NG 537

New game 537 is now available.


Round 1: A X T I B R O U P

I had TAXI, RATIO, and ABRUPT.  After time I noted other sixes of RUBATO ("the technique of varying the tempo within a bar of music without either lengthening or shortening the bar") / TABOUR (variant spelling of TABOR: "a kind of small drum [...]").

Six is the best to be done; the other is UTOPIA.

My selection: ABRUPT


Round 2: E D F R A E T C A

I had FARED, FEARED, CRAFTED, and REACTED / CREATED.

Seven is the limit here; the others are CATERED, FACETED, AERATED, DEFACER / REFACED, AFEARED, and DRAFTEE.

My selection: CRAFTED


Round 3: Target 837 from 75 50 25 100 1 8

The first thing I noticed was that the target was near 11*75, but the combination seemed difficult to work with.  Then I went for the more obvious start of 8*100; the offset of 37 is familiar as very near half of 75.  That worked out very nicely, giving the solution 837 = 8*100 + (75 - 1)/(50/25).

There's only one other solution, using the similar approach of 1674/2 via 837 = ((75 - 8)*25 - 1)/(100/50).

My selection: 837 = 8*100 + (75 - 1)/(50/25)


Round 4: R L I N S O C E E

I had LOINS, CLONES, SILENCE, was pleased to spot SILENCER, and then surprised and even more pleased a little later to spot SCORELINE.

The other eights are RECLINES / LICENSER, LICENSOR / INCLOSER, and CINEOLES (CINEOLE being a variant of CINEOL, a particular terpene ether).  I keep being surprised that the Macquarie does not list ENSORCEL, requiring the spelling ENSORCELL (Chambers agrees with it, I should add; it just surprises me).

My selection: SCORELINE


Round 5: I H T E N L M E H

I had THINE, LITHE, THEINE ("caffeine found in tea"), had a small brain failure when I speculated about METHINE as a variant spelling of METHYNE (there is no such compound as methyne, of course, since the meth- prefix denotes a single carbon atom and alkynes require at least two carbon atoms), and then saw HEMLINE as a safe seven.

HEMLINE is the only seven, but there is an eight: HELMINTH ("a worm, especially a parasitic worm").  The other sixes are HELMET and EMETIN (a certain alkaloid).

My selection: HEMLINE
Best: HELMINTH


Round 6: Target 319 from 50 100 25 2 5 1

The offset of six is naturally formed as 5 + 1, meaning that we want to get to 325 with the remaining numbers.  That turned out to be possible, giving the solution 319 = 2*(100 + 50) + 25 - 5 - 1.

This turns out to be the only solution.

My selection: 319 = 2*(100 + 50) + 25 - 5 - 1


Round 7: O W Y A M O T I N

I had ATOM, ATOMY (archaic for "an atom"), MOTION, and MOTOWN (I would have thought it was proper, but later checking showed that it has lowercase senses listed).

Those are the only sixes, and the best to be done.  I was all set to go on the usual gripe about TOYWOMAN not being listed, but then it turned out that the Macquarie does not have TOYMAN, either.

My selection: MOTION


Round 8: Target 278 from 25 75 9 7 8 2

I struggled far harder with this than I should have.  I wrote down a fallback one-off 277 = 8*25 + 75 + 2, and was unable to better it within time.  It took a while after time before I recalled that the offset of 3 was also an offset of 72, and so find the solution of 278 = 7*(75 - 25) - 9*8.

My selection: 277 = 8*25 + 75 + 2  [1 off]
Best: 278 = 7*(75 - 25) - 9*8


Round 9: UP OSTRICH

The -ISH fragment was a little distracting, but -SHIP proved to be the useful one.

My selection: COURTSHIP (15.6s)