NG 441

New game 441 is now available.


Round 1: C T A O S N R L E

I had COAT, COAST, CANTOS (CANTO: "one of the main or larger divisions of a long poem, as in Dante's Inferno"), CARTONS, SENATOR / TREASON, and ANCESTOR.

The other eights are LOCATERS / SECTORAL, ENACTORS, CENTRALS (CENTRAL as a noun: "US the office of a telephone system, in which connections are made between different lines"), and possibly LACTONES (LACTONE: "one of a class of internal esters derived from hydroxy acids").

My selection: ANCESTOR


Round 2: F T O S A D E E S

I had SOFT, TOADS, FASTED, and FEASTED / DEFEATS / DEAFEST.

Seven is the best on offer, with the other being SEDATES.

My selection: FEASTED


Round 3: Target 621 from 75 100 3 4 6 2

The target is very near 625, which is 25*25, and with two large numbers that seemed a natural starting place -- particularly since we have the offset of 4.  To get the pair of 25's we need to divide by 3 and 4, and the 6 and 2 can make the remaining 4; that could give 621 = (75/3)*(100/4) - (6 - 2).  I went with a variation, however: 621 = 75*100/(6*2) - 4.

Still within time, I looked at the various factorisations: 3*207, 9*69, 27*23.  The latter two were workable, producing 621 = (4 + 3 + 2)*(75 - 6) and 621 = (100 - 75 - 2)*(6*4 + 3).  Finally, I noticed that a simple tweaked approach was probably simplest: 621 = 6*(100 + 4) - 3.

My selection: 621 = 75*100/(6*2) - 4


Round 4: M T U M M N E D I

I had MUTE, MUTED, TEDIUM, MEDIUM, IMMUNE, briefly contemplated IMMUNED (not valid, although a noun sense of IMMUNE is listed so IMMUNES is feasible on a suitable mix), and UNTIMED / MINUTED.

The other seven is MUMMIED (MUMMY as a verb: "to make into or like a mummy; mummify").

My selection: MINUTED


Round 5: P E F O A W E H D

Gah, horrible mix.  I had HOPE, HOPED, and PAWED.  A rare case where I wanted an X, as it turns out, with HEXAPOD nearly there.

There is a six to be had here: HEAPED.

My selection: HOPED
Best: HEAPED


Round 6: Target 428 from 25 100 10 1 5 2

The target is 4*107, but making both a 4 and a 7 seemed tricky.  I put aside the 1 and 2 to make the offset of 3 and looked at getting to 425 with the rest, finding an answer of 428 = 5*(100 - 25 + 10) + 2 + 1.  Playing around with other options, I considered 2*214 and realised that I could make that: 428 = (5*25 + 100 - 10 - 1)*2.

My selection: 428 = 5*(100 - 25 + 10) + 2 + 1


Round 7: R N D N S U A E T

I had RUNS, DARNS, ASUNDER, amused myself with UNDERTANS, TANNERS, briefly thought that UNDERSTAND was available before I noted the extra use of the D, disliked DAUNTERS (rightly so -- it is not listed), and an uncertain TRANSUDE ("to pass or ooze through pores or interstices, as a fluid").  Unfortunately, I talked myself out of TRANSUDE, thinking that I was confusing it with TRANSDUCE or TRADUCE.  Oh, well.  (Back in episode 357 I commented that I hoped I recalled it if it came up again; I kind of did, but then backed off.)  After time I noted some other sevens of STUNNER, STUNNED, and UNRATED.

Beside TRANSUDE the other eight is DUNNARTS (a DUNNART being a marsupial similar to a mouse in appearance).

My selection: ASUNDER
Best: TRANSUDE


Round 8: Target 871 from 50 100 3 2 7 10

The target is near 875, which is one of my pet subtargets.  I was only able to manipulate that observation into one off, though, with 872 = (100 + 50/2)*7 - 3.  The alternative offset is 21, which is 3*7, and that looked a lot more promising, especially as it allows tweaking if needed.  I went with 871 = (10 - 2)*100 + 50 + 3*7.  While writing this up I observed an alternative of 871 = 10*100 - 3*(50 - 7).

My selection: 871 = (10 - 2)*100 + 50 + 3*7


Round 9: MODEL FARM

I chose this conundrum after being presented with the similar MISFORMED.

My selection: [N/A -- conundrum chosen explicitly]
Best: MALFORMED