NG 815

New game 815 is now available.

The re-run is episode 78; its rounds are here and its writeup is here.


Round 1: D T A C X E L I N

I had EXACT and CITADEL / DIALECT / DELTAIC.  After time I noted INEXACT as another seven.

The remaining seven here is EDICTAL.

My selection: CITADEL


Round 2: A T A U L R A M R

After the first seven letters I was hoping for TARANTULA; otherwise the many A's are not so good.  No such luck, though, so I had AURA, AURAL, ALARM, and ALARUM (an obsolete synonym of ALARM).  After time I found another six of TRAUMA.

The other six is TAMARA ("a mixture of spices, especially cinnamon and cloves, used in Italian cookery").  But the seven to be had is TAMARAU (a type of wild buffalo).

My selection: ALARUM
Best: TAMARAU


Round 3: Target 568 from 25 100 10 8 5 2

The target is 8*71, and that was tempting.  A little experimentation produced an answer of 568 = (100 - 25 - 2*10/5)*8.  Then I considered the alternative approach of 550 + 10 + 8, getting 568 = 5*100 + 2*5 + 10 + 8.

My selection: 568 = (100 - 25 - 2*10/5)*8


Round 4: A C O M N P S E O

I had COMA, CAMPS, POMACES (POMACE: "the pulpy residue from apples or similar fruit after crushing and pressing [...]"), COMPOSE, amused myself with SPACEMOON, and then realised that MOONSCAPE ("a view of the moon, as by photograph, painting, etc.") was the more sensible anagram of it.  After time I checked up on MONOSPACE, a term used to describe fonts, but it is not in the Macquarie.

Aside from MOONSCAPE, sevens are the best to be done.  The others are ENCAMPS and POONCES.

My selection: MOONSCAPE


Round 5: M F T E A I C D S

This seemed like it should be a good mix, but I struggled with it.  I had FAME, TAMED, and SEMATIC ("serving as a sign or warning of danger [...]").

MISACTED is in the Scrabble list, but not in the Macquarie; that leaves seven as the limit on this mix.  The other sevens are MISDATE and ACMITES (ACMITE being another name for the mineral AEGERITE).

My selection: SEMATIC


Round 6: Target 572 from 75 100 25 1 4 2

My first thought was the descent from 600, which got me to two off with 574 = 2*4*75 - 25 - 1 (note that I missed a tweak for one closer: 573 = 2*(4*75 - 1) - 25).  Then I decided that I really wanted to make this as 575 - 2 - 1, and happily was able to do so: 572 = 4*(100 + 25) + 75 - 2 - 1.

My selection: 572 = 4*(100 + 25) + 75 - 2 - 1


Round 7: N P E E D R O I N

I had PEEN ("the sharp, spherical, or otherwise modified end of the head of a hammer, opposite to the face"), DEEP, OPENED, wanted a final T for TERPENOID, PINNED, and wondered about REPINNED (not valid, fortunately).

Seven is the best to be done here: RIPENED / REPINED (REPINE: "to be fretfully discontented and out of sorts") and PIONEER / PEREION ("the thorax of crustaceans").

My selection: OPENED
Best: RIPENED


Round 8: Target 676 from 75 100 25 6 8 1

The target is the square of 26, but although one 26 is easy the other is hard to come by.  So I turned my thoughts to the standard method, and it was disappointingly easy: 676 = 6*100 + 75 + 1.

My selection: 676 = 6*100 + 75 + 1


Round 9: PETAL SUIT


My selection: [N/A -- chosen]
Best: STIPULATE