NG 373

New game 373 is now available.


Round 1: I I P O B R W D C

I had BIRO, BROW, BIRD, CROWD, and BIOPIC.

BIOPIC is the only six, but there is a seven: COWBIRD.  The other fives are BORIC, IODIC, BIPOD, and ORIBI.

My selection: BIOPIC
Best: COWBIRD


Round 2: M D E A S N T E O

I had MADE, DAMES, STAMEN, noted that an I instead of an E would have allowed DOMINATES, DONATES, was dubious about STAMENED (not valid), thought about OEDEMAS but seemed to recall (correctly) that the plural form was OEDEMATA), and then quite late in the piece found NEMATODES (NEMATODE: "any of the Nematoda, the roundworms [...]").  After time I noted down NEMATODE, of course.

The other eight is ENDOSTEA (plural of ENDOSTEUM: "the vascular membrane lining the medullar cavity of a bone").

My selection: NEMATODES


Round 3: Target 595 from 75 3 9 8 7 2

The standard method led quickly to a solution of 595 = 8*75 - (7 - 2).  Then I went looking for a solution in small numbers alone, and pulled out the factor of 5; the cofactor is 119, which I recognised as 7*17.  That meant an alternative factorisation of 7*85, and after a little playing around I got that to work with 595 = ((9 + 2)*8 - 3)*7.  Then I realised that I could make a 17 as 9 + 8, and found the alternative of 595 = (9 + 8)*(3 + 2)*7.

My selection: 595 = (9 + 8)*(3 + 2)*7


Round 4: A X R N E P S E O

I had EARN, SPARE, REPOSE, REASON, OPERAS, REOPENS / OPENERS, PERSONA, and tried to decide whether PERSONAE was an acceptable plural.  I decided to chance it, and fortunately it is valid (PERSONAS is also a valid plural form).

PERSONAE is the only eight; the other seven is EXPANSE.

My selection: PERSONAE


Round 5: K U M S L I S A C

I had MUSK, SULK, SLUM, SLIMS, SILKS, MUSICAL, and MUSICALS.

The other sevens are SALUKIS (SALUKI: "a smooth silky-coated hunting dog, a member of the greyhound family, with long ears, legs, and tail") and UMIACKS (UMIACK being a variant spelling of UMIAK: "an open Inuit boat consisting of a wooden frame covered with skins and provided with several thwarts, for transport of goods and passengers").

My selection: MUSICALS


Round 6: Target 927 from 100 50 1 10 1 9

The factorisation 9*103 was clear, and a little thought turned up a solution based on that: 927 = (100 + 50/10 - 1 - 1)*9.

My selection: 927 = (100 + 50/10 - 1 - 1)*9


Round 7: R E O I N H C T E

I had IRON, HEROIN, HEROINE, and ONEIRIC ("of or relating to dreams").  After time I noted ETHERIC as another seven, and a bit later the eight of ERECTION.

The other eights are COHERENT, HEREINTO, and NEOTERIC ("modern").

The other sevens are NEITHER / THEREIN, THEREON, COTERIE, HERETIC / TECHIER (comparative of TECHY, listed as a variant spelling of TETCHY), TROCHEE ("(in prosody) a metrical foot of two syllables, a long followed by a short, or an accented followed by an unaccented"), ENTICER / ENTERIC ("related to the enteron; intestinal"), NOTICER, CITHERN (variant form of CITHER, another name for a zither), and CHEERIO.

My selection: HEROINE
Best: ERECTION


Round 8: Target 854 from 25 50 2 9 5 7

I wanted to keep 9 and 5 aside to make the final 4, but was not able to get to 850 without them.  I tried a few options for getting close (such as 11*75 and 12*75), and then considered the possibility of 9*2*50 to get to 900.  Tweaking using the 2 would let the 25 adjust that to 850, and then the remaining small numbers could yield another 2 which similarly tweaked gave the desired adjustment.  The final outcome looked like using the factorisation 2*427, but, as shown, the reasoning was quite different.  The resulting solution is 854 = (9*50 - 25 + 7 - 5)*2.

There are a few other solutions, some using the factorisation 7*122 or 14*61.  The latter, in fact, produces 854 = 14*(50 + 25 - 14), where one 14 is 2*7 and the other is 9 + 5.

My selection: 854 = (9*50 - 25 + 7 - 5)*2


Round 9: SMART IDEA

The -IEST ending did not go anywhere, and I did not have luck with -ISED.  When I shifted that to just -ISE, however, the remaining letters unravelled nicely to yield the answer of DRAMATISE.

My selection: DRAMATISE (13.5s)