NG 334

New game 334 is now available.


Round 1: Q A E E O N P L N

I had AEON, ALONE, PANEL / PLANE, and ENPLANE.  I also noted that a second O instead of one of those E's would have allowed NAPOLEON, although I was not sure it was acceptable.  (It is, though, both as a card game and as a type of pastry otherwise known as mille-feuille.)

I don't seem to have mentioned ENPLANE on the blog before, although I thought it had come up.  It means the same as EMPLANE (to go on board a plane), but to my surprise the Macquarie makes ENPLANE the main entry, with EMPLANE just a pointer to it.  Chambers takes the opposite point of view, giving EMPLANE primacy.

Anyway, ENPLANE is the only seven.  The only six is PENNAE (plural of PENNA: "a contour feather of a bird, as distinguised from a down feather, plume, etc.").

My selection: ENPLANE


Round 2: E N E O C N T A R

I had ONCE, an uncertain CONNATE (valid: "existing in a person or thing from birth or origin; inborn; congenital"), ENACTOR, CAROTENE, ENTRANCE, and correctly (but regretfully) rejected NONCREATE.

The other eight is CRETONNE ("a heavy cotton material in printed designs, used especially for curtains and loose covers").  The other sevens are CANTEEN, ACETONE, NEONATE ("a newborn child"), CRENATE ("having the margin notched or scalloped so as to form rounded teeth, as a leaf"), ENTERON ("the alimentary canal; the digestive tract"), and OCREATE ("having an ocrea or ocreae; sheathed").

My selection: ENTRANCE


Round 3: Target 265 from 100 1 1 8 2 7

Application of the standard method from 300 was not successful, but fortunately it did work out from 200: 265 = 2*100 + 8*(7 + 1) + 1.

This felt like a surprisingly difficult mix, and it turns out there are only two other solutions: 265 = 2*(100 + 1) + (8 + 1)*7 and 265 = (8*7 - 1)*(2 + 1) + 100.

My selection: 265 = 2*100 + 8*(7 + 1) + 1


Round 4: G I I R A O S T E

I had SOAR, STAGIER / GAITERS, GORIEST / GOITRES / GOITERS, and STORAGE.  After time I noted another seven of ORGEATS (ORGEAT: "a syrup or drink made from almonds (originally from barley), sugar, and a water prepared from orange flowers").

Seven seems to be the best to be done; the others are TRIAGES / SEAGIRT and AIRIEST.

My selection: GAITERS


Round 5: B E A C D L K A A

I had DACE, CABLED, and BLACKED (BLACK as a verb is "to become black", whereas BLACKEN is "to make black").  That last A was particularly unhelpful (although an O would have allowed BLOCKADE); an H instead would have yielded BLACKHEAD.

BLACKED is the only seven; the other sixes are BACKED, LACKED / CALKED, BALKED, KABALA (variant spelling of KABBALAH: "any occult or secret doctrine or science"), and CABALA (also a variant spelling of KABBALAH).

My selection: BLACKED


Round 6: Target 474 from 50 100 10 4 9 8

I wrote down a fallback 1-off 475 = 9*50 + 100/4, and then promply got lost in most unprofitable lines of exploration.  I wanted to make the target as 450 + 24, with the 24 being 3*8.  Unfortunately I got confused and ended up 50 away from the result; I caught that error almost immediately, but I'd used up all the remaining time in the meanwhile.

After time I realised that making the 450 as 3*150 would be much better than doing so as 9*50, and found a solution: 474 = (9 + 4 - 10)*(100 + 50 + 8).

My selection: 475 = 9*50 + 100/4  [1 off]
Best: 474 = (9 + 4 - 10)*(100 + 50 + 8)


Round 7: D A H T I O W M B

I had ADIT, OATH, THAW, AMBIT, DIATOM, and WOMBAT.  BIOMATH seemed too much of a stretch (as indeed it was), so six was the limit.

DIATOM and WOMBAT are the only sixes, and the best on offer.

My selection: WOMBAT


Round 8: Target 397 from 100 4 7 6 8 8

Getting to 400 is clearly easy, but the adjustment by 3 needs a little work.  I went with a tweak for my solution: 397 = 4*(100 + 8/8) - 7.

My selection: 397 = 4*(100 + 8/8) - 7


Round 9: ALE STEINS

I chose this conundrum -- one of those words that had been floating around in my head for some reason at the time.  It doesn't seem to have come up on the blog before, although I'd be quite surprised if it had not been used on the show at some point in the uncovered episodes.

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