Current opening theory dictates that I exchange A. But Quackle likes 8H AL followed by 8G LA, probably to reduce Joey's average score next turn, despite increasing Joey's likelihood of getting a bingo and decreasing mine. #strategysmall
Damn, I could have played a whole ass valid word and wont the game. Even 6B V(u)LN at 14 or 5B T(R)ONS at 10 lets me go out in two. I didn't even need to bingo. #STRATEGYSADDEST and also #knowledgesaddest for the phony
D1 CHAtEAU and D1 CHApEAU. Not me looking for a V to play VAUCH, not spotting it in AVIATOR, and missing every bingo ever while i was at it, too #knowledgesaddest
gotta do W(A)IF here for sure, gives back way less and keeps a very prone leave, especially now that OUTA looks like it's mine. INteresting that WIFTY sims better than WIFEY, it gives back less and averages the same (even more bingo % after WIFTY!), likely cause of the open T that is duplicated in the ART leave but helps the AER leave. #tacticssmall
totally at a loss because I didn't know GUGGLE. I tried to push the issue as a result. KUGEL might have been better if it weren't for his range of mostly consos. #knowledgesmall
No 8L WEEP anymore thanks to PORTABLE O8; I was aware of RETABLO as an option but was ready to just live with it if she knew it. Something like 9E EPEE opening nothing new is probably best anyway. #strategysmall
i saw UNROOT at M3 but i didn't like it that much. i'm down a bit over a tempo and there's only a couple of lamish bingo lanes open. UNROOT sets up some overlap possibilities for him. it didn't seem that exciting. but maybe it's right. TAUON gives back 6 more pts on average. -4 #strategymedium
I have no idea what I was doing at this point. I saw the J, I saw the open triple, and all rational thought left my body. The J was definitely my number one nemesis this tournament.
L1 JEL(L) is fine here. #STRATEGYLARGE
4J JUM(P)ED is probably fine here. I shouldn't be too worried about triple-triples after a 5 tile play. It also blocks bingos making EDS. #strategysmall
Championship Player says this doesn't win but when I played it out it does. Also listed as winning plays in descending valuation are 6L ORD, 6J (T)ROD, 12H DUG, and 2B DUR(OY). #endgamesadder
Keep the L. The fact that the pool is consonant-heavy doesn't merit playing a guaranteed consonant for one point. Actually K5 SPILITE is best; ??SSS are unseen and my leave after JIHADI isn't that great. #strategymedium
LUAU seems a bit better, from the L in UNTITLED, it blocks some bingoes and lowers his avg. that being said I scor a lot more with ET than AEIT and it's a less risky leave. #tacticssmall
I did intentionally choose this over J4 WEKAS and WAKES just because I have another S to make SKAS. I probably overvalued the K5 hotspot and he would probably sniff my setup and play defensively. WAKES and WEKAS are simming a couple points ahead of KAS despite my bingo % being roughly equal between WEKAS and KAS. #strategysmall
cmon cesar you know this isn't gonna sim well. yes it's good to play some defense but this is kinda weak. right? FEIRIE G9 sims best, i kinda like it. -7 #strategymedium
a bit of a counterintuitive situation here. quackle says i bingo slighlty more next turn if i do ROVED, and it scores 3 more. it sure doesn't seem that way to me. -2.5 #tacticssmall
CP likes this, saying it wins 95%, but it's surely dependent on full confidence in CASTLINGS. Given that I did not have that confidence, a great option is 11D VOW/VAW, setting up SOZ/SAZ to follow up in the endgame, also winning 95% because the bingos Bradley does get down score so much less. Unfortunately, I burned a huge amount of time grappling with this position and somehow still didn't generate VOW/VAW, leaving me vulnerable to time pressure on my next move. #strategysmall #timelarge
I probably need to play more than 2 tiles here with OO unseen. ILK is pretty good, but gets edged out by 14G JINK(S) and crushed by F2 KNIT. #tacticssadder
I didn't have much time here and decided I just needed to play fast and I missed K3 (G)OETY. I also wasn't sure of 12H (C)OUTHY. #timesaddest #knowledgesaddest
EVET sims worse than obvious moves like 1F KEF but I like that it reduces Tim's average score by about 5 points and eliminates that nightmare huge 4x scenario. Still probably a #strategymedium.
