NG 551

New game 551 is now available.


Round 1: O O C L D N R A F

I had COOL, COLD, CONDO, CONDOR, and FALCON.  A little after time I saw CORONAL for seven.

The other sevens are CALDRON (variant spelling of CAULDRON) and CARDOON (a type of plant).

My selection: FALCON
Best: CORONAL


Round 2: M H T N S O U E K

I had MOTHS, MONTHS, MOUTHS, and MOUNTS.  After time I checked on SMOKEHUT, but as expected there's no such word.

Six is the best to be done here; the others are TOKENS, MUSKET, HONEST / ETHNOS (ETHNO: "Colloquial (derogatory) a migrant"), MONTES (MONTE: "Colloquial a certainty"), KNOUTS (KNOUT: "a kind of whip or scourge formerly used in Russia for flogging criminals"), METHOS (METHO: "someone addicted to drinking methylated spirits"), and maybe HOKUMS.

My selection: MONTHS


Round 3: Target 121 from 75 2 2 9 6 1

The target is the square of 11, so of course my first thoughts were for that.  I first found 121 = (6*2 - 1)*(9 + 2), then found a kitchen sink approach of 121 = ((75 + 2)/(6 + 1))*(9 + 2).

My selection: 121 = (6*2 - 1)*(9 + 2)


Round 4: T O R E G W U E N

I had ROTE (just to be different), TOWER, and OUTGREW, rightly rejecting TONGUER.

OUTGREW is the only seven, and the best to be done.

My selection: OUTGREW


Round 5: M A T A I F I P A

I had TAFIA ("a kind of rum made from the lower grades of molasses, refuse sugar, etc., in Haiti") and MAFIA.  The only plausibly longer word I could think of is FATIMA, but not surprisingly the only entries for it are as a name.

Those are the only two fives, which again are the best to be done.

My selection: TAFIA


Round 6: Target 189 from 50 25 1 2 10 8

I recognised the target as 7*27 or 9*21, and started with 189 = (10 - 1)*(25 - 8/2).  I saved a number with 189 = (8 - 1)*(25 + 2), then noted the simpler 189 = 8*25 - 10 - 1.

My selection: 189 = (8 - 1)*(25 + 2)


Round 7: G R E A I E N S D

I had RAGE, GRAIN, SEARING / ERASING, RESIGNED, rightly rejected GARDENISE, GRENADES, and REGAINED.  There was no joy to be had with SEEDGRAIN, so eight looked like the limit.

The Scrabble list does turn up a nine -- GESNERIAD -- but it's not in the Macquarie.  The leaves eight as the best, with the others being DISAGREE, DESIGNER / REDESIGN / REEDINGS (REEDING: "a small convex or semicylindrical moulding, resembling a reed"), READINGS / GRADINES (GRADINE being a variant spelling of GRADINE: "one of a series of steps or seats raised one above another") / DERAIGNS (DERAIGN: "to dispose troops for (battle)"), NEARSIDE / ARSENIDE, DERANGES / GRANDEES (GRANDEE: "a Spanish nobleman of the highest rank"), and ANERGIES* (ANERGY: "Pathology deficiency of energy").

My selection: RESIGNED


Round 8: Target 205 from 25 50 100 3 1 8

Getting close with 8*25 seems clear, and I opted for the tweaked solution of 205 = 8*(25 + 1) - 3.  Then I saw the untweaked version of 205 = 8*25 + 3 + 100/50.

My selection: 205 = 8*(25 + 1) - 3


Round 9: DULY ALIGN

The -LY ending seemed highly likely, and the option of -ALLY was also there.  There was further the -ING fragment, and I optimistically tried LAUDINGLY.  Oh, well.

My selection: [invalid -- LAUDINGLY]
Best: LANGUIDLY