NG 371

New game 371 is now available.


Round 1: I A P M E R G E C

I had PRIME, MIRAGE, tried to recall if PRIMAGE was valid (it is: "a small allowance formerly paid by a shipper to the master and crew of a vessel for the loading and care of the goods; now charged with the freight and retained by the shipowner") and then found the safe anagram of EPIGRAM, GRIMACE, CAMPIER (not valid), and took a chance with ARMPIECE.  Unfortunately that was a risk too far, as ARMPIECE is not listed.  After time I checked on the mathematical term PREIMAGE and again this was not listed.

Seven appears to be the best on offer, with PRIMAGE / EPIGRAM and GRIMACE being the only ones.

My selection: [invalid -- ARMPIECE]
Best: GRIMACE


Round 2: R O T N U E N L O

I had TORN, OUTER, and just thought to myself that I wanted a second N for NEUTRON when it turned up.

The other seven is TRUNNEL, a variant form of TREENAIL ("a cylindrical pin of hard wood for fastening together timbers in ships, etc.").

My selection: NEUTRON


Round 3: Target 317 from 100 25 50 5 10 2

My first goal was to get close with 375, and then I noticed that the 10 and 2 could make the required final offset.  That meant a subgoal of 325 from 100 25 50 5, and that was not too hard.  I went with 317 = 5*(100 - 25) - 50 - (10 - 2), but also noticed (but did not write down) the similar 317 = 5*50 + 100 - 25 - (10 - 2).

My selection: 317 = 5*(100 - 25) - 50 - (10 - 2)


Round 4: C E S A E I L D H

I had CASE, CEASE, LEACHED, LADIES, HALIDES, and decided to take another risk with CHISELED.  This time it paid off, as the Macquarie does list this American form; interestingly, it also lists both CHISELLER and CHISELER in the derived entries, which is the only time I can recall this being done for a variant spelling of a derived form.  After time I noted CLASHED as another seven.

CHISELED appears to be the only eight.  The other sevens are LEASHED, LEACHES, HELICES / LICHEES (LICHEE being a variant spelling of LYCHEE), DECILES, and DEHISCE ("to gape; burst open, as capsules of plants").

My selection: CHISELED


Round 5: O E R M A T N E C

I had MORE, wondered about AMORE (not valid), MATER (in the sense of "mother"), ROMANCE, and CREMATE.  After time I noted another seven of MENACER, and that an L instead of the M would have yielded TOLERANCE.

The other sevens are ACETONE, ENACTOR, CRENATE ("having the margin notched or scalloped so as to form rounded teeth, as a leaf"), and OCREATE ("having an ocrea or ocreae; sheathed").  But the eight lurking here is CAROTENE.

My selection: ROMANCE
Best: CAROTENE


Round 6: Target 522 from 75 2 3 5 10 6

The target is so near 7*75 that it's hard to look anywhere else: 522 = (5 + 2)*75 - 3.

My selection: 522 = (5 + 2)*75 - 3


Round 7: B A L I A R T F U

I had BAIL, LABIA, LARIAT, FIULAR, was uncertain about FIBULAR (valid), ABLAUT ("a regular change in the vowel structure of word roots, particularly in the vowel, showing alteration in function and meaning"), and TABULAR.

The other seven is FABLIAU ("one of the short metrical tales of the medieval French poets, usually rough and humorous").

My selection: TABULAR


Round 8: Target 862 from 25 75 5 6 9 4

I had a little trouble getting started on this -- the offset of 12 seems infeasible, so the approach of 875 - 13 looks like the way to go.  But even though 875 is one of the more manageable multiples of 25 the numbers just don't work out for it.  I wrote down a fallback 863 = 9*(75 + 25 - 4) - (6 - 5), and that was the best I could do.

With good reason, as it turns out, since the target is not achievable.

My selection: 863 = 9*(75 + 25 - 4) - (6 - 5)  [1 off]


Round 9: SHINE FARM

I considered the -ISH fragment, which led naturally to FISH and it was a short step to FISHERMAN.

My selection: FISHERMAN (4.8s)