Finding Medium
F7 O(I)NOMElS +63
spent way too long looking for better bingoes and eventually gave up. i couldn't find MONgOES and didn't like MOONErS for whatever reason. #findingmedium
Seth Lipkin vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 39999)
Finding Medium
3I GI(M)ME +24
I am in awful shape already, just because I gave him that C to play through. L3 MITE was misse, and I didn't know GIMMIE. #findingmedium
Bryn Bowen vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35774)
Finding Unspecified
14A VAR +22
Nothing is particularly appealing to me here. I could have also done 6H VAV(s) as well, but I would like to be able to counter with a bingo should he bingo. That's just gonna make it extremely difficult to play on the top of the board in the future. However, H4 VALV(A)R is a miss and would have gotten me out of this mess better. #findingbad
Samuel Kaplan vs. Mark Garrod (Game 36586)
Knowledge Medium
9G DRY +20
wrote down BYRON* here, didn't play it. Didn't know D(O)RMY surely. I also wrote down "NOT BEST" next to my play because I really didn't like it. #knowledgemedium
Sue Gable vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 38420)
Strategy Medium
A12 AGUE +22
playing on the 7 row makes a lot of sense here to block X plays like RAX 7K and J/X plays making IKAT. I like 7K GAT upon reflection. I now misread my pevious indicated score of 389 as 387, so 409. instead of 417. #strategymedium
Avery Mojica vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 38198)
Tactics Medium
E10 EA(U) +16
this seemed relatively straightforward, but this lets him play 5s at D6 and go out in two, which might catch me. G8 (P)EA is probably best to block FOX and VOX? #tacticsmedium
Jack Peters vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33132)
Tactics Small
E11 XI +40
XI C9 might work enough that it's worth playing? Man, plays like that are so hard to pull the trigger on. I think Michael would even sniff the setup sometimes. Dunno? XED in the same spot is probably a bit better, which I figured afterwards, just liked the E a lot more than the I. #tacticssmall
Michael Fagen vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35777)
Finding Small
M9 KRAIT +39
considered dropping the K and this or TRAIK. I didn't consider KI or KA. KI is clearly better than KA because it allows so much less counterplay at N10. TRAIK might also be better than KRAIT because is slows Steven down more than it slows me down, I don't really want to bingo at M1 despite it being the most fortuitous lane on the board. M9 KI is the play. #findingsmall
Steven DiNapoli vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35814)
Strategy Large
N1 OW +22
I almost played OPIATE/AVAUNT to go for the blank, and then I didn't because I was worried about the spot it created. So fucking stupid, because O11 is already a thing. Idiot. #strategylarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Mark Pistolese (Game 35782)
Strategy Small
E10 (V)IGS +16
I did this over VUGS to block and save 6D SUK as a future high scoring block of the E. Just playing SUK now runs the score up high enough and leaves enough tiles in the bag that I should easily win most endgames even after bingos to the Y, though. #strategysmall
Will Anderson vs. Carl Johnson (Game 32897)
Finding Small
12G S(E)XY +14
this seemed like the right theme to go with, but XYS(T)S (I only considered XYST I think) is just too powerful I think. GNS is a whole lot better than GNSS even taking defense into account. I should want to get rid of these consos a bit more. #findingsmall
Josh Greenway vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35779)
Knowledge Unspecified
K10 TELLY +22
sick block, though I guess it was pretty likely. This was a huge blunder since TELLY takes an S! I would like to say that I knew this and it was an exploitative move, but it wasn't. Optimally TROLLY is the best play here despite hanging the Y. Or just CLOY or COLY for safesies. #knowledgequestionable #tacticsfail
Joshua Sokol vs. Bob Frey (Game 35815)
Finding Large
5E RET(O)TAlS +78
This turn, I completely failed to see TRISTE(Z)A through the Z, which was yet another case of complete blindness to a bingo I looked for. I realized I had TRISTEZA right after I made my play.
