NG 478

New game 478 is now available.


Round 1: I B H E S O F T I

I had HIES, SHOE, FISH, HOIST, FOIST, and FETISH.  After time I saw the seven of BOTHIES (BOTHY: "Scottish a hut or small cottage, especially for lodging farmhands or workers").

BOTHIES is the only seven; the other sixes are BEFITS, SOFTIE, HOSTIE (colloquial for an air hostess), and SOBEIT / TOBIES* (the Macquarie being its usual erratic self and failing to give a plural form for TOBY: "a stick used to raddle sheep not shorn to the owner's satisfaction").

My selection: FETISH
Best: BOTHIES


Round 2: B A T P A N R E T

I had PANT, BRANT (another name for BRENT, a type of goose), BATTER, and PATTERN.

The other sevens are REPTANT ("(of a plant) with a creeping habit"), TABARET ("a durable upholstery fabric made of satin and watered silk stripes"), and PARABEN (any of various chemical compounds).

My selection: PATTERN


Round 3: Target 471 from 100 1 9 8 3 6

The target is 29 away from 500, and fortunately I first considered making the 5 as 8 - 3 instead of 6 - 1.  That gave a fairly simple tweaked solution of 471 = (8 - 3)*(100 - 6) + 1.  Then I considered the factorisation 3*157, which seemed difficult to use directly, but it was possible to get close and then the remaining numbers were exactly what was needed: 471 = 3*(100 + 9*6) + 8 + 1.

My selection: 471 = (8 - 3)*(100 - 6) + 1


Round 4: N S R C I M A O R

I had CRIMS, RAINS, CRIMSON, and MANIOCS.  I wanted a final E for SCENARIO or ROMANCES, but not joy on that front.  After time I noted other sevens of MICRONS and CARRION, and wondered about CARRIONS as a possible eight.  Later checking shows that it is in the Scrabble list, and although it would be risky in practice it's arguably sustainable.

The other sevens are AIRCONS, CORSAIR, MACRONS, MASONIC / CAMIONS (CAMION: "a strongly built truck or cart for carrying heavy loads"), NARCISM (variant of NARCISSISM), CARROMS, MARRONS, and RANCORS.

My selection: CRIMSON
Best: CARRIONS (arguably)


Round 5: O O G T R D E I S

I had ROOT, ROOTED, STORED, ROOSTED, GORIEST / GOITRES / GOITERS, and STODGIER.

STODGIER is the only eight; the other sevens are EDITORS / STEROID / STORIED / SORTIED / TRIODES (TRIODE: "a radio valve containing three electrodes [...]"), TOROIDS, GOOIEST, STOOGED, SOOTIER, GOODIES, OSTEOID ("bonelike"), ODORISE / OROIDES (OROIDE: "an alloy containing copper, tin, etc., used to imitate gold"), and GOORIES (GOORIE being a varient form of KURI: "one of an extinct breed of New Zealand dogs") / GOOSIER* (GOOSY: "having goosebumps").

My selection: STODGIER


Round 6: Target 304 from 100 25 6 5 10 8

Putting the 10 and 6 aside to make the 4 left a reasonably easy subproblem of getting to 300 with the rest.  I started with 304 = (8 - 5)*100 + 10 - 6, then noted the alternative of 304 = 8*25 + 100 + 10 - 6.

My selection: 304 = (8 - 5)*100 + 10 - 6


Round 7: F W L E I U O K C

I had LIFE, WOEFUL, FICKLE, and wondered about COWLIKE.  The -LIKE fragment seems to go best with animals, but cows seemed an unlikely choice.  I decided against it, and that was the right decision.

Six is the best to be done; the other is FOLKIE (colloquial for "someone who likes or performs folk music").

My selection: WOEFUL


Round 8: Target 273 from 75 8 7 2 1 9

The target is 3*91, which is thus 3*7*13.  I went with the first option to start with, finding 273 = (75 + 9 + 7)*(2 + 1), then rearranged the second to be 7*39 and found the alternative option of 273 = ((75 + 1)/2 + 9 - 8)*7.

My selection: 273 = ((75 + 1)/2 + 9 - 8)*7


Round 9: USING CANE

The -ING fragment stood out here, and after being briefly distracted by ENCAUSING I corrected it to UNCEASING.

My selection: UNCEASING (6.6s)