NG 333

New game 333 is now available.  As an aside, after a fairly quiet spam period this blog has received a ton of it over the last couple of weeks.  If it shows up in the comments, just ignore it -- I'll get to it soon.


Round 1: E A I T C T H O D

I had CITE, ATTIC, HATTED, CATTED (CAT as a verb: "to flog with a cat-o'-nine-tails"), and CHATTED.  After time I noted CATHODE as another seven.

Seven is the limit (although Scrabble would allow ATHETOID); the other is DICTATE.

My selection: CHATTED


Round 2: E N T G E C M E H

I had GENT, TEEN, CEMENT, hoped for a final R for EMERGENT but it did not arrive, and TEGMEN ("a cover, covering, or integument").

Six is the best here, with the others being THENCE, ETHENE, and MENTEE ("a person who is being supervised or guided by a mentor").

My selection: CEMENT


Round 3: Target 214 from 100 75 50 7 6 5

The standard method is plausible; the offset of 11 is a bit more manageable than the 14, and putting the 6 and 5 aside for that gave a smaller subproblem.  It could be solved, and my solution was 214 = 7*(100 - 75) + 50 - 6 - 5.  Then I played around with some other options and realised that the three small numbers multiplied together to 210, quite near the target.  That gave me a solution that I preferred: 214 = 7*6*5 + 100/(75 - 50).

My selection: 214 = 7*6*5 + 100/(75 - 50)


Round 4: R R R A I E A W L

I had REAR, wondered about AIRER (not valid), AREA, RAILER, and WAILER (I was sure about those last to thanks to the recent NG 329).  I'd hoped for a final O instead for WARRIOR; the next vowel would have been an O, too, as it turns out.

Again six is the best to be done; the others are AERIAL / REALIA ("Philosophy realities; real things"), ARREAR, and WARIER.

My selection: RAILER


Round 5: O R O F A R N E M

I had ROOF, ROAN, MAROON, rightly rejected MAROONER, ROOFER, and FOREMAN / FORAMEN ("an opening, orifice, or short passage, as in a bone or in the integument of the ovule of a plant").  I also observed that a D instead of the N would have allowed DOORFRAME.

The other sevens are FOREARM and FORERAN.

My selection: FOREMAN


Round 6: Target 174 from 100 50 25 7 2 10

The standard method is hard to go past here; I started with 174 = 7*25 - 100/(50*2), then saw the more prosaic 174 = 100 + 50 + 25 - (10 - 7 - 2).  Finally I built the number up in pieces with 174 = 100 + 7*10 + 50/25 + 2.

My selection: 174 = 7*25 - 100/(50*2)


Round 7: A N P U U M S T D

I had PUMA, PUMAS, was dubious about UNMAPS (not valid), STAMP, rejected UNSTAMP and UNDUMPS (correctly so in both cases), and then was pleased to see DUSTMAN emerge from the mix.

The other sevens are DUSTPAN and AUTUMNS.

My selection: DUSTMAN


Round 8: Target 231 from 4 6 3 3 10 2

The target is 11*21, which is 3*7*11.  It would have been nice to use that full factorisation but the shortage of odd numbers made it difficult.  (Seen just now: 231 = 3*(4 + 3)*(6 + 10/2).)  Instead I went with 7*33 via 231 = (4 + 6/2)*(3*10 + 3), and a little later 231 = (10 - 3)*(6*(4 + 2) - 3).  Switching tacks to 3*77, I was able to save a number with 231 = ((6 + 2)*10 - 3)*3.

My selection: 231 = ((6 + 2)*10 - 3)*3


Round 9: PLAY TEETH

I may have been helped here by memories of an episode of A Word or 2, the South African version of the game that ran from 1998 to 2008.  In the single episode that seems to be on Youtube still this was the conundrum.  Although I'll note it was presented to me differently, and it had been at least a couple of years since I saw it.  I'm a little amused, but not surprised, that I reproduced the exact form of the conundrum as it appeared there.  (That episode can still be seen here: Part 1 (although it takes over eight minutes before they get into actual play), Part 2, Part3.)

My selection: TELEPATHY (2.4s)