NG 375

New game 375 is now available.


Round 1: K I C E A L T A R

I had CAKE, TACKLE, CATLIKE, ARTICLE / RECITAL, wondered about CARTLIKE (not valid), and TRICKLE.  I also noted that a B instead of the K would have allowed CALIBRATE.  I vacillated a little, but decided that CARTLIKE was a little too unlikely and correctly stayed with seven.

There is an eight here, though: TAILRACE ("the race, flume, or channel leading away from a waterwheel or the like").  The other sevens are TACKLER, TICKLER, TACKIER, and CLARKIA (a type of plant).

My selection: ARTICLE
Best: TAILRACE


Round 2: S H U N I A T D S

I had SHUN, AUNTS, HAUNTS, STANDS, DAUNTS, UNSAID, amused myself with DATSUNS (obviously not valid), HIATUS, and SHIATSU.

The other sevens are SUSTAIN / ISSUANT ("Heraldry having only the upper half seen"), NUDISTS, TUNDISH ("a conical or cylindrical open-topped receptacle with a tube at its base, forming a funnel through which fluids are led into a larger receptacle"), and SANDHIS (SANDHI: "the modification of the phonemic form of a word in the context of other forms, as when the phoneme /n/ is added to the indefinite article before a word beginning with a vowel, as in an axe").

But there is an eight here, the plant DIANTHUS.

My selection: SHIATSU
Best: DIANTHUS


Round 3: Target 211 from 75 6 8 4 7 1

I wanted to make this target from the small numbers alone, but could not see a way to it within time.  I ended up resorting to descent from 225 with 211 = (7 - 4)*75 - 8 - 6.  A little after time I considered the option of 7*31 - 6 and found the solution I was looking for: 211 = (8*4 - 1)*7 - 6.

My selection: 211 = (7 - 4)*75 - 8 - 6


Round 4: R N P E L O O U C

I had LONER, COUPLE, COUPLER, and POUNCER (remembering this from episode 347).

The other seven is PLEURON ("the lateral plate or plates of a thoracic segment of an insect").

My selection: COUPLER


Round 5: T P S A G D I E R

I had PAST, ADITS, AGISTED (AGIST: "to take in and feed or pasture livestock for payment"), and TRAIPSED.  For a moment I thought that PARTRIDGES was present, but that uses the R twice.

Neither RAPIDEST nor GRAPIEST is listed (GRAPY is, but not the superlative), so TRAIPSED is the only eight.  There are many sevens, as it to be expected from such good letters.

My selection: TRAIPSED


Round 6: Target 796 from 75 100 5 8 1 3

The standard method is clearly sufficient here, yielding 796 = 8*100 - 3 - 1.

My selection: 796 = 8*100 - 3 - 1


Round 7: S N O A W I A C L

I had SWAN, SNOW, WAINS (WAIN: "Chiefly Poetic a wagon or cart") / SWAIN ("Chiefly Poetic a lover"), and CASINO.

The sevens are OILCANS, ASOCIAL, and CANOLAS.

My selection: CASINO
Best: OILCANS


Round 8: Target 700 from 4 1 10 5 2 10

I perked up when six small numbers was the go, but alas the target was too straightforward: 700 = (5 + 2)*10*10.

My selection: 700 = (5 + 2)*10*10


Round 9: HACKED ICE

I wasn't remotely close to solving this one.

My selection: [no answer]
Best: CHICKADEE