NG 341

New game 341 is now available.


Round 1: N H O T E M S P I

I had TONE, STONE, PIMENTOS, and SHIPMENT.  I also observed IMHOTEP in the mix, not that it is terribly useful, and the presence of HISTONE brought back memories.

The other eights are PHONIEST and NEPOTISM.  The other sevens are PIMENTO, PHONIES, MOISTEN, HOMIEST, POSTMEN, SHIPMEN, SHOPMEN, POINTES (POINTE: "(in ballet) the tip of the toe"), PEONISM (another term for PEONAGE: "the practice of holding persons in servitude or partial slavery, as to work off debt or (under a convict lease system) a penal sentence"), and OPHITES (OPHITE being a type of stone).

My selection: PIMENTOS


Round 2: O R D I I C G N O

I had CORD, CORGI, RIGID, RIDING, an uncertain CORDING, CORDON / CONDOR, ORIGIN, and CODING.  I figured that I had to chances with CORDING (a verb sense of CORD, or a noun sense).  Indeed, it does have verb senses, so all was well.

The other seven is CRINOID ("lily-like").  It has a noun sense, also, so is pluralisable if that ever comes up.

My selection: CORDING


Round 3: Target 257 from 100 25 1 3 8 5

The standard method would suggest working from 250 or 275, but I didn't see immediate solutions those ways.  I did notice that the offset from 225 was 32, though, and with an 8 around that was tempting.  I chased that train of thought and got a solution of 257 = 3*(100 - 25) + 8*(5 - 1) as a result.  Then I looked at 275 - 18, which was also interesting as 18 was 3*6.  A bit of tweaking gave another solution of 257 = 3*(100 - 5 - 1) - 25.  Finally I went back to the 250 + 7 and found a method with 257 = (5 - 3)*(100 + 25) + 8 - 1, although I accidentally wrote (100 - 25) instead so it's just as well that was not the solution I chose to declare.

My selection: 257 = 3*(100 - 5 - 1) - 25


Round 4: G E F S D I R A E

I had an unlikely FEGS (unlikely in the since that I did not think the Macquarie would list it, and indeed it does not; Chambers defines it as an interjection meaning "in faith; truly"), FRIDGES, FAERIES (FAERIE being essentially an alternative spelling of FAIRY), and rightly figured that GAS-FIRED would required the hyphen.  After time I noted GRIEFED as a possible other seven, but although the Macquarie lists GRIEFING and GRIEFER, it has not caught up with the general verb sense.  (GRIEFING: "the sabotage of online computer games, virtual sites, etc., by players intent on causing havoc rather than abiding by the rules of the game".)

There is an eight to be had here: DISAGREE.  The other sevens are READIES / DEARIES, DEFRAGS, FREESIA (a type of plant), and GREASED / DRAGEES (DRAGEE: "a small, hard, bead-shaped sweet, sometimes medicated").

My selection: FRIDGES
Best: DISAGREE


Round 5: T T R E E R L I D

I had TREE, LETTER, LITTER, and LITTERED / RETITLED (although I needed checking to confirm its validity).

The other eight is LITTERER.  The sevens are RETITLE, RETIRED / RETRIED, and RETILED.

My selection: LITTERED


Round 6: Target 873 from 100 75 25 50 4 3

I knew that 875 must be reachable from the other numbers without the 3 (thanks to a handy hint from Sam a long time ago), so 872 was surely reachable.  For some reason I could not easily see how to do that (872 = 4*(100 + 75 + 50) - 25 - 3), though, so instead my fallback was two away with 875  = (3 + 50/25)*(100 + 75).  Fortunately I continued on to explore starting from 12*75 and working down, and that yielded a solution of 873 = 3*4*75 - 25 - 100/50.  Then I noticed the factorisation 9*97 and found a second solution of 873 = ((75 + 50)/25 + 4)*(100 - 3).

There's only one other solution, based on the observation that 873 is 3*291, which is 3*(275 + 16).  With a bit of tweaking that becomes 873 = 3*(4*(50 + 4) + 75), where one of those 4's is replaced by 100/25.

My selection: 873 = 3*4*75 - 25 - 100/50


Round 7: X A F N O R M E U

I had AXON, MANOR, knew from past checking that ENAMOUR was not valid, and FOREMAN / FORAMEN ("an opening, orifice, or short passage, as in a bone or in the integument of the ovule of a plant").

The other sevens are FRAENUM ("a small fold of membrane which checks or restrains the motion of a part, as the one which binds down the underside of the tongue") and NEUROMA ("a tumour formed of nervous tissue").

My selection: FOREMAN


Round 8: Target 139 from 50 5 7 9 3 7

I started with the standard method and 139 = 3*50 - (9 + 7 - 5).  Then I played around with some options, and noted that 139 + 50 was 189, which has many useful small factors.  That led me to the alternative solution 139 = 3*7*9 - 50.

My selection: 139 = 3*7*9 - 50


Round 9: COPIED GAG

A superficially unpromising mix, and I almost gave up on it.  But then I looked at PAGED and saw the remaining letters could give a -OGIC ending, and from there was able to find PEDAGOGIC ("of or relating to a pedagogue or pedagogy", which is essentially a way of saying "related to teaching").

My selection: PEDAGOGIC (11.8s)