NG 372

New game 372 is now available.


Round 1: D T C E O I L S D

I had DATE, TOILED, CESTOID ("(of worms) ribbon-like"), wanted a final R for CLOISTER but was disappointed, COLDEST, COLDIES, and TODDIES.  A little after time I saw the eight of DELTOIDS (and thus the seven of DELTOID).

DELTOIDS is the only eight, and the best to be done since the Macquarie does not list CLODDIEST explicitly. The other sevens are SCOLDED / CODDLES, TODDLES, DILDOES (since DILDOE is listed as a variant spelling of DILDO), DELICTS (DELICT: "(chiefly in Scotland) a legal offence for which the person wronged has the right to a civil remedy"), COEDITS, and CITOLES (CITOLE being a type of musical instrument).

My selection: CESTOID
Best: DELTOIDS


Round 2: U A F Z E L T R S

I had FAZE, FAULT, rightly rejected FAULTER and FAULTERS, LUSTRE / RESULT, AZURES, and FALTERS.  I felt a little silly to take so long to see that after rejecting FAULTERS, but that's how it goes sometimes.

The Macquarie does not list REFUTAL, so REFUTALS is not valid and seven is the best to be done.  The other sevens are REFUSAL / EARFULS, FLUSTER / RESTFUL / FLUTERS, SALUTER, TEARFUL, ZESTFUL, and SULFATE.

My selection: FALTERS


Round 3: Target 284 from 25 75 4 4 5 9

My first observation was that the target was 4*71, and that was pretty much as far as I went: 284 = (75 - 4)*4.

My selection: 284 = (75 - 4)*4


Round 4: C O R H K I E A N

I had ROCK, ICHOR / CHOIR, OCHREA (variant spelling of OCREA: "a sheathing part [...]"), an uncertain HACKIER (not valid), and a dubious INREACH (also not valid).  I erred by choosing HACKIER, alas.  After time I saw CHOKIER as a valid seven (it has come up a few times before), ANCHOR as another six, and noted that a final T instead of the N would have allowed ARTICHOKE.

CHOKIER appears to be the only seven.  There are more sixes than I feel like listing (two commonish ones being HEROIN and HACKER).

My selection: [invalid -- HACKIER]
Best: CHOKIER


Round 5: E R C P O E D I T

I had CROP, CREEP, PROCEED, EROTIC, DECREPIT, and wondered about DEPICTOR (not valid).  After time I noted DEPICTER (valid), RECEIPT, and RECOPIED.

Those appear to be all the eights; the other sevens are PREDICT, RECITED, PIERCED, PERIDOT / DIOPTRE ("a unit of refractive power of a lens [...]") / DIOPTER (American spelling of DIOPTRE), COTERIE, CORDITE (a type of explosive), PERCOID ("resembling a perch", where that is the fish sense of "perch"), PICOTED (PICOT as a verb: "to make or ornament with picots", where PICOT as a noun is "one of a number of ornamental loops in embroidery, or along the edge of lace, ribbon, etc."), PICOTEE ("a variety of carnation whose petals have an outer margin of another colour, usually red"), and EPIDOTE (a type of mineral).

My selection: DECREPIT


Round 6: Target 188 from 25 75 7 9 4 5

The offsets of 12 and 13 are both easily formable from the small numbers; I went with 188 = 7*25 + 9 + 4 first, then 188 = 4*(75 - 25) - 7 - 5.

My selection: 188 = 7*25 + 9 + 4


Round 7: A M O H I S T E L

I wrote down a speculative MOHAIR but the R did not arrive.  Instead, I had SHAM, ATOMS, ATOMISE, HALITES, ATHEISM, and HOSTILE.

The eight here is HELOTISM ("serfdom").  The other sevens are LOATHES, ISOLATE, HAMLETS, HOMIEST, HOLIEST / EOLITHS (EOLITH: "a crude flint implement characteristic of the earliest stage of human culture, shaped by, rather than for, use"), MALTOSE, ATOMIES (plural of ATOMY, an archaic term for "an atom; a mote"), MOTILES (MOTILE: "Psychology someone in whose mind motor images are predominant or especially distinct"), and SOMITAL (adjective derived from SOMITE: "any of the longitudinal series of segments or parts into which the body of certain animals is divided").

My selection: ATOMISE
Best: HELOTISM


Round 8: Target 348 from 25 100 50 7 3 5

Getting close with 7*50 is pretty clear, and the adjustment is straightforward: 348 = 7*50 - (5 - 3).

My selection: 348 = 7*50 - (5 - 3)


Round 9: CASINO RUG

I chose this conundrum after flipping past it in the dictionary at some point earlier.

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