Strategy Large
N6 BR(O)D +13
I didn't write down the remaining D at the bottom of my sheet, so O2 DITTIES is still available after this play, so this is a bad mistake. Maybe something like 9N OB can always win. I dunno. #strategysaddest
Joshua Castellano vs. Robert Linn (Game 48935)
Strategy Small
I3 Q(I) +21
I think I just have to bite the bullet and play Q(I)S here, sacrifice my precious S. Q prefers QI, but between blocking bingoes and avoiding 7 conso racks (especially if he makes a board opening play, I want to be able to block). #strategysmall
Jackson Smylie vs. Maxim Panitch (Game 35245)
Tactics Medium
H7 L(A)RNT +13
mistake here. LAR is simming best, and then LARN. i really should have played LARN, but i became afraid because the pool is pretty consonant heavy (21V 31C and a blank). surprised LAR is best. IRS just doesn't bingo enough. -4.5 #tacticsmedium
Joey Mallick vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32698)
Strategy Small
E10 (L)A(W)INE +18
this time my play was terrible. i don't care. this is the worst draw ever to EIN?. i was trying to make it slightly harder for him to hit the triple but i may have also made it slightly easier. what a disaster of a draw this was, it nearly seals the game, but i deserve it for the bad play earlier on. -AIII sims best; i almost did that. -3 #strategysmall
Jonathan Kent vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32937)
Vision Large
15H DAL +20
um. It would seem that I let him get away with TOL* here? This seems very weird. But this is what I have recorded. I'm gonna go with this not having happened, but I'll record the game as it is! Heh. #visionlarge?
Richard Popper vs. Josh Sokol (Game 35855)
Finding Medium
11G IRON(I)ZED +68
playing the bingo here wasn't at all a given. Z(E)NDO was also a consideration, but with two S's out, I felt my chances were quite poor in comparison to IRONIZED, which at least keeps more scoring spots open. However, I missed Z(E)ROED 14J, which definitely takes the cake here. Really poor playfinding, as I did everything necessary to find the right play and still missed it. #findingmedium
Trevor Sealy vs. Josh Sokol (Game 35788)
Vision Small
7G FRIEzES +76
While I like how easy this will allow me to outrun Ed, 10D REFIxES effectively blocks the bottom the best with the blank X in play. #visionsmall
Edwin Roth vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 36797)
Tactics Small
E10 (F)AH +18
AGINT better than EGINT, that's news to me. I'm heading nowhere in this position without an S, though if he bingos first (which I would prefer to prevent) it will often give me a commeback. FEH sims 4 points higher, gotta trust that #tacticssmall
Michael Fagen vs. Josh Sokol (Game 39800)
Tactics Small
N9 GEWGAW(S) +34
Thought WAGGAS would give up the extra points it scores on defense, but apparently it's only two points worse than GEWGAWS. Maybe GEWGAWS slightly likelier to get +5 from challenge too, but still #tacticssmall 17:58
Will Anderson vs. Ayotunde Adeyeri (Game 33396)
Strategy Small
K5 MARGE(N)T +44
I figured this would be better than GARMENT because the M is more dangerous at K8, but that's not true with both Hs unseen. (-2) #strategysmall
Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 34483)
Tactics Small
9F GIT +19
GIS and just GI bingo much more than GIT, though keeping both esses ensures that I sometimes get QIS scoring plays to bring up my low-end scores next turn after GIT. Obviously, GIS is ill-advised here thanks to the EGIS hook, but I accept that GI should've been my play. #tacticssmall
Thomas Reinke vs. Will Anderson (Game 32896)
Strategy Small
8H AUA +6
CoCo Seattle Scrabble tournament round 5. I have heard it said that on an opening turn, one should exchange rather than playing a low-scoring vowel dump, to avoid allowing eights. That is especially true here, as I can keep a better leave after exchanging AOU. #strategysmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Peter Armstrong (Game 37351)
Tactics Medium
12H (WAX)EN +33
I was about to play B6 KUE, but Mitch will play WAXEN if I don't. That said, M1 UNITE dominates the sim; after the sequence UNITE, WAXEN, KUE, Mitch will be down 17 with one in the bag, and his only possible bingo is N4 ESCAROLE. (If Mitch plays WAXER instead, he could draw 2C CLEANISH or M7 CLEANSE.) Thus it mostly becomes a matter of outrunning Mitch in the endgame, and according to the sim I have almost a 2/3 chance of success. If I play WAXEN, then the sim expects Mitch to play 4A CLEAVE, after which he can draw a multitude of bingos on columns M and N, plus the occasional bingo on row 2 or column B. #tacticsmedium
Mitch Bayersdorfer vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 33630)
Tactics Small
15D FI(E)ND +39
now I figure I can't play (REJECT)IONS because he just opened a 3x3, but I guess I can still play D(E)AF and save the 60 points for next turn. #tacticssmall
