NG 424

New game 424 is now available.


Round 1: C I D T A S N C O

I had a dubious DICT (not valid; DICT. is mentioned as an abbreviation for "dictionary", but only with the full stop), DICTA (plural of DICTUM), STAID, wanted a final E for ACCIDENTS but was disappointed, ACTIONS / CATIONS, and DACOITS (DACOIT: "Indian English one of a band of armed thieves; bandit").

Seven is the best to be done; the others are DISCANT (variant spelling of DESCANT), OCTADIC (adjective derived from OCTAD: "a group or series of eight"), ATONICS (ATONIC: "Phonetics an unaccented word, syllable, or sound"), SCANDIC (marked as obsolete: "of or relating to scandium"), and perhaps COCAINS (COCAIN being a variant spelling of COCAINE).

My selection: ACTIONS


Round 2: M U O T D N C G I

I had COUNT, wanted a final E for DOCUMENT (the second time so far; where are those E's hiding?), wondered about DUCTION (not valid), COMING, DICTUM, and DUCTING (valid, although not as a noun; fortunately DUCT has a verb sense listed).

The other sevens are CONDUIT (linking back to DUCTING) / NOCTUID (any of a certain family of moths).

My selection: DUCTING


Round 3: Target 459 from 75 25 9 4 7 3

Applying the standard method is tempting, since we have the offset of 9 and the 450 is 6*75.  That soon leads to the solution of 459 = (7 + 3 - 4)*75 + 9.  Then I looked at the factorisation 9*51 and found the alternative solution 459 = (75 - 25 + 4 - 3)*9.

My selection: 459 = (7 + 3 - 4)*75 + 9


Round 4: S F L T D E G A E

I had FELTS, FALSE, an uncertain FLEDGES (valid; FLEDGE: "to bring up (a young bird) until it is able to fly"), SEDATE, LEGATES, and DEFLATES.

DEFLATES is the only eight; the other sevens are DEFLATE, DEAFEST / FEASTED / DEFEATS, and EAGLETS / TELEGAS (TELEGA: "a crude Russian cart having four wheels and no springs").

My selection: DEFLATES


Round 5: E S B H I E M Y E

I had HIES and MESH.

The fives are MESHY (I'd considered this, but alas discarded it), HEBES (HEBE being a type of plant), and HEMES (HEME being an American form of HAEM, a component of haemoglobin").

But there is a six here: BESEEM ("to be fit for or worthy of").

My selection: MESH
Best: BESEEM


Round 6: Target 217 from 100 50 4 6 2 5

I recognised the target as 7*31, but that seemed a little difficult to use.  Instead I looked at getting close via 4*50 and realised that I could get the remaining 17 as 4*5 - 6/2.  A quick tweak turned that into a solution: 217 = 4*(50 + 5) - 6/2 (an alternative that is similar is 217 = 4*(50 + 6/2) + 5).  Then I considered the option of 225 - 8, getting it to work with 217 = 5*50 - 100/4 - 6 - 2.  Finally, I went back to that factorisation and saw that I could get it to work after all: 217 = (100/4 + 6)*(5 + 2).

My selection: 217 = (100/4 + 6)*(5 + 2)


Round 7: P E H O N Q A B M

I had HOPE, PHONE, BEMOAN, and HAMBONE.

HAMBONE is the only seven, and BEMOAN the only six.

My selection: HAMBONE


Round 8: Target 584 from 100 50 7 2 10 8

One option worth considering is making the target as 600 - 2*8.  I saw while writing this up a solution of that form: 584 = 7*100 - 2*(50 + 8).  However, at the time I overlooked that and instead went for 500 + 84 with 584 = 8*50 + 100 + 7*(10 + 2).

My selection: 584 = 8*50 + 100 + 7*(10 + 2)


Round 9: COT BITERS

I was nowhere near solving this conundrum.  A tough one!

My selection: [no answer]
Best: OBSTETRIC