I was trying to set up my S for PECS, but I didn't actually note that there's still two Hs out. I score and bingo the most next turn after J12 PEC, but my opponent also scores substantially more. L12 TEMP is fine here. #strategymedium
The same word plays at 6E for 3 more points and blocks the -ER lane on row 5. I think I saw it. My play is more defensive, blocking the lanes on columns D and E without opening any new lanes. #tacticssmall
I get DETAILS and DENTILS making FIXT if I draw the blank + A or N; AUDILES, DUALISE, DUPLIES, SULLIED, SULFIDE, and DUELIST if I draw the blank + U to make UREDO; and SCAILED if i draw the blank + A making CREDO. #strategysaddest
D12 HA might be better here. I am worried about JET D12, especially since I have 10 fewer points. NAH K3 seems to hit more bingos than this and accomplishes the same thing, also sets up QI for 33. Seems better. I liked blocking all of the bingos. Hard to infer anything from MY. #tacticssmall
G3 GAP or PEG in the spot where I played are better to preserve the CKLR synergy. Another idea is N2 PRICKLE, hoping to draw tiles to outrun. #strategysmall
B1 CHAPaTT(I) allows for triple-triples so it's actually not the correct play here. B2 PATHeT(I)C(S) is better so a big ol' #KNOWLEDGESADDEST because i didn't know it.
This is not correct because 11J ODEON and 11J ODEONS block both outplays of 11J OUTLAW and N5 OUTLAW. I saw the ODEON(S) blocks but couldn't see anything better. B12 LOUT is best. #endgamesaddest
I missed the MOHO hook this turn. I would have probably played YUM there, keeping the board full of S hooks. MY is also okay, but YUM bingoes far more. #visionsmall
put some thought into D4 BARITE to clamp down on the position but I'm not up by enough. Didn't see B(A)KER for 2 more, and it's compounded by there being a ton of unseen E's, making AIT a better leave than EIT here. Thought there was a small chance of a challenge here, but not enough. #findingsmall
There are some bingos through the O that I have to block, but M6 FA is apparently better. I think we forgot to add the +5 for this challenge during the game. #endgamesaddest
12H DOWERY was tempting as well, but WANY and WARY actually cut off more bingos than DOWERY does by a lot (A1 P bingos, column B overlapping bingo, a handful of bingos through the O of JOLTS). WANY bingos a tiny bit more often next turn than WARY. #tacticssmall
Q thinks I should play both FUNGOES and FAX over this. I didn't consider FAX strongly, but the board is REALLY bad for scoring if I play it, so there's a ton of defense value, plus the almost guaranteed bingo next turn. FuNGOES only drops my score by 22 in comparison with FOE, and drops his average by about 4. I think the dearth of scoring spots on the board should have led me away from playing FOE. #strategysmall
I should probably leave the 3 row open, it's hard for him to close. I hated all my options - DAV(E)N? that puts pressure on at least, it's probably better than VAN. I was kinda hoping he wouldn't have a good TAGS block, but he can always do a mediocre one from the G in KLEAGLES or with ETA, and then I have to bingo on some terrible marginal lane. I think I got too obsessed with staying in bingo range, DAVEN isn't likely to win but at least I will be able to have a place to bingo. I think B4 ADD is good as well, keeping the 3 row and 13 rows open. either one of those seem way better than VAN #strategylarge
I did see 9D INCOMEs and 9D INCOMEr, but I intentionally passed those up. While this is definitely safer than 9D plays, I did miss H8 (A)NOxEMIC. Not always easy to make the blank an X. #visionmedium