NG 405

New game 405 is now available.


Round 1: E C R I M B W A U

I had RICE, CRIME, CAMBER, CERIUM, and IMBRUE / ERBIUM.  After time I observed the presence of MICAWBER, and was surprised when the Macquarie did list it ("a person who makes no provision for the future, trusting wholly in good fortune").  However, it requires an initial capital letter and so is not valid.

That makes the longest answer URAEMIC (adjective related to URAEMIA: "the morbid condition resulting from the retention of urinary constituents").  This is the only seven.

The other sixes are UREMIC (variant spelling of URAEMIC), UREMIA (variant spelling of URAEMIA), CUMBER ("to hinder; hamper"), BARIUM, WEBCAM, UMBRAE (plural of UMBRA: "shade; shadow"), AMEBIC (variant spelling of AMOEBIC), AECIUM ("the sorus of rust fungi [...]"), and CURIAE (plural of CURIA: "one of the political subdivisions of each of the three tribes of ancient Roman citizens").

My selection: CAMBER
Best: URAEMIC


Round 2: O R T A A B S C T

Very similar to a round from yesterday, and I had ROTA, AORTA, TABOR ("a kind of small drum [...]"), AORTAS, and ACROBATS.

This time eight is the best to be done; the others are ABSTRACT, CASTRATO, and CATBOATS (CATBOAT: "a boat with one mast, which is set well forward, and a single sail extended by gaff and boom").  The sevens are ACROBAT, CATBOAT, ABATORS (ABATOR being a legal term as opposed to the more usual ABATER), COTTARS (COTTAR: "Scottish a person occupying a plot of land under a system similar to cottier tenure"), and OSTRACA (plural of OSTRACON: "a pottery shard used in antiquity as a means of casting a vote")

My selection: ACROBATS


Round 3: Target 905 from 100 9 4 7 9 6

Hard to go past the obvious option here: 905 = 9*100 + 9 - 4.

My selection: 905 = 9*100 + 9 - 4


Round 4: O I N L T S E T U

I had LION, LIONS, SILENT, OUTLIES, and was briefly tempted by OUTLISTEN but correctly avoided it.  After time I noted UTENSIL as another seven, and a bit later ELUTIONS for eight (ELUTION being a noun derived from ELUTE: "Chemistry in chromatography, etc., to remove by dissolving, as absorbed material from an adsorbent").

The other eights are OUTLINES and LUTENIST.  I feel silly for choosing OUTLIES and missing OUTLINES!

The other sevens are OUTLINE / ELUTION, ELUSION ("the act of eluding"), TOILETS / LITOTES ("a figure of speech in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, as in not bad at all"), OUTLETS, LUNIEST, NUTLETS, TENUTOS (TENUTO being a musical mark), and TONIEST* (due to TONEY and TONY being listed as colloquial for "of high class or pretending to it").

My selection: OUTLIES
Best: OUTLINES


Round 5: A L R D O M I N K

I had LARD, MORAL, and DAIMON (variant spelling of DAEMON: "a subordinate deity [...]").  After time I noted other sixes of DOMAIN and INROAD / ORDAIN, and that led me to the seven of ORDINAL.

The other seven is MANDRIL (variant spelling not of MANDRILL, but rather of MANDREL: "a spindle, axle, bar, or arbor, usually tapered, pressed into a hole in a piece of work to support the work during the machining process, as between the centres of a lathe").

My selection: DAIMON
Best: ORDINAL


Round 6: Target 561 from 25 5 8 3 4 7

I recognised the target as the smallest Carmichael number, and knew the factorisation 3*11*17.  I experimented with a few options, but went with 561 = (25 - 8)*3*(7 + 4).

My selection: 561 = (25 - 8)*3*(7 + 4)


Round 7: U A E L R I P C J

I had RULE, PALER, and PECULIAR.

PECULIAR is the only eight; the sevens are REPLICA / CALIPER and AURICLE ("a part like or likened to an ear").

My selection: PECULIAR


Round 8: Target 923 from 50 10 3 4 5 2

I observed the factorisation 13*71, but did not see a way to make that work.  Instead I fell back on the approach of 10*92 + 3, made via 923 = (50 - 4)*2*10 + 3.

My selection: 923 = (50 - 4)*2*10 + 3


Round 9: ROMAN GIFT

A little unfair, this conundrum, but since I have mentioned the word a few times in this blog so far I'm making an excuse about seeing if people are paying attention.  The answer is FORMATING, derived from the verb FORMATE ("(of aircraft) to group in formation").

My selection: FORMATING (1.7s)