NG 423

New game 423 is now available.


Round 1: S O N E C U E S G

I had NOSE, CONES, OUNCES, wished that the last vowel had been an R instead for SCROUNGES (but the next consonant was a T, so that would not have happened), and CONGEES (CONGEE: "a Chinese dish consisting of a thick soup or porridge made from rice or other grain, flavoured with various meats or vegetables; a common breakfast dish in Asia").

The plural of GENUS is GENERA, not GENUSES, so the only other seven is NEGUSES (NEGUS: "a beverage made of wine and hot water, with sugar, nutmeg, and lemon").

My selection: CONGEES


Round 2: T O W A R E N I F

I had ROTA, ORATE, and FAINTER.

The other sevens are TAWNIER / TINWARE (a pair that Sam will probably recall from episode 394) and FORWENT.

My selection: FAINTER


Round 3: Target 237 from 100 50 5 7 8 10

The target is 3*59, but that seemed difficult to use.  The option of 250 - 8 - 5 seemed worth investigating, and I was able to get it to work with 237 = 7*50 - 100 - 8 - 5.  Seen while writing this up is the alternative of 237 = 100 + 50 + 8*10 + 7.

My selection: 237 = 7*50 - 100 - 8 - 5


Round 4: Q C S E M P O G E

Gah, a surprisingly unhelpful set.  I had an unsure PECS (valid), COMPS, and POEMS.  After time I noted SCOPE as another five, but could not better it.

Five looks like the limit here; the others are COMES, MOPES / POMES (POME: "the characteristic fruit of the apple family, as an apple, pear, quince, etc."), COPES / COPSE, OGEES (OGEE: "a double curve (like the letter S) formed by the union of a concave and a convex line"), and CEPES (CEPE: "a soft, edible, early-decaying mushroom of the genus Boletus [...]").

My selection: POEMS


Round 5: N S T H A B E I N

I had TANS, BATHS, BATHES, and was tempted by NEATISH and TANNISH but correctly rejected them.  Something was nagging at me throughout, but it took me a while after time until I finally saw ABSINTHE.

ABSINTHE is the only eight; the sevens are ABSINTH (variant spelling of ABSINTHE), HENBITS (HENBIT being a type of weed), BASINET ("a steel globe-shaped medieval military cap or helmet"), and STHENIA ("strength; excessive vital force").

My selection: BATHES
Best: ABSINTHE


Round 6: Target 938 from 100 75 6 4 7 2

The target is near that magic value of 937½ that is 25*75/2.  That meant that (100/4)*75/2 was an approximate starting point, and the required offset by 1 before the division was achievable.  The resulting solution is 938 = (75*100/4 + 7 - 6)/2.  Then I investigated the alternative of combining the divisions to save a number with 938 = (100*75 + 4)/(6 + 2).

My selection: 938 = (100*75 + 4)/(6 + 2)


Round 7: O S I U P A D R L

I had OPUS, PIOUS, SPIRAL, and PARLOUS ("perilous; dangerous").

The eight here is POULARDS (POULARD: "a hen spayed to improve the flesh for use as food").  The other sevens are POULARD, UPLOADS, DIPOLAR (adjective derived from DIPOLE: "a pair of equal and opposite electric charges or magnetic poles, forces, etc."), SPAROID ("resembling or related to the Sparidae, a family of deep-bodied marine fishes, as the Australian snapper and bream"), SPIRULA (a type of mollusc), and SUDORAL (adjective derived from SUDOR: "sweat; perspiration").

My selection: PARLOUS
Best: POULARDS


Round 8: Target 573 from 50 8 7 9 2 10

I first considered trying to adjust from 10*(50 + 7), but while trying to get that to work I realised that 590 - 17 might be more achievable (having seen that I could make 17 as 9 + 8).  That mutated a bit while sorting it out, but led to a solution of 573 = (50 + 9)*10 - 8 - 7 - 2.  Then I realised that 580 - 7 was a rather simpler way to proceed, finding 573 = (50 + 8)*10 - 7.

My selection: 573 = (50 + 8)*10 - 7


Round 9: RAG BIRDIE

I jumped the wrong way here with a wild guess of AIRBRIDGE.  I don't think I would have solved it within time regardless.

My selection: [invalid -- AIRBRIDGE]
Best: BRIGADIER