NG 476

New game 476 is now available.


Round 1: C T A N D G E M O

I had CANT, DECANT, MAGNET, MONTAGE / MAGNETO / MEGATON, pondered but correctly rejected MONTAGED (legal in Scrabble, though), and DECAGON.  After time I noted COGNATE as another seven.

With MONTAGED not being legal, seven appears to be the limit, with the remaining one being TANGOED.  A near miss is CANT DOG ("a wooden lever with a movable iron hook near the lower end, used for graspng and canting or turning over logs, etc."), which Chambers lists as a single word.

My selection: DECAGON


Round 2: R I H T A R U R D

Bleah, an unhelpful mix.  I had HAIR, decided correctly that DHURRI would not be a valid variant of DHURRIE ("an Indian cotton carpet, usually made in rectangular pieces with fringed at the end"), and THIRD.

The musical direction RITARDANDO ("gradually more slowly") is sometimes abbreviated to RITARD.  This is in my Scrabble list, but in the Macquarie it is given with a period at the end, so is not valid.  That leaves only fives to be had; the others are TRIAD, AUDIT, and DURRA ("a type of grain sorghum with slender stalks, cultivated in Asia, etc.").

My selection: THIRD


Round 3: Target 928 from 100 9 5 8 7 6

I flailed around a bit here, not getting anywhere with a 9*100 start (seen later: 928 = 9*(100 + 5 + 6 - 7) - 8), nor able to make a 10 for 10*100 - 9*8.  When I switched tacks to work up from 8*100 I realised that the offset of 128 was 8*16, and so emerged with a relatively simple solution of 928 = (100 + 9 + 7)*8.

My selection: 928 = (100 + 9 + 7)*8


Round 4: E S I E C W F A L

I had ICES, FACIES ("a general appearance of something naturally occurring, as a particular flora, fauna or ecological community"), FACILE ("moving, acting, working, proceeding, etc., with ease"), FAECES, and knew from recent checking (in NG 467) to avoid SEALIFE.

Six turns out to be the best to be done, with a few near misses of CALEFIES (Chambers gives CALEFY as "to make or grow warm"), ALEWIFE (Chambers: "a woman who sells ale"), and SEA WIFE (a type of fish, allowed in some sources as a single word but only listed as two words in the Macquarie).  The other sixes are WEASEL, FISCAL / CALIFS, SIÈCLE ("an age"), FELSIC ("of or relating to light coloured rocks containing an abundance of such minerals as felspar, felspathoid, and silica"), and FALCES (plural of FALX: "Anatomy a sickle-shaped part or process, as of the dura mater").

My selection: FACILE


Round 5: O I U C T E T I S

I had CUTIE, OCTET, OCTETS, CUTEST, CUTIES, CITIES, and wondered about OUTIES (valid).  After time I checked up on OUTCITIES, confirming that it was not valid.

Apparently OUTCITIES would be valid in Scrabble.  The Macquarie does not list OSTEITIC (although it does have OSTEITIS), so once again six is the best on offer.  The others are OUTSET, ICIEST, OUTSIT, OTITIS ("inflammation of the ear"), CUEIST ("a billiard-player"), and COITUS.

My selection: CITIES


Round 6: Target 680 from 25 100 50 75 5 2

For some reason I ignored the option of 675 + 5 at first, and instead tried descent from 700.  That got me to one away with 679 = (5 + 2)*(100 - 75/25).  Then I remembered that I could get to 675 with large numbers alone and found the solution 680 = (100 - 75)*25 + 50 + 5.  After time I amused myself with the variant solution 680 = (25*50 + 100)/2 + 5.

My selection: 680 = (100 - 75)*25 + 50 + 5


Round 7: L A S S S E E B K

I had LASS, LASSES, wondered about SEALESS (not valid), BASELESS, and an uncertain BEAKLESS (valid).

Those are both eights listed; the seven is BLESSES.

My selection: BASELESS


Round 8: Target 664 from 10 7 1 7 5 2

Even without a large number it can sometimes be helpful to think in terms of the standard method.  In this case the offset from 700 (which can be made as 7*5*2*10) is 36, which is 35 + 1.  That's a common factor of 35, which seems provocative.  I started with the one-off 665 = 7*5*(2*10 - 1), then realised that I could make the 19 and preserve the 1 to reach the target exactly with 664 = 7*5*(10 + 7 + 2) - 1.  Finally, I looked at the factorisation 8*83 and found another option of 664 = ((7 + 5)*7 - 1)*(10 - 2).

My selection: 664 = ((7 + 5)*7 - 1)*(10 - 2)


Round 9: RICH TRAIT

I chose this conundrum after being presented with ARTHRODIC.

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