I also looked for 5-way overlaps, but failed to see the only one, STARETS at I2. That's the play. I really didn't want to make an X spot, so failing to see STARETS and TRISTEZA, I could still make an effort to see RHEOSTAT, which doesn't create the X spot. #findinglarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Nicholas Tam (Game 35784)
Strategy Medium
O1 REFINE +31
10D RIFE would have been fine, EIN is overall better than just I. But then I make Libero have to outrun me and I take out a high scoring bingo lane. #strategymedium
Samuel Kaplan vs. liberop (Game 37118)
Finding Large
11G d(O)LOMITE +68
Definitely questionable. I didn't like 5I MOTLIEr or MOTILEs, but I did not see 11G T(O)ILsOME, which is definitely safer knowing there's 3 Ss left, and Robin didn't seem to hesitate burning an S with DUNTS. #findinglarge
Samuel Kaplan vs. Robin Lewis (Game 36866)
Finding Small
A5 aNORTHI(C) +86
unfortunately I took 4-5 minutes here making sure there was no 3x3, and didn't count how much a play would score at 13B. TINHORn scores 3 more than my bingos to the C. #findingsmall. ORNITHIC was more defensive but I was only 80% sure of it or so. #knowledgesmall
Joey Krafchick vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35822)
Finding Small
G8 Q(A)T +30
missed Q(A)NAT in the same spot, which is technically better, but I thought it was unlikely he would be able to overlap on row 11 all the way #findingsmall
Karl Higby vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34809)
Finding Medium
7F JUN +19
damn, I just didn't see MEOW at 9G. I thought a whole lot about this turn and figured I was overthinking, but I really enjoyed the defensiveness of this play. He's maybe not going to want to make the equity plays next turn since they throw the board dangerously open, so he might either exchange or make a small play that just gives me scoring chances with my M and my W? MEOW is clearly best here, and I liked WOMEN at 7F as well. JOW and JEW at 7F seemed close but gross. #findingmedium for missing MEOW and #highlyquestionable for the rest
David Boys vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35755)
Finding Small
3L CH(ID) +20
While I did not see G3 BOTCHY, that's not a play I would have made at this score. M3 HM is fine which was also a miss. #findingsmall
Samuel Kaplan vs. judyr (Game 37112)
Strategy Small
9G G(I)P +11
lots of options here. This seems a bit too middling and remember regretting it. G(ID) is fine even though it doesn't hit much. I should block the spot and keep decently. #strategysmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Judy Cole (Game 35886)
Endgame Large
B5 EH +28
Definitely wasn't too happy with how this one went, but a clearly better move is C2 THEOLO(G). -10 spread on 1 move. #endgamelarge
judyr vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 36870)
Tactics Small
11H MEOW +36
I didn't like 11I MOW because it didn't give me an S hook, but I still bingo so much more since 8s are a thing. I could just do DOW if that bothers me so much. #tacticssmall
Michael Fagen vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35777)
Knowledge Large
F2 ZEE +37
another poor decision. I felt I had a larger grasp on this game than in actuality. I should play 8L (O)OZE for more and leave the R open
not challenging last move was #knowledgelarge
this move is #tacticsmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Orry Swift (Game 33140)
Strategy Large
15A GIRO +22
tried to calculate everything here, it appeared that I couldn't necessarily outrun (C)OWBELLS/BELLOWS 15G with (OY)E(R) H13. In effect, my time-troubled calculation was actually correct. If he has BELLOSW, OY(E)R is only a 4/5 win. Since I didn't know if that was the only loss after (OY)E(R) and OYER was really bad on spread, I decided to go for the obvious play here. It blocks all of the J bingos that I didn't calculate, though they probably all lose to OYER because they use up all the remaining vowels. The problem is that GIRO is only a 50% win if Matt has BELLOWS, and is very likely to lose to BECLOWN (4/5), by far the biggest threat in the position. GIRO also loses 4/5 to WEBCAST. GIRO appears to beat everything else. OYER might be better than GIRO. Upon further analysis, (OY)E(R) is probably best, though I haven't looked through all the fishes Matt could make thereafter. I am a bit upset that I didn't play it. #strategylarge
Matt Graham vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34816)
Finding Large
C4 AmOEBAN +65
I missed literally all of the bingos he could have at 14H. What the fuck was I doing this game? EMERITI, EUCRITE/ERUDITE, RETINUE. I need to block those, the best way is to play 14F (Z)OA which saves (REJECT)ABlE for next turn, which I at least saw. I just though that this didn't give anything back but it does, it gives back nITERIE too. #findinglarge #preendgamelarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Christopher Sykes (Game 33129)
Finding Small
12K HEX +37
missed H10 H(OY)DEN which if I see I should play instantly because it will tilt the hell out of Matt. It's also probably best? #findingsmall
Matt Graham vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34816)
Knowledge Large
2N J(O) +18
the only thing that would make up for the phony 4 would be to extend it to HOKYPOKY (which is obviously why I didn't just insta-challenge, why is that good but not HOKY*)
Quackle much prefers JE(O)N 3I due to defense. Makes sense. (O)BE even does significantly better than my fish. #strategysmall and #knowledgesaddest for last move having scored 42 and not 0.
