NG 318

New game 318 is now available.


Round 1: U S R A D A R M L

I had SARD, MARAUDS, and ALARUMS (ALARUM being an archaic form of ALARM).  I also noted that an E instead of the L would have allowed MARAUDERS, but the next vowel was an A in any case.

The other seven is RADULAR (adjective derived from RADULA: "a chitinous band in the mouth of most molluscs, set with numerous minute horny teeth, and drawn backwards and forwards over the odontophore in the process of breaking up food").

My selection: MARAUDS


Round 2: A C G E E P S B H

I had CAGE, SPACE, ESCAPE, BEACHES, and PEACHES.

Those turn out to be the only sevens, and the best on offer.

My selection: BEACHES


Round 3: Target 660 from 50 75 7 9 2 2

I struggled with this one; obviously the target is near 9*75, but the adjustment of 15 eluded me.  I wrote down a fallback of 661 = 9*75 - 7*2, and that was the best I could do within time.  Somewhat afterwards I looked at the option of 10*66 and it all fell easily into place: 660 = (75 - 9)*50/(7 - 2).  I really should have considered that possibility within time.

Note that the division by 5 in that solution is not necessary -- a variant approach is 660 = (75 - 9)*(7 - 2)*2.  And seen while writing this up is that the offset of 15 was manageable after all, although I had to go a bit far afield to find it.  15 is 9*7 + 2 - 50, so a tweak resolves it: 660 = 9*(75 - 7) + 50 - 2.

My selection: 661 = 9*75 - 7*2  [1 off]
Best: 660 = (75 - 9)*50/(7 - 2)


Round 4: R O I N E C E D S

I had IRON, CRONE, wondered about OENERIC (not valid; what I was trying to recall was ONEIRIC: "of or relating to dreams"), CONSIDER, and SECONDER.

The other eights are CODEINES, CENSORED / NECROSED, and INDORSEE.

My selection: CONSIDER


Round 5: M P N I U T I D E

I had PUNT, IMPUTED, wondered about UNPITIED, and MINUTED / UNTIMED.  I thought that UNPITIED was too risky, but it turns out to be valid.  Oh, well.

The other eights are IMPUDENT and MUTINIED.  The other seven is PINETUM ("an arboretum of pines and coniferous trees").

My selection: IMPUTED
Best: UNPITIED


Round 6: Target 384 from 25 75 50 3 4 3

I recognised the target as 3*128, and a solution followed shortly: 384 = (75 + 50 + 3)*3.

My selection: 384 = (75 + 50 + 3)*3


Round 7: O I S E K O R T N

I had SOOK, ROOKIES, and STINKER / REKNITS (not valid, as it turns out) / TINKERS.  After time I noted SNOOKER as another seven, and then SNOOTIER as an eight.

SNOOTIER appears to be the only eight, and the best on offer.  I was briefly excited when the word search turned up STINKEROO, but alas it is not in the Macquarie (which surprised me).  The other sevens are TORSION / NITROSO ("containing the group NO-"), EROSION, ORIENTS / STONIER, SOOTIER, TOONIES (TOONIE: "Canadian a two dollar coin") / ISOTONE ("one of two or more atoms whose nuclei contain the same number of neutrons although they have different atomic numbers"), ENROOTS, and NOOKIES.

My selection: ROOKIES
Best: SNOOTIER


Round 8: Target 217 from 75 9 3 5 2 8

The target is 7*31, which kept me distracted for a while.  But once I abandoned that approach and looked at the standard method a solution was easy: 217 = 3*75 - 8.

Seen just now is a solution in small numbers alone: 217 = 3*(9*8 + 2) - 5.

My selection: 217 = 3*75 - 8


Round 9: FINEST REF

The pair of F's seem like they should go together, and I was forunate enough to see STIFFEN quickly and adjust to STIFFENER.

My selection: STIFFENER (1.9s)