of or dealer in articles of fashionable attire, especially women's dresses, millinery, etc.").

My selection: DOMESTIC


Round 6: Target 637 from 100 25 6 10 9 1

I could see a number of ways to one off, although the one that I wrote down was overly complicated: 636 = 6*(100 + 10) - 25 + 1.  Then I realised that the small numbers could yield the 2 I needed to solve this exactly as 625 + 12 via 637 = 6*(100 + 1 + 10 - 9) + 25.

It was only after time that I noted the factorisation 7*91, which leads easily to another solution of 637 = (6 + 1)*(100 - 9).

My selection: 637 = 6*(100 + 1 + 10 - 9) + 25


Round 7: P S C T O E E T F

I had COST, wondered about COPTS but rightly assumed it would be capitalised, SCOPE, and PESTO.  I was a little surprised that COTTEES did not get a mention in the Macquarie, even capitalised, but on reflection that is consistent.  Trade marks of materials often get a mention, but not brand names.

There are some sixes here: OCTETS, SEPTET, and TOPEES (TOPEE: "(in India) a helmet of sola pith").

My selection: SCOPE
Best: SEPTET


Round 8: Target 990 from 100 75 9 6 2 4

With a 9 present my tendency was to make this as 9*110, and that was manageable: 990 = 9*(100 + 6 + 4).

My selection: 990 = 9*(100 + 6 + 4)


Round 9: IN SESSION

I'll note that some sources define INSESSION itself as a word ("the act of sitting, as in a tub or bath"), but the Macquarie does not.  In any case, the -INESS fragment is tempting, and after avoiding buzzing in with NOSINESS I adjusted to the correct answer of NOISINESS.

My selection: NOISINESS (5.5s)