NG 343

New game 343 is now available.


Round 1: D P A R A N C N E

I had RAND (the South African unit of currency) and PRANCED.  After time I noted some sixes of PARADE, ARCADE, and ARCANE.

PRANCED is the only seven; some sources might give DRACENA as an acceptable variant of DRACAENA (a type of tree), but the Macquarie only has the latter.

My selection: PRANCED


Round 2: O E I T D H T N E

I had DIET, TITHED, HOTTIE, and TENTED.  I also observed that a C instead of the H would have allowed DETECTION.

The seven here is DINETTE ("a part of a kitchen or other room set aside for meals").

My selection: TITHED
Best: DINETTE


Round 3: Target 669 from 50 25 4 10 7 7

I approached this the wrong way, but it worked out -- I should have looked at the standard method first.  Instead I aimed to get somewhere in the vicinity and after a little while stumbled on (7 + 7)*50 to get to 700.  I could then adjust down, and realised that the final adjustment I needed was manageable from the remaining numbers: 669 = (7 + 7)*50 - 25 - (10 - 4).  If I'd thought of the standard method, then keeping the 10 and aside for that final offset would have been clear and I could have reached that solution much more quickly.  In any case, I noted that the target was also 680 - 11, and that was also a workable approach: 669 = (50 + 25 - 7)*10 - 7 - 4.

My selection: 669 = (7 + 7)*50 - 25 - (10 - 4)


Round 4: O I S T O L N D P

I had SOOT, STOOL, LOTIONS, recalled that SOLITON was not in the Macquarie, and TOPSOIL / POLOIST.

The other sevens are OPTIONS / POTIONS, PLOSION ("Phonetics the audible end of a stop consonant at break of closure"), and PONTILS (PONTIL being another name for a PUNTY: "an iron rod used in glassmaking for handling the hot glass").

My selection: TOPSOIL


Round 5: R L A M E L A E B

I had MARL, REALM, BEAMER, rightly rejected REAMABLE, and RAMBLE.

There is a seven here, though: RELABEL.  One might get away with LABELER also, but it would be risky -- LABELLER is listed, and the American variations LABELED and LABELING, but not LABELER itself.  I think the show would end up ruling against it.

There is also an eight in this mix!  It is AMARELLE, an American term for the MORELLO ("a sour cherry [...] with a dark-coloured skin and juice").

My selection: RAMBLE
Best: AMARELLE


Round 6: Target 463 from 100 75 25 50 6 2

I noted the target was near 6*75, and was about to write down a fallback 6*(75 + 2) when I realised that I was better off subtracting that 12 rather than adding it: 463 = 6*(75 - 2) + 25.  I played around with tweaking in the other direction, and found an alternative solution of 463 = 2*(100 + 75 + 50 - 6) + 25.

My selection: 463 = 6*(75 - 2) + 25


Round 7: C S E F O D U I U

I had FOES, FOCUSED, and FUCOIDS (FUCOIS being a certain type of seaweed).

Those are the only sevens.

My selection: FOCUSED


Round 8: Target 839 from 25 75 50 100 9 9

I noted that the target was near 11*75, and that migrated into a possible approach of 11*74 + 25, but that was all just a little too difficult.  Turn one of those 9's into a 1 and that would work out, however.  Instead I looked at the nearby multiple of 9 and got to two off with 837 = 9*(100 - 9 + 50/25).  After time I improved to one off with the obvious-in-retrospect 838 = 9*100 - 50 - 9 - 75/25.  I think I actually saw that within time but skipped on to other options and then forgot about it.  Certainly I was far too focused later on working up from 825 instead of down from 850.

It turns out that this is solveable, but there's only one solution and I'd have to rate it as hard to find: 839 = 9*75 + (50 - 9)*100/25.

My selection: 837 = 9*(100 - 9 + 50/25)  [2 off]
Best: 839 = 9*75 + (100/25)*(50 - 9)


Round 9: TAXED CAVE

A couple of familiar fragments here with EX- and -ED, and it was not too long until I had EXCAVATED.

My selection: EXCAVATED (2.2s)