NG 556

New game 556 is now available.


Round 1: D R I E O C E R Z

I had RIDE, RECORD, and CROZIER ("the pastoral staff of a bishop or an abbot, hooked at one end like a shepherd's crook").

The other seven is DECRIER.

My selection: CROZIER


Round 2: Q A I E M G O P S

I had IMAGE, MAGPIE, and MAGPIES.

MISPAGE is not listed, so MAGPIES is the only seven.

My selection: MAGPIES


Round 3: Target 793 from 50 25 10 5 5 2

The offset of 7 is clearly 5 + 2, and the rest works out easily: 793 = (50 + 25 + 5)*10 - 5 - 2.

There is only one other solution: 793 = (50 - 10)*(25 - 5) - 5 - 2.

My selection: 793 = (50 + 25 + 5)*10 - 5 - 2


Round 4: A I I G H O S B W

I had GASH, was tempted by SHOWBAG but rightly guessed it would be listed as two words, and BIOGAS.

BIOGAS is the only six.  The fives are SAHIB, WHIOS (WHIO being another name for a blue duck), and AGIOS (AGIO: "a premium on money in exchange").  I was a little disappointed that SHOGI was not listed.

My selection: BIOGAS


Round 5: P A E U S T D R N

I had PEAS, PAUSE, TAUPES, UPDATES, and PASTURED.  I also wondered about UNPARTED, but later checking showed it was not listed.

DEPURANTS is not listed, so eight is the best to be done; the others are UNDRAPES, TRANSUDE, and UPTRENDS.

My selection: PASTURED


Round 6: Target 203 from 50 1 4 9 9 1

The target is very neart 4*50, so that must be the jumping off point.  I went with 203 = (50 + 1)*4 - 1, then noted an untweaked option of 203 = 4*50 + 1 + 1 + 9/9.

My selection: 203 = (50 + 1)*4 - 1


Round 7: N O C L A E S O R

I had LOAN, LANCE, CLONES, was dubious about CLONERS (not valid), LANCERS, ORACLES, recalled CORONAL ("a crown; coronet") from NG 551, and then further that it was a noun and so found CORONALS for eight.

The other eight is CONSOLER.

My selection: CORONALS


Round 8: Target 138 from 25 50 8 1 1 8

I struggled for a little, wanting to use the factorisation 6*23 but not having much hope with that.  Looking at straight addition, the target is 63 away from 75.  That led to 138 = 50 + 25 + 8*8 - 1, which I also modified to the kitchen sink solution of 138 = 50 + 25 + (8 - 1)*(8 + 1).

My selection: 138 = 50 + 25 + 8*8 - 1


Round 9: DRY VOICES

Not much to say about the process here -- the answer just seemed plain.

My selection: DISCOVERY (3.7s)