Plays made by the player that were challenged by an opponent. This list may not be completely accurate. Check the 'Challenge Heuristics' section of the about page for more information.
Plays made by the player that were challenged by an opponent. This list may not be completely accurate. Check the 'Challenge Heuristics' section of the about page for more information.
Games in which there are at least 5 challenges made. This list may not be completely accurate. Check the 'Challenge Heuristics' section of the about page for more information.
When you bingo and then draw an unplayable Q, it's as if you scored like 30 points on your first move instead of 80.
I wanted to leave options for next turn, but I should just play ABEAM G2. I considered BEAM to set ABEAM up, but not ABEAM for long enough. This seemed better than MABE to not leave an S-hook that might stay open and to perhaps induce BEMAH*. #tacticssmall
nothing great dig for here, or rather, too much bad versus only some good. Better to just score a few lesss and keep a bit better with OLDE 3J. #strategysmall #findingsmall
nothing great dig for here, or rather, too much bad versus only some good. Better to just score a few lesss and keep a bit better with OLDE 3J. #strategysmall #findingsmall
a rare purposeful phony from yours truly, but I was so tilted here.
I should think about the position here and play 2M DIG. This is still not the best play. #strategysmall
After TREM, I would have to find EF B7 over OF, to set up OV(ER), perhaps, to win in the endgame.
For some reason Quackle can't find this play in the endgame, but it's 8 worse than 7B OF setting up STOVE 6K. #endgamemedium
Now Josh plays JIMP instead of JIMPER knowing I stupidly flashed a Y on the last turn. It gets better.
Josh: this was soooooo dumb. I wasn't sure which of JIMP or JIMPER to play, then after COOLY I was ready to play JIMP, and even more ready to do so when Jon hilariously switched his play after the mini timer malfunctioned, since I knew his range wasn't hitting the 15H s (which is the reason I would play JIMPER, to stop bingos from 15H all the while opening up a big spot. When I hit my clock, unfortunately, it didn't malfunction and I couldn't change my play knowing I had just gifted Jon 40 points.JIMPER sims best without an inference, and so I don't even want to infer OY and watch me bleed equity out my earholes. lmao #visionsaddest #strategystupidest
Now Josh plays JIMP instead of JIMPER knowing I stupidly flashed a Y on the last turn. It gets better.
Josh: this was soooooo dumb. I wasn't sure which of JIMP or JIMPER to play, then after COOLY I was ready to play JIMP, and even more ready to do so when Jon hilariously switched his play after the mini timer malfunctioned, since I knew his range wasn't hitting the 15H s (which is the reason I would play JIMPER, to stop bingos from 15H all the while opening up a big spot. When I hit my clock, unfortunately, it didn't malfunction and I couldn't change my play knowing I had just gifted Jon 40 points.JIMPER sims best without an inference, and so I don't even want to infer OY and watch me bleed equity out my earholes. lmao #visionsaddest #strategystupidest
In addition to the J12 plays, Josh has 15A FREsCO(Es) for 42 and out. Both of missed that one after the game. This game had the worst board I've seen all tournament. What an ugly yet hilarious game.
Josh: I was so enamored with the fact that I had outplays in two spots with 6 tiles that I totally missed 15A FREsCO(ES)! This game was absolutely stupid, I felt I should have lost it by 200 myself, but I just drew the entirety of the bag. #endgamelarge #findingsaddest
In addition to the J12 plays, Josh has 15A FREsCO(Es) for 42 and out. Both of missed that one after the game. This game had the worst board I've seen all tournament. What an ugly yet hilarious game.
Josh: I was so enamored with the fact that I had outplays in two spots with 6 tiles that I totally missed 15A FREsCO(ES)! This game was absolutely stupid, I felt I should have lost it by 200 myself, but I just drew the entirety of the bag. #endgamelarge #findingsaddest
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
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
Hm. I recognized that 1) 3/4 u's were already gone 2) no good Q spots exist before or after this play but I don't think I ever considered just dropping the Q. I don't know that Matt can really afford to make up all that equity with a specific block at 3I, but he can definitely try. I just don't even think I considered Q(I) played at 10L. This is the best chance I'll likely get to get rid of the Q without significant lucking. FILET also sims better, so this cannot be the right play, and FILER too, of course. #strategymedium
Saw the best play a bit too late. Sadly. Can you find it? It scores 27 points.
