NG 431

New game 431 is now available.  Apologies for the lateness, I lost track of which day it was.


Round 1: L U I M E E S R L

I had MULE, SLIME, MILLERS, an uncertain ILLUMES (valid; ILLUME is a poetic form of ILLUMINATE), rightly rejected ILLUMERS, and then found SMELLIER for eight.  After time I noted MISRULE as another seven.

SMELLIER looks like the only eight; the other sevens are LEISURE, SMELLER, MULLERS (MULLER: "an implement of stone or other substance with a flat base for grinding paints, powders, etc., on a slab of stone or the like"), and RELUMES (RELUME: "to light or illuminate again").

My selection: SMELLIER


Round 2: C G S R A D A N A

I had CRAGS, CARDS, amused myself with CANADAS, an uncertain GRANDS (valid; the noun sense I was thinking of for GRAND was that of a piano, and this does get an explicit mention with the desired plural form), and wondered about GASCAN (not valid).  After time I noted another six of ARCANA (plural of ARCANUM: "a secret; a mystery, especially of tarot cards").

The findable seven here is CANARDS (CANARD: "a false story, report, or rumour; a hoax"), and it appears to be the only one.  However, there is an eight: SANDARAC, a type of tree (and, more commonly, the resin obtained from it).

My selection: GRANDS
Best: SANDARAC


Round 3: Target 603 from 100 10 6 9 5 3

I went for the simple 603 = 6*100 + 3, and did not look much past that point.

My selection: 603 = 6*100 + 3


Round 4: U R E L O E D P C

I had LURE, LOUDER, COUPLED, COUPLER, was dubious about RECOUPLED (not valid), DECUPLE ("tenfold"), DECOUPLE, was also dubious about DECOUPLER (not valid), PRODUCE, and then a small brain failure with PROCLUDE (obviously I was partly thinking of PRECLUDE, but also something else I can't figure out).  After time I noted PRECLUDE as a safe eight.

The other eight is RECOUPED.

I had a small brain failure here, somehow coming up with PROCLUDE.  The tempting nines of RECOUPLED / DECOUPLER are both invalid.

My selection: [invalid -- PROCLUDE]
Best: PRECLUDE


Round 5: R T A W N E O T E

I had WART, an uncertain WANTER (valid), NOTATE, and ROTATE.  I also amused myself with NETWARE, but obviously not seriously.  After time I saw ENTREAT for seven.

The other seven is TERNATE ("consisting of or involving three") / RATTEEN (obsolete form of RATINE: "a rough woollen cloth, formerly in use chiefly for travelling coats").

My selection: ROTATE
Best: ENTREAT


Round 6: Target 763 from 50 1 7 3 5 2

Applying the standard method, I first wanted to get to 15*50 = 750; the offset is 13 which is 2*7 - 1 but instead I went with a tweak: 763 = 3*5*(50 + 1) - 2.  Then I considered the factorisation 7*109 and found the alternative solution 763 = (2*(50 + 5) - 1)*7.

My selection: 763 = 3*5*(50 + 1) - 2


Round 7: O O I F F Q I R N

Gah, what a hideous set.  I had ROOF, IRON / NORI, and observed ORION but clearly that was proper.

Indeed, four is the best to be done here.  The others are RIFF, NOIR, INFO / FINO ("(of sherry) extremely dry"), and FIRN (another term for NÉVÉ: "granular snow accumulated on high mountains and subsequently compacted into glacial ice").

My selection: ROOF


Round 8: Target 734 from 50 6 8 10 8 3

I first thought to make this as 15*50 - 16, with two ways to make 16.  But making 15 was too hard so I switched my aim to 10*74 - 6 instead and found a solution of 734 = (50 + 3*8)*10 - 6.  Switching tacks to work up from 700 gave me another solution: 734 = (8 + 6)*50 + 3*8 + 10.

My selection: 734 = (50 + 3*8)*10 - 6


Round 9: UPLOAD PET

One of those ones which I pretty much just saw at once, although the time is a bit slower than one might expect for that.

My selection: POPULATED (1.9s)