NG 377

New game 377 is now available.


Round 1: O N S E L R E A S

I had NOSE, LONERS, REASONS, and REALNESS.

The other eight is SEASONER.  The other sevens are LOANERS, OARLESS / LASSOER, LEASERS / SEALERS / RESEALS / RESALES / EARLESS, RESOLES, SEÑORES (plural of SEÑOR), SEÑORAS,  and AREOLES.

My selection: REALNESS


Round 2: E N I E H T M E K

I had THEINE ("caffeine found in tea"), wanted a final R for THEREMIN but was disappointed, rightly rejected KITEMEN, and ETHENE.

There is a seven to be had: EMETINE (a certain chemical).  The other sixes are EMETIN (variant form of EMETINE), ETHINE (another chemical), KETENE (yet another chemical), and MENTEE ("a person who is being supervised or guided by a mentor").

My selection: ETHENE
Best: EMETINE


Round 3: Target 340 from 50 6 2 10 9 9

My first thought was to make this as 34*10, which took a little doing but worked out with 340 = (50 - 9 - 9 + 2)*10.  Then I saw the simpler 340 = (9 - 2)*50 - 10.

My selection: 340 = (9 - 2)*50 - 10


Round 4: T N E O A S R U G

I had NOTE, ATONE, ATONES, SENATOR / TREASON, NATURES, OUTRAGES, and OUTRANGES (the last time OUTRANGE came up in episode 355 I was not sure about its validity, so the memory has stuck).  I also noted STURGEON as another eight.

There is another nine here: ARGENTOUS (an obsolete term meaning "containing monovalent silver [...]").  The other eights are OUTRANGE and NEGATORS / ESTRAGON (another name for tarragon).

My selection: OUTRANGES


Round 5: W R O F M T O D A

I had a joking WORF, FORM, MOTOR, FORMAT, was briefly tempted by FOOTWARD but not seriously, and DOORMAT.

DOORMAT appears to be the only seven.  The other six is TOWARD.

My selection: DOORMAT


Round 6: Target 791 from 75 9 8 5 3 1

I struggled with a few options, then tweaked to one away with 792 = (8 + 3)*(75 - 9 + 5 + 1).  That made me think of trying 792 - 1, since 792 is 11*72 = 11*8*9 and there are several options using that observation.  I started with 9*88 - 1 via 791 = (75 + 5 + 8)*9 - 1.  Then I considered 8*99 - 1 to find the alternative 791 = (75 + 3*5 + 9)*8 - 1.

My selection: 791 = (75 + 5 + 8)*9 - 1


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

I had HONE, BONE, BIONIC, noted that BITCHIN' was there but the apostrophe is forbidden, TECHNO, NOETIC ("of or relating to the mind") / NOTICE, and CHITIN.  After time, I checked and discovered that BITCHIN without an apostrophe is listed as a variant form, so I could have had seven if I'd risked it.

There is almost an eight -- BIOETHICS is listed, but not BIOETHIC.  The other sevens are BIOTECH, THIONIC ("of or relating to sulfur"), ICHNITE ("a fossil footprint"), and BENTHIC (adjective derived from BENTHOS: "the animals and plants that live on the floor of the sea or lakes").

My selection: BIONIC
Best: BIOTECH


Round 8: Target 894 from 25 3 1 1 2 3

Those small numbers are all too small, and the large target is difficult.  It is not too hard to see that the only way to get anywhere in the vicinity is to get to 900.  There are several ways to do so; I went with 900 = 3*(1 + 1)*3*2*25.

My selection: 900 = 3*(1 + 1)*3*2*25  [6 off]


Round 9: SUN SCONES

Fortunately I focused on CON- first instead of the unhelpful -NESS, and found CONSENSUS soon enough.

My selection: CONSENSUS (1.5s)