NG 402

New game 402 is now available.


Round 1: C E S O I A N B R

I had ICES, CANOES, wondered about BACONISE (not valid, alas), CORBIES (CORBIE: Scottish for "a raven or crow"), amused myself further with the idea of a BACONISER (also not valid), and was about to note down CARBONS as another seven when I realised I could transform it to CARBONISE.  Woohoo, full monty!

There are a few eights to be had here: SCENARIO, CARBINES / BRISANCE ("the shattering power of high explosives"), AEROBICS, and BARONIES.

My selection: CARBONISE


Round 2: W U T E G I F T A

It was looking very unpromising until that final A.  I had GIFT, TWIT, and FATIGUE.

FATIGUE is the only seven; the sixes are AUGITE (a mineral) and GUTTAE (plural of GUTTA: "a drop, or something resembling one"; I think that is drop in the water sense, not in the sense of a fall).

My selection: FATIGUE


Round 3: Target 417 from 75 25 50 4 1 4

With slightly different large numbers I would have made this as 4*(100 - 1) + 25 - 4, but it did not quite work out.  Fortunately I realised that 4*(100 + 4) + 1 also worked, and so found the solution 417 = 4*(75 + 25 + 4) + 1.

There is (essentially) only one other solution, using a variation of the first idea (and I'm annoyed at missing it): 417 = (4 + 4)*(50 - 1) + 25.

My selection: 417 = 4*(75 + 25 + 4) + 1


Round 4: O L E A D C N P I

I had ALOE, LOAD, LACED, CANDLE, DEACON, and CANOPIED.

There are two other eights here: PALINODE ("a poem in which a poet retracts something said in a former poem") and PANICLED (adjective derived from PANICLE: "any loose, diversely branching flower cluster").

The sevens are PANICLE / PELICAN / CAPELIN (a type of fish), POLICED, OPALINE, CELADON (a shade of green; also a type of china with a light green colour), PLAINED (PLAIN having an archaic verb sense meaning "complain"), PINOCLE (variant spelling of PINOCHLE, a type of card game), OEDIPAL, NODICAL ("of or relating to the node or nodes", for the astronomical sense of "node"), PLACOID ("platelike, as the scales or dermal investments of sharks"), PEDOCAL ("a type of soil rich in lime, having accumulations of calcium carbonate"), and APNOEIC (adjective derived from APNOEA: "suspension of respiration").

My selection: CANOPIED


Round 5: R B S I T O E S M

I had RIBS, ORBITS, BOSSIER, MISTERS, rightly rejected SOMBREST, and TIMBERS.

There are eights here after all: MOBSTERS and MORTISES / EROTISMS.

My selection: TIMBERS
Best: MOBSTERS


Round 6: Target 509 from 25 100 2 6 7 9

I went for a fairly straightforward 509 = (7 - 2)*100 + 9.

My selection: 509 = (7 - 2)*100 + 9


Round 7: R F A N D T O N A

I had RAND (the South African unit of currency) / DARN, DRAFT, correctly avoided ONDRAFT, and FANTOD ("a temperamental mannerism or affectation; performance").

The seven here is FONDANT.  The other six is NATRON (a mineral).

My selection: FANTOD
Best: FONDANT


Round 8: Target 477 from 75 25 50 3 10 2

I noted the factorisation 9*53, but a 9 was hard to come by (although seen now is the option 477 = (10 + 2 - 3)*(50 + 75/25)).  Instead I applied the standard method for 477 = 10*50 - 25 + 2.

My selection: 477 = 10*50 - 25 + 2


Round 9: NOT LEMONS

I chose this conundrum after being presented with the similar NONMETALS.

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