NG 422

New game 422 is now available.


Round 1: B O A N E A W R C

I had BONE, a premature ABALONE but no L emerged, CARBON, BORANE ("a hydride of boron [...]"), and BACONER (a pig suitable for being made into bacon and ham).  After time I noted CROWEA as another six.

The other seven is COWBANE.  The other sixes are BEACON, ARCANE, and CORNEA.

My selection: BACONER


Round 2: A T M U T F A E G

I had MUTT, TUFA ("a porous mass of mineral calcium carbonate deposited round a spring"), and MUTATE.

Six does seem to be the best to be done, with the others being GATEAU and GUTTAE (plural of GUTTA: "a drop, or something resembling one").

My selection: MUTATE


Round 3: Target 942 from 3 8 9 3 4 4

One useful technique with six small and large targets is to divide the target by the largest small number, and work to that as an approximation.  In this case, the target is near 9*105 = 945, and 105 is factorisable as 3*5*7.  The goal is to get to 105 with the other numbers, preferably retaining a 3 to get to the target exactly, or a 4 to get close.  Since we have a 3, a sensible subgoal would be to make the remaining 5*7 = 35, and a little experimentation turned up 8*4 + 3 = 35.  Putting it all together got me to one off with 941 = (8*4 + 3)*3*9 - 4.

It turns out that the target is unreachable, and my answer is the only way to get to one off.

My selection: 941 = (8*4 + 3)*3*9 - 4  [1 off]


Round 4: A I N C D O R U S

Heh -- the same mix as from yesterday's game.  I had DRAIN, CANDOUR, DINOSAUR, CANDOURS, and SARDONIC.

As we saw then, those are the only eights.  For the other sevens, refer back to NG 421.

My selection: DINOSAUR


Round 5: C I I K E O R T S

I had COKE, TICKER, STICKER, STICKIER, ROCKETS, and ROCKIEST / STOCKIER.

The remaining eight is CORKIEST*.  The other sevens are RESTOCK / STOCKER (by abuse of the single-syllable rule for adjectives), RICKETS / TICKERS, EROTICS (EROTIC: "an erotic poem"), ICKIEST*, and ERISTIC ("someone who engages in disputation; controversialist").

My selection: STICKIER


Round 6: Target 757 from 75 100 4 6 8 1

Getting to 750 first was pretty clear, and it went pretty easily from that point: 757 = (6 + 4)*75 + 8 - 1.  Then I looked at the descent from 800 and found a tweaked alternative: 757 = 8*(100 - 6) + 4 + 1.

My selection: 757 = (6 + 4)*75 + 8 - 1


Round 7: U G I H A P S P I

I had PIGS, rejected GAPPISH (rightly; GAPPY is listed, incidentally), and late in the piece found the six of UPPISH (in typical fashion the primary definition is a cricket one).

The other six is AGUISH (adjective derived from AGUE: "a fit of shaking or shivering as if with cold; a chill").  The fives are PIPIS, PUPAS, and APISH / APHIS ("any insect of the genus Aphis").

My selection: UPPISH


Round 8: Target 807 from 75 100 8 6 3 5

Starting with 8*100 was pretty clear, and the question was whether 7 could be made from the rest.  I almost overlooked the right option, but happily spotted it before moving on: 807 = 8*100 + 5 + 6/3.  I also noted that the target is 825 - 3*6, and that gave another solution by descent from 900: 807 = ((8 - 5)*100 - 6)*3 - 75.

My selection: 807 = 8*100 + 5 + 6/3


Round 9: SENATE HUH

A pair of H's is unusual, and I was a little lost at first.  I spotted ENTHUSE partially there, but success came from considering the UN- fragment.

My selection: UNSHEATHE (10.5s)