NG 337

New game 337 is now available.


Round 1: P A I W E C R E R

I had WIPE, PACE, PACIER, WARIER, PIERCE, an uncertain PIERCER (valid), RECIPE, and AIRCREW.  I recalled that latter from as long ago as episode 333.

The other sevens are WEARIER, CAPERER, and REPRICE.

My selection: AIRCREW


Round 2: S R A H D O A I C

I had RASH, SHARD, HOARDS, RADISH, ORCHIDS, and SARCOID (which later checking revealed was not valid; I guess I've seen the Scrabble checker suggest it so many times I thought it was valid).

Seven is the best to be done; the others are HAIRDOS, CHADORS (CHADOR: "a dark voluminous mantle which envelops the body leaving only a narrow slit for the eyes, worn by some Muslim women as an outer garment"), ACARIDS (ACARID: "any animal belonging to the Acari (or Acarina), an order of arachnids including the mites, ticks, etc.") / ASCARID (one of a family of nematode worms), and ACAROID ("resembling an acarid").

My selection: ORCHIDS


Round 3: Target 340 from 75 5 5 6 8 9

The standard method suggests making this as 375 - 35, and pulling out the common factor of 5 turns this into 5*68: 340 = 5*(75 - 6 - 9 + 8).  But I played around a bit more and considered the factorisation 20*17, managing to get it to work with 340 = (75/5 + 5)*(9 + 8).

Seen while writing this up is that working up from 300 feels more natural, yielding 340 = (9 - 5)*75 + 5*8.

My selection: 340 = (75/5 + 5)*(9 + 8)


Round 4: I L P N G K O N E

I had LING (a type of fish), KILN, POLING / LOPING, and then ELOPING (rather later than I would have liked, given that I had found LOPING).  Somewhat after time I looked back at this mix and saw PLONKING for eight.

The other seven is OPENING.

My selection: ELOPING
Best: PLONKING


Round 5: S U M N E C S M A

I had MENUS, a dubious MUMNESS (not valid), AMUSES / ASSUME, and UNCASES.  After time I noted USANCES as another seven (USANCE: "Commerce the length of time, exclusive of days of grace, allowed by custom or usage for the payment of foreign bills of exchange").  I had wanted a final O for SUMMONS, but I saw later that COMMUNES would have been better.

The other sevens are UNSEAMS and possibly ACUMENS.

My selection: UNCASES


Round 6: Target 797 from 100 75 25 5 5 3

I wanted to keep the 3 aside so as to make this target as 800 - 3, but then I had difficulties getting to 800.  I wrote down a two-off 795 = 5*(100 + 75) - 3*25 - 5, and then gave up on keeping the three aside and looked at other options.  Once that was done, getting to 800 was easy and I also saw how to make another three; things get much easier if one looks at them the right way.  The resulting solution was 797 = (5 + 3)*100 - 75/25.

My selection: 797 = (5 + 3)*100 - 75/25


Round 7: H F F N E U S E T

I had HUFF, HUFFS, STUFF, and ENTHUSE.

ENTHUSE is the only seven; the six is EFFUSE.  One could make a solid argument that the rules require accepting FUNEST, although I don't know how much sympathy one would get for taking that position.

My selection: ENTHUSE


Round 8: Target 194 from 50 75 5 6 7 1

My first instinct was to make this as 200 - 6, and it did not take long to find 194 = (5 - 1)*50 - 6.  I fooled around with other ways of getting to 200, with tweaking being an option, and settled with a little inner amusement on the scenic route of 194 = 6*(75 - 1) - 5*50.

My selection: 194 = 6*(75 - 1) - 5*50


Round 9: RESHAKING

I was presented this conundrum in a different form, and tried RESHAKING as a rather dodgy answer.  It was not, so I chose that form just to prevent anyone else trying the same, nonword though it is.

My selection: [invalid -- RESHAKING]
Best: SHRINKAGE