This pre is otherwise complicated. DETOXING can happen and win whenever. I don't want to play more than 3 tiles because 4-tile plays by him make me have to play 3 (or hopefully 2) to not empty. I chose this because I can then play HE at 6F or M3 next turn if he plays 4 and maybe hold on. #findinglarge
dead to DETOXING, unless I draw DEVO(U)TER F1 or E(N)ROOTED 14G or his rack is horrendous. DEPE(R)M H1 was missed, and does a ton better against DETOXING, allowing me to outrun and bingo more. This also could lose to stuff that draws into DETOXING, and that happens far more when I leave 2 in the bag rather than 1. PHEE(R)# is also an option. I also considered HEDE(R) which has to be better than HEMPS I think. Was tilted from missing HE M3 on the GAWK turn. #findingsaddest
gawd L8 JARfULS is 105 smackerss and I thought there might be something here ugh this is really bad! #findinglarge
It's sad because I did see the only 8s with this rack, JOURNALS and JUGULARS, but just totally failed to see the pair of 7s.
Better to fish here, but the Q is in the bag 1/3. 2/3 times I draw a bingo 4/8 times, so there's around a 1/3 shot at CALIBRE, BRAILLE or whatever with the blank. I guess it's worth it considering the likelihood I get Q-stuck after this play. #strategylarge
I missed a rare opportunity to play KAAS here, in the same spot. #findingsmall
I'm not too worried about the C hook here, since The C is usually a word-starter and he only has 6 squares to play a word starting in C.
super conservative here in not playing WHAP, but I should have realized that WHA was better than WAP. I think I was a bit overloaded with options here. This is a bad play. #tacticsmedium
losing the wheels on the bus here. Missing G10 H(OW)F, but holding on to what I hope will be a closed board soon. Also missing 13I DASHI which is fine. #visionmedium #findingmedium
losing the wheels on the bus here. Missing G10 H(OW)F, but holding on to what I hope will be a closed board soon. Also missing 13I DASHI which is fine. #visionmedium #findingmedium
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
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
both aitches are out, so this is highly dangerous. It's notably better to play 10J D(E)BUG against a robot, but perhaps not against a human, as the extra points keep the pressure on, especially if he doesn't have the H or any easy play elsewhere.
#findingsmall
this was purposeful, I was extremely rattled at having drawn my 8th blank in 4 games as the last tile in the bag. I saw that this was 20 points off but had to do it. #endgamelarge
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
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
one of many ridiculous draws at the start of the tourney. I missed the two 8s that doubled the C after looking a bit less than a minute. I had already used a lot of my clock so I decided this was probably fine anyway since it blocks.
#findingsmall
totally confused here. This was actually pretty awful since he can just re-overlap and fork the board. I did happen to block SUBATOM in two spots, but
#tacticsmedium
COR(R)IDAS still plays after this but this is the best I can do to block bingos. However, if he has the X I could possibly still lose, if he plays (M)AXI and threatens 5-letter words to go out or plays a 5 and gets AXI as his last rack, for example. So it might be better to play I(M)INE down low or something
#tacticssmall
I normally play GUV but I not only liked the board shape after VUG vs GUV, but I also liked that I could re-hook if he played VUGG to VUGGY or even VUGH to VUGHS. GUV reduces opponent score by 3 over VUG immediately. hm so perhaps VUG helps him more than it helps me. #tacticssmall
I missed 15J TAHSIL! What a wicked play #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
compared HALT and HILT, decided that yes there were more A's out, but the ZI combo is still much worse than ZA, although I get NAZI with an A, so hmm.
I missed 15J TAHSIL! What a wicked play #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
compared HALT and HILT, decided that yes there were more A's out, but the ZI combo is still much worse than ZA, although I get NAZI with an A, so hmm.
dunno, what letter do you put in the 2x2 lane if you know Matt is strong AND he has an A? He probably also has an E, so RETINAE looks better. #tacticssmall
so many bingos here, too bad he blocked the 2x2s. I wasn't sure enough of CROCEINE, thought it might just be CICERONE, but I saw ENCHORIC too before he blocked! Just not CORNICHE. Learn dem anagram pairs bro #knowledgemedium
Bad move. 7E WROTE is fine, despite how horrible the G is, two G's isn't much worse and it doesn't give back as much. Also points. I missed WROTE, too equity-minded
#findingmedium
#tacticsmedium
Bad move. 7E WROTE is fine, despite how horrible the G is, two G's isn't much worse and it doesn't give back as much. Also points. I missed WROTE, too equity-minded
#findingmedium
#tacticsmedium
totally auto-piloting here, no need to give so much back. L12 HOOT scores nearly as much , doesn't allow Tony to play as many tiles and score as much (gives me a better shot at the blank(s) further down the line). HOO in the same spot is fine as well, or OHO at J3 to try and maximize bingo chances
#tacticssmall
or C(A)NTORIS, S(T)RONTIC seems too volatile, would much rather put a T in the 2x2 lane. Quackle obviously disagrees. This might be because S(T)RONTIC is a lot better for the board in the long run. #tacticssmall
missed all the other bings here. Sadface. RECYCLER I should see, RECOVERY I should see. mERCERY I don't play because it opens a 3x3, I'd best play CE(L)ERY for 28. Also thought he might challenge this. #findinglarge
really put me on the edge here, I cannot let him 3x3 here with how bingo-prone this board is, so I decided to throw a lot of equity down the drain to block. NUV were poor here, but the Y was very nice, and I get NY(AH) for 30 at a bare minimum. However I just completely spaced on (E)VENT which is just a way better version of this.
