NG 344

New game 344 is now available.


Round 1: W N N K E O A E C

I had KNEW, KNOWN, and WEAKEN.

Six is the best to be done; the other is AWOKEN.

My selection: WEAKEN


Round 2: T O P A R H R U G

I had ATOP, PART, PARROT, AUTHOR, TROUGH, RAGOUT, and briefly considered OUTGRAPH but rightly rejected it.  That led me to observe, after time, that another A instead of an R would have allowed AUTOGRAPH.

Again, six is the best to be done.  The other sixes are UPROAR, RAPTOR, and TURGOR ("the state of being swelled or filled out").

My selection: AUTHOR


Round 3: Target 880 from 75 100 50 25 7 10

My first instinct was to make this as 88*10, which would probably require making the 88 as 75 + 13 or 100 - 12.  I went with the former approach to find 880 = (75 + 7 + (100 + 50)/25)*10, but observed (without writing it down) the alternative of 880 = (100 - 7 - (75 + 50)/5)*10.  Then I considered that the target was near my favourite 875, and turned that into a solution of 880 = (100 + 25)*7 + 50/10.  Finally I looked at the option of 8*110, and found the solution of 880 = (100 + 10)*(7 + (50 + 25)/75).

My selection: 880 = (100 + 25)*7 + 50/10


Round 4: T M E S H G E E I

I had STEM, THEM, and THEMES.  Another difficult mix, and I could not better six.

Once again six is the best on offer.  The others are EIGHTS, ESTEEM / MESTEE (variant form of MUSTEE, an obsolete term for "the offspring of a white person and a quadroon; octoroon"), SEETHE, and THEISM.

My selection: THEMES


Round 5: A D A T S C U N B

I had DATA, ACTS, STAND, noted DATSUN but obviously could not choose it, wondered about UNCAST (not valid), was tempted by CABSTAND, and ABDUCTS.  I think I might have chanced CABSTAND if not for ABDUCTS, but it was too risky under the circumstances.  Fortunate judgement on my part, as the Macquarie does not list CABSTAND; it is in the Scrabble list that I use, however.

ABDUCTS seems to be the only seven, and the best to be done.  The sixes are ABDUCT, ABACUS, DAUNTS, DUCATS, SANCTA (one plural form of SANCTUM), and CANTUS ("a song; melody").

My selection: ABDUCTS


Round 6: Target 869 from 25 50 75 100 6 3

Helped along by the previous round, I wanted to make this as 875 - 6.  Fortunately it conveniently worked out with 869 = (75 + 50)*(100/25 + 3) - 6.  I also noted the alternative version of 869 = (100 + 75)*(50/25 + 3) - 6.

My selection: 869 = (75 + 50)*(100/25 + 3) - 6


Round 7: A T O R D S O E D

I had ROTA, ROADS, ROASTED / TORSADE ("a twisted cord"), and ROOSTED.  After time I noted that an R instead of a D would have allowed TOREADORS for nine.

Seven appears to be the limit, a bit to my surprise.  The others are DOTARDS and DEODARS (DEODAR being a type of tree).

My selection: ROASTED


Round 8: Target 501 from 75 6 6 5 5 4

The target is 3*167, but that did not seem easy to use.  Instead I looked at it as 6*75 + 51, and erroneously thought that I could make 51 as 6*6 + 5*5.  Of course, that adds up to 61, not 51.  Fortunately I caught that error in time and was able to compensate, getting the solution 501 = 6*(75 + 6) + 5*4 - 5.  After that, I looked at the option of 525 - 24 and found the perhaps easier solution of 501 = (6 + 5/5)*75 - 4*6.

My selection: 501 = 6*(75 + 6) + 5*4 - 5


Round 9: OPIUM RISE

I chose this conundrum after being presented with the similar mis for EMPORIUMS.

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