Joshua Sokol vs. Karl Higby (Game 40525)
Knowledge Large
E2 RAUNChY +77
I was unsure of TRUANCY and DURANCY*. TRUANCY plays for 90 at 13I. I forgot about UNCHARY, seeing it and not being sure. #knowledgelarge
Matt Graham vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34819)
Knowledge Large
B11 J(A)BS +26
I had no idea about QUADRATE hooks. Thought just S if anything but was upset that I couldn't pull the trigger on anything. #knowledgesaddest
Carl Voss vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 40437)
Strategy Unspecified
13B BOO(T) +12
Definitely didn't seem crazy about D11 OBE, which I saw, but it would have been worth it here, 10 points is too many to give up when the board is wide open as is. #strategyquestionable
Samuel Kaplan vs. Mark Garrod (Game 36586)
Vision Medium
H7 Q(A)T +12
I think I needed to do K4 VERITY here- while there's no guarantee that I'll dump the Q next turn, it's a little more open, and I do still have 4 chances to draw an I or T. And I score 12 more. #visionmedium
Samuel Kaplan vs. DaBag (Game 36754)
Strategy Medium
K7 TUXES +30
perhaps this was wrong. Considered YENS K9 as well which sims a lot better. 14I (K)YE and (K)YTE sim well as well. #strategymedium
Joshua Sokol vs. (Game 38520)
Strategy Small
4J (BA)IRN +14
... which is why i didn't play IRONI(C) here; i don't want to just give up easy points. i thought it better to try my luck at the S and a bingo. #strategysmall ?
Jeff Cook vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 40026)
Strategy Small
F3 FUMY +33
Really tough spot here. FUME F10 was my first instinct, and then I deferred from that thinking about the board long-term, etc. MIME H12 scored the most and set up a lane for later, but I think I overreacted here by trying to keep the bottom untouched. #strategysmall
Keith Savage vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 37662)
Finding Large
5J GE(L) +18
SUPER pissed after I realized I could have kept going with GELANT. Was time rushing, but still. Need to see that and play it #findingsaddest
Jeremy Hall vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 39466)
Finding Medium
3A EJE(C)T +28
Still had no idea what to play but missed the killer JESTER at O10, which gives me a 15% chance per Quackle. I'm so fixated on bingoing or trying to score a ton by drawing OU out of the bag but idk. man this game was so sloppy and this is why I'll never be good at scrabble #findingsadder
Reid Hattaway vs. Matt Canik (Game 32971)
Knowledge Large
D8 (C)OUGH +22
when he played CLOTH I realized that I was at a huge disadvantage, since he knew all the extensions and I didn't. Thinking about extensions did not help me find OIL(CLOTH). #findinglarge #knowledgelarge
Carl Johnson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33158)
Finding Small
3C PE(R)OrATE +70
of course I miss OPERETTA again. I liked that it was difficult to score using the B column after this and open another lane, but that lane will be easier for me to score on and outrun N column stuff, whereas after this a play like RAN(D) 4B might actually be a problem. Not sure. #findingsmall
Mark Garrod vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 40454)
Knowledge Large
C5 DWEE(B)ING +0 (Lost challenge)
this will be the last time I confuse WEEDBED and BEDEWED for BEDEWED and DWEEBED* and BEDEWING and BEWINGED for BEDEWING and DWEEBING* (I hope) #knowledgelarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Kenji Matsumoto (Game 33163)
Tactics Medium
C12 YEAH +40
once I actually realized my misplay in this position I assumed YEAH was probably an 18-point mistake. I mistracked a U instead of a D, so I thought my Q had a better chance of not getting stuck. I also didn't notice that INSNARE played under DIF which I was not blocking. So I should play QA(T) 8C and just brace for impact I think.
#tacticsmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Leesa Beerahovich (Game 33134)
Knowledge Large
8A BED(CLOTH) +0 (Lost challenge)
I thought about this and then realized BLOTCHED probably doesn't have an anagram. Still thought that I was desparate enough. I had O7 GYBED though, and honestly only saw it after losing the challenge. This is on one of Carl's phonies lists and apparently he had just recently mentioned it to Sid. #knowledgelarge
Carl Johnson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33158)
Tactics Small
11G (J)AWED +32
always keep the VOD. This was silly, actually. Sure, more O's out than A's, congrats. DOV still too much worse than ADV and also 4 O's is a lot still #tacticssmall
Fatemah Manji vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 40332)
Tactics Large
N2 DIVAN +26
when I originally challenged THREATER*, the clock reset. We both had around 12 minutes left and we agreed upon that, but I had used a ton of time in the last few moves to which I only had around 2 minutes and change. It really bothered me not knowing how much time I had left exactly, but it shouldn't have. I should have been calm and collected. Instead, I played this because it seemed to accomplish a lot of goals, as well as setting my X up, and I didn't want there to be a dispute.
All of this to excuse the fact that I still cannot see the word VIAND immediately when I see DIVAN. VIAND is just a much better version of this, especially when you consider what happened in the game. #tacticslarge
Joey Krafchick vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34807)
Vision Medium
11G AVANT(I) +18
Didn't see AVANT H7 but its simming miles ahead. Apparently we bingo 25% more and them 15% more. Kinda weird spot, I suppose it makes sense. I saw a win and took it. -8 #visionmedium
Karen Willis vs. David Eldar (Game 33304)
Finding Large
F2 G(R)OW +12
a really nice X-setup with 5E TOW(A)GE but I chose to play it safe and not even look for that. Seems way to prudent. #findinglarge
Judy Horn vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35860)
Strategy Small
M1 (ZA)I(R)E +28
i spent a very long time on this move before finally deciding to give up and try to cut spread. 14I OY is the obvious equity play here, and much of the time it's just met with another big comeback. i was up around 1000 spread and 3 games on the rest of the field, so the only way to lose the tournament is to lose 3 games by a combined 500 spread points. now that it looks like i'm going to get blown out here, i wanted to try to stem the bleeding and keep scoring tiles. #strategysmall
Jeff Cook vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 40026)
Knowledge Small
H4 VALeNCE +80
glad I remembered VALANCE taking a D and VALENCE only taking an S. However, I didn't remember VALENCY, which is definitely the play, as although it doesn't double a letter already on my rack, making 8-letter words less likely, it takes no hook, making 7-letter words completely unplayable. Not only that, but VALENCE takes the 3-letter PRE(VALENCE) extension, whereas VALENCY does not. TRIVALENCE is also a word, but neither Bryn nor I knew of it. #knowledgesmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Bryn Bowen (Game 33964)
Vision Large
13B (B)OSUN +32
this was my most unfocused moment of the tournament. Totally tunnelled on this spot being where I could score and keep scoring tiles. Carl just gave me a great scoring spot. My best play is probably with QUADRATED but I need to at least consider the top of the L column. DOH L4 sims a couple better than BOSUN. This would we an interesting idea if 1) QUADRATED weren't valid and 2) I would have considered stuff like DOH L4 #visionSADDEST
Carl Voss vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 40437)
Tactics Small
K3 AAH +24
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
Jackson Smylie vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 36055)
Vision Medium
J6 MEsONIC +81
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
llamaste vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 36527)
Knowledge Large
L4 HI +22
I thought there was a bingo in here, and there was. LIVERISH is very foreign-looking to me. It would not have saved me, but it's definitely the right play #knowledgelarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Noah Walton (Game 37070)
Strategy Medium
2J GL(U)M +11
The last time I had an S, the only way I can get out of the bad rack was to score decently with it. I would have only scored so many more with it now that I didn't feel that it was worth it. 2J GLUMS I suppose would have been OK, I think I allowed emotions to influence this move too much. #strategymedium
Robin Lewis vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 37173)