NG 330

New game 330 is now available.


Round 1: U I E T E L R N A

I had LUTE, ELUTE ("Chemistry in chromatography, etc., to remove by dissolving, as absorbed material from an adsorbent"), RUTILE (a mineral), NEUTRAL, LATRINE, TAURINE, UTERINE, correctly rejected UTERINAL (since UTERINE is the adjective), ETERNAL, and RETINAL.  After time I noted other sevens of RATLINE (a nautical term: "any of the small ropes or lines which traverse the shrouds horizontally, serving as steps for going aloft") / RELIANT / TRENAIL (variant spelling of TREENAIL: "a cylindrical pin of hard wood for fastening together timbers in ships, etc.").

Somehow, despite knowing that TRENAIL was a variant spelling of TREENAIL, I overlooked that TREENAIL was an eight in this mix.  The others are TENURIAL (adjective derived from TENURE) and ENTAILER / ELATERIN ("a white crystalline substance obtained from and constituting the active principle of elaterium, used as a cathartic").

It's not in the Macquarie, but some sources (such as Chambers) list another eight of RETINULA (a cell analogous to the retina, but for compound eyes) which has the plural form RETINULAE.  So an almost nine here, as it were.

My selection: NEUTRAL
Best: TREENAIL


Round 2: L E R S E O G W L

I had LEERS / REELS, LOWERS, and GLOWERS.

The other seven (courtesy of the single-syllable rule for adjectives) is SWELLER.

My selection: GLOWERS


Round 3: Target 670 from 100 7 4 4 3 5

Applying the standard method suggests trying to make an offset of 30 from 7*100.  The nearby tweaks would be with 7*4 and 7*5; I started with the latter to get 670 = 7*(100 - 5) + 4 + 4 - 3, then saved a number with the former and 670 = 7*(100 - 4) - (5 - 3).

My selection: 670 = 7*(100 - 4) - (5 - 3)


Round 4: R T F A E I O D M

I had RAFT, AFTER, FRAMED, DEFORM, DEIFORM ("godlike; divine"), FORMATE (as a verb: "(of aircraft) to group in formation"), FORMATED, and MEDIATOR.

The other sevens are READMIT and FOAMIER.

My selection: MEDIATOR


Round 5: E O C N B C A N I

I had ONCE, BONCE (still not valid since NG 309, but I'd forgotten that), and BEACON.

There are two sevens to be had: OCEANIC / COCAINE.  The other sixes are COCAIN (variant spelling of COCAINE), CANINE, BONNIE (variant spelling of BONNY: "Scottish fine (often used ironically"), and CONINE (variant form of CONIINE, a chemical which is the active component of hemlock").

My selection: BEACON
Best: OCEANIC


Round 6: Target 161 from 100 25 75 50 8 9

The target is 7*23, but the numbers don't cooperate to make that work.  When I abandoned that approach and looked for simpler options I soon found the solution 161 = 100 + 50 + 8 + 75/25.

There's a fair few other solutions; one which I like is 161 = 75 + 50 + 9*100/25.

My selection: 161 = 100 + 50 + 8 + 75/25


Round 7: O M S M O S I E A

I had MOMS, MOOS, MOSS, AMISS, and a desperation SAMMIES.  Fortunately this latter is valid, with SAMMIE being colloquial for a sandwich as expected.  After time I noted MIMOSAS as a safer seven.

The other seven here is SIMOOMS (SIMOOM: "a hot, suffocating sand-laden wind of the deserts of Arabia, Syria, Africa, etc.").  The sixes are SAMMIE, MIMOSA, SIMOOM, OSMOSE,

My selection: SAMMIES


Round 8: Target 373 from 25 100 3 7 2 1

The standard method applies handily; I went with 373 = 3*(100 + 25) - 2.

My selection: 373 = 3*(100 + 25) - 2


Round 9: FLAUNT LIE

I've only just now noticed how close the letter mix was to producing FLATULENT.  In any case, I chose this conundrum after being presented with something similar, although I forget what that was.  The main entry is hyphenated, but FAULTLINE is mentioned as an acceptable alternative form.

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