In a sim this gets destroyed by ENVY 5I for 35 by almost 20 points. It still loses to ENVY if I add 100 points to my score, which gives you an idea of how bad I am at this game. EVENT is the play #findinglarge
96% to win, but this turn called for more than combinatorics. DULC(I)NEA is two more points, and I don't really see why I shouldn't play DULC(I)NEA. #findingsmall
I spent most of my time on this turn trying to figure out how to block his 3x3 in a strategically sound manner, but DUNE H12 did not come to mind. That would have been a lifesaver.
13I ENTER might be correct here. I inferred he had the last D so I thought setting up an S he was less likely to have was the way to go. Could be led to believe otherwise. My bingo is also unlikely to get me there after NEG, so I should be scoring. #tacticsmedium
this was frustrating. I missed GERB(I)L which seems like the play I would make. Quackle prefers fishing again with (E)RG or B(E)RG. Either way, this seems like a mistake #findingsmall
now, the same idea is potentially completely ridiculous and bad. I have to give up here and play JETES or JEES, the latter of which I missed. This is the problem with playing B(A)D last turn. One of the reasons is that I will have K column plays to score next turn, and I should play those. But I forwent those last turn. So it's sort of a paradox, and very human to try and continue in the same vein as last turn. But now, I'm sacrificing far more by not taking the points. This play is very commital and I'm basically deciding to never play on the K column unless Lou plays a bingo elsewhere or plays on the 15 row. Quackle hates this because it mainly assumes I will use the K column when I miss. The point is that when I miss, I'm more and more screwed by not scoring. #strategymedium
This game is going to be interesting. Too bad I missed a key option here, E5 LAY(O)UTS, so perhaps things would have been different if I had seen that. I liked this over (G)UY because the leave was less bingo-dependent and slightly less variant. I probably missed LAY(O)UTS because I spent the first minute or so of my time lamenting that SALUTORY* was the word I think Nigel Peltier played against Conrad at 2014 Nationals which Conrad accepted. #findingsmall
interesting spot number 1.
I never considered Q(A)T C13, but that and QU(A) are incredibly close in a sim. Q(A)T definitely bingos more, though is a bit less defensive than QU(A). However, considering Matthew's last play was forced, I should be less worried about scoring and bingo defense. Q(A)T is superior to QU(A) in this context. SQU(A)T was also considered, as it scores well and doesn't eat into my bingo chances too much, and I can bingo later anyway when better lanes are possibly open. Other than that, P(A)R, P(A)T, T(A)P, R(A)P, P(A) and PR(A)Y are also options here, which I didn't consider all of, but they are all pretty similar. I decided that my Q bingos weren't likely enough and high-scoring enough to justify scoring around 15 less immediately. Quackle agrees. #findingsmall
a very unforced error here, missing CY(L)I(X) C10 for a far superior leave and far superior score. This is over a 10-point equity blunder. #findingSADDEST
very low on time, saw I had L(I)MN 2G if he tried to slowplay.This is -4 compared to C5 (U)LVA, and slightly worse than 6 other plays at least. #endgamesmall
now, CZA(R) 4G is important to find. I can also just play CA(V)A, not sure how I missed that one. I knew this was a terrible move, but for some reason I just couldn't find anything else. #findingSAD
:O blocked IRONIES and DERISION and didn't have a blank! I think I have to go for turnover here with IRO(N)IES despite being more likely to hit a bingo after RONIN #strategysmall
so bad!!!! I had Z(E)STED for 14 more! I also don't want to block the L's just in case I draw a blank and she blank bingos on row 15, leaving me nowhere to go in a hole I dug myself! #findingsmall
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
this was a grave mistake. I am not in a position to be able to afford just pure balance. Sure, keeping a vowel is a plus, but it's not a plus enough. I'm going to need more than just a balanced leave to stay in this game. L13 FEW is the play. #strategymedium
just KNIT on the other side is a significant improvement. A play I did not see. I would struggle later with the fact that EJECTIONS is just wide open. #findingsmall
in big trouble here. Still, not enough trouble to justify completely forgetting that this is just not a word. HOOPIEST*=ISOPHOTE. Luckily, no hold from Darin. In terms of what to play here, I saw this, RYOT C12, and HOOTY 5K. I did not see 1A TRO(P)HY, which is just a better version of HOOPY* altogether. That seems correct. #knowledgesaddest #findingsad