Josh Sokol vs. Christopher Sykes (Game 33129)
Strategy Medium
G5 T(OWE)L +9
this is not a good move. i need to outrun him and score more. i didn't want to empty the bag so he wouldn't plan his outgame, but i may not have a choice here. N1 TAN scores 18 and will help outrun him. i don't think i have many ways to win after TOWEL. -3 #preendgame #strategymedium
Peter Barkman vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 33687)
Finding Large
15I (L)UCK +17
bad! by far the best play is the excellent 11J AMUCK. i have the case S, score 28 pts, and go for letters like the Z to score a lot with. i thought of AMUCKS/AMUCK on my rack, but didn't quite look hard enough. LUCK is very weak and is the type of game-losing play i make way too often. the fact that it takes a Y makes it even worse. 9J MUCK is ok if i don't think of AMUCK. -15.5 #strategylarge #findinglarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Joel Sherman (Game 33553)
Strategy Medium
H1 (B)I +4
BI "only" bingoes around 78% of the time. i always miss ZEDA, something like 1K ELAIN is pretty good; i'm a little less enthused about stuff like 10M AIL. i don't know. i didn't realize this was that bad, although i thought it might not be best. 10M AIL bingoes more than 50% of the time, which seems slightly high, but i guess i can buy it. -7.5 #strategymedium
Jason Bednarz vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35389)
Finding Small
15H FLEA +25
Trying to block row 15 without opening anything on row 14 that didn't already play on row 12. But 15G FLARE fulfils this requirement while scoring three more points. Apparently 15F RALLYE is best, but I would still play FLARE. M3 VOCABLY is awesome, and it doesn't take any hooks, unlike VOCABLE. #findingsmall
Rafi Stern vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 34241)
Strategy Small
13B JO(T) +20
I needed to pay better attention to the pool. My opponent is unlikely to bingo. I don't need to block the A column. In fact, I kinda need it to stay open for myself. L2 JO(L) is fine. #strategysmall
Daniel Blake vs. Nitya Chagti (Game 43264)
Finding Small
M11 HEIL +31
did not see the H hook on HUMP, and probably would not have known HUMPHS was valid. A play like HIE or HILI at 14L is a good idea here to set up a big lane #findingsmall #knowledgesmall
Joey Mallick vs. Josh Sokol (Game 40793)
Strategy Medium
12G WOKEST +33
i saw the only bingo here, 10E NETWOrKS. the main reason i didn't want to play it is that i might be down if he bingoes to DIGHTS afterwards, with an uglyish board. i thought i could take points, keep the blank, and draw some more of the good stuff in the bag? tough choice, but WOKEST does sim just above NETWORKS by win %! 12L WOKS though is the top play, which takes out that lane as well but keeps a better leave for bingoing next turn. oops. -6 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. David Pearl (Game 35443)
Finding Large
O9 RALLY +16
just with BRANG*, I was about ready to snap challenge, and the longer I took, the less I felt I should challenge. This is a huge mistake, but I still figured my best chances were holding on from this position. But I missed AR(M)Y for 39, which is too many to say no to. There is very limited risk of 7 consonants next turn being pivotal enough to lose the game, and also very minimal chance of not drawing a vowel, given the 15/10 vowel/consonant ratio. Something like 10-15%? I just missed AR(M)Y, but worse, I made this play with absolutely no clue about RALLYE, a word I know. I never saw RALLYE. This was Jackson's game to come back and win. Incredibly good pressure by him, picking at my confidence levels more and more every turn. #knowledgesaddest #visionsaddest #strategysaddest #findingsaddest
Josh Sokol vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 41797)
Finding Large
11E IZAR +30
IZAR would be a reasonable play here, on par with N8 NAZI and 11B REPAIR, except that I completely whiffed on L11 CAPIZ for 56. After MENTEES, I need those extra points to withstand an A1 bingo to the D and might even struggle to deal with a STAW hooking bingo without those points too. #findinglarge
Stefan Fatsis vs. Will Anderson (Game 32814)
Finding Large
exch II +0
There's usually a big difference between games not being winnable by drawing poorly and games being lost by me not finding plays. K5 INI(T)IAL is definitely worth it over exchanging. However, if I'm not going to see that, at least my play beats out may other short plays. But yea, this was a miss. #findinglarge
David Engelhardt vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 48540)
Knowledge Medium
5C (U)NlIVED +20
I really only considered QaDI O1, VE(G) I6 and this. I was worried SERIFING* was good, so I calculated the endgames with that in mind. This is wrong since SERIFING* is not a word. 3K V(OWE)D blocks REFINES/SMEW, the only available bingo, and keeps threats of Qa(D)I open.
#knowledgemedium
Oliver Roeder vs. Josh Sokol (Game 33139)
Strategy Large
J5 OTIC +14
well now i'm worried so it's ok to sacrifice some equity to block here. 3K OBOE just seems way too aggressive right? i guess OTIC keeps way too terrible of a leave, and he could still bingo through the B or something. M3 OE might be ok. idk. -12.5 #strategylarge
John Karris vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35453)
Strategy Small
K4 AWEI(G)H +26
sim really likes (Y)EEHAW+! WHINE(Y) was my first choice and that sims a point better than my choice, which just makes things too easy for Wally. I think this was a pretty clear mistake personally #strategysmall
Wallace Schultz vs. Josh Sokol (Game 49130)
Strategy Large
N10 INDIAS +29
I tanked for a long time just to play this. Sad! Sim says 9F SAIN, which looks way better. I was trying to block row 9 bings and column N bings, but I give back row 15 bings which is asinine. #strategysaddest
Joshua Castellano vs. Ben Schoenbrun (Game 37532)
Strategy Medium
12L AW +19
didnt like awa because of the huge away hook i didnt have. anew i though was okay but blocked my bingo line to the d which i didnt love. What i think i need to do is play waiter or awaiter to force the board open #strategymedium
Evan Yurko vs. David Spargo (Game 43187)
Finding Large
D8 H(O)LUBtsI +82
I didn't even consider doing 8A BUsH for 51 which would have been sick! While I'm glad to have seen this one with 2 blanks, as well as D8 H(O)LIBUts, D6 BIH(O)UrLy is the safest one for only 2 less. #findinglarge
Samuel Kaplan vs. John Karris (Game 36751)
Time Large
B3 PrAISES +94
hilariously ran out of time here. I assumed he was going to play something with QUATE like ME(R)C so I put down PASSIvE and EQUAT* and only stopped because I didn't have enough time to circle the blank and hit the clock before going overtime. Then I realized I was about to play a hilarious phony and laughed instead of actually finding a better bingo. Then I was down to -00:45 so I had to just play the first thing I saw. #timeSADDEST #findingSADDEST
Josh Sokol vs. Moiz Ullah Baig (Game 48632)
Endgame Large
10E (R)ODEO +19
Yeah i don't think i have any wins here. I had hoped going out first might help the most but idek. championship player likes 10E (R)OO fwiw #endgamesaddest also #knowledgesad for challenge
Joshua Castellano vs. Nitya Chagti (Game 50213)
Vision Unspecified
8A AIR(WOMAN) +39
8A AIRWOMAN is not OK in this position though because 14A ROSARIAN plays for 70, although I would have been behind a tempo. Still, #visionbad
Samuel Kaplan vs. Mark Miller (Game 48295)
Finding Small
2B M(O)ONY +36
failed to find plays here, many plays look good that I didn't see. This was the start of me thinking I was ahead, when Noah and I were actually around tied. DUNGAREE scored a lot. 13C MOONI(L)Y looks decent here. 9G O(T)IC is very nice, and M(O)ONY only does well because it keeps O(T)IC for next turn. N10 (D)OOMY is also a good play. #findingsmall
Noah Walton vs. Josh Sokol (Game 35563)
Strategy Large
1A (BO)MB +13
This was probably a huge mistake. I need to exchange here to get vowels to block whatever he opens. Him opening and me drawing two consonants is a disaster. #strategylarge
Joshua Castellano vs. Tijan Jeng (Game 34395)
Strategy Small
10H (E)DH +33
10L PEH is better, presumably because it blocks the high-scoring bingo lanes in columns L and M. I like EDH because it keeps my vowel, and I can score well with 10M EF next turn. #strategysmall
Jerry Lerman vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 32985)
Tactics Small
J10 C(O)DEX +37
considered CODE and ZAX as well, but I liked keeping more bingo chances and opening a new lane. D(E)X bingoes more than CODEX by a couple percent! I do like opening a lane with CODEX though so he can't kill everything with agene. #tacticssmall
Jackson Smylie vs. Charles Reinke (Game 33126)
Strategy Medium
7H FOLD +21
10G MODI scores 5 more points and doesn't give back a floater or a TWS. It also spends both my vowels. But Quackle likes it. #strategymedium
Alec Sjoholm vs. Sid Murali (Game 32990)
Strategy Large
9C TE(N) +8
The sun has pretty much set and I was also slightly tilted because I thought UNMARRED might have been phony (it's not). I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here other than resign. #strategysaddest
Joshua Castellano vs. Matthew Tunnicliffe (Game 48570)
Knowledge Medium
B2 A(GI)N +12
This is the first of several turns where I miss VIBRION plays after convincing myself that it's just VIRION and VIBRIO but I feel like the F hook will freak him out and force a weak play to block the top line
still, fml #knowledgesadder
Matt Canik vs. Peter Sargious (Game 33064)