in big trouble here. Still, not enough trouble to justify completely forgetting that this is just not a word. HOOPIEST*=ISOPHOTE. Luckily, no hold from Darin. In terms of what to play here, I saw this, RYOT C12, and HOOTY 5K. I did not see 1A TRO(P)HY, which is just a better version of HOOPY* altogether. That seems correct. #knowledgesaddest #findingsad
how did I miss 2M BRR? It's not great to block the C, but it's worse to score zero with a reasonable play on hand. This was horrendous. #findingSADDEST
I really wanted to play OUTFOXING but this looked better for me. 22 points is pretty good, the leave is better. And I know it doesn't take an S, unlike FOXING. #tacticssmall
I want to do (NA)RDS 5J even though it blocks the D in FOOD, because YARAKS is good! I always forget that because of its definition: a fit condition for hunting: -- used of a hawk. The last part confuses my brain into thinking it's an adjectiive or an exclamation. #knowledgemedium #tacticsmedium
I want to do (NA)RDS 5J even though it blocks the D in FOOD, because YARAKS is good! I always forget that because of its definition: a fit condition for hunting: -- used of a hawk. The last part confuses my brain into thinking it's an adjectiive or an exclamation. #knowledgemedium #tacticsmedium
hoping to beat him to ADAMSITE here. I didn't see another 3x3 after this. Apparently it's better to allow way more 3x3s with HOM. Crazy plan. However, EDAMAMES, ADAMANTS, ADAMANCE and ADAMANCY are all words too. #strategymedium (?)
L3 ON(L)OAD is possible here to attempt to rid myself of the Q next turn with M2 QI. Otherwise, 6M NOO or 6L ONO make life very difficult for Seb with most racks. I was quite regretful of this decision to go for turnover over optimality. #strategymedium
could not find a play to make here. IMP 8C looks best, and I also missed I6 KIT which is simple. This sucks but at least I have a chance of being able to shut the board down after this, but IMP is just superior #findingsmall
I could go the total opposite direction with 3L ERUV but that seemss very dump considereing the pool. I missed VIRU(S) which at least sheds the terrible U tile, but this was more defensive than anything else besides WIVER, and I thought the R was a bit better to keep. Seems better to play WIVER #tacticssmall
this really didn't seem like the sort of play I would normally make in a position like this. Keeping things a bit more tight and keeping better with G3 HIN was the fiirst thing I considered, for a decent amount of time too. Quackle agrees that this is substandard. HIN hits a bingo 10% more and scores better than HAEMIN. #strategysmall
wow, my fallback play if this was somehow not valid... is not valiid! BULBING* BULBED!
My confidence in the words in this position, from most confident to least confidence, was
1) BULBING*
2) RUBBLING
3) BLURBING
4) BURBLING
#questionable #knowledgesmall
oh shit C3 ENVIR(O)N is an option here. Dig for the blank again, perhaps give myself better tempo, but it doesn't seem like it's the right play. Hm.. This whole game was hm. O7 LEVIN is better at least. #findingsmall
I did this... to set up a big Q play next turn and not give her an easy play of CIN(Q)S or DIN. This is still quite pathetic, and I have no idea why I did it. #tacticslarge
I have to block INOSITOL! I can also just play OEsTRUAL which I missed, but that's quite bad on spread and I should only play if I have a read that she has INOSITOL. (D)A is a stronger fish, hitting 5/8 in both spots, whereas this hits 4/8. #strategymedium
VAR(I)X might be better since I keep the W for J10 and G7. I don't like 2E AX since it leaves me vulnerable should Leesa decide to gambit and throw a 3x3 or a lucrative hook open. I thought I could just draw an A and play J4 V(I)VA, which doesn't seem to get blocked a ton. I think VAR(I)X is OK but I liked using columns L and M instead of J. #tacticssmall
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
does BESNOW ever win? I didn't think so. Thought I could get us into a complex endgame where he accepts and probably still wins. Never thought I would play a synonym of the phony 3x3 I got away with all those years ago at 2014 Nationals.
Mack Meller found F7 B(O)W which fishes for LG, L? or G? and hits LONG(HO)USE through HO. That's got to be the best shot by a mile. Maybe not that long, but it's pretty long. #findingsaddest
TOMCAT is just better. Forgot Noah had just studied his 5s and got pretty far alphabetically. I saw TOMCAT but convinced myself I would try to exploit his weaknesses that didn't actually exist anymore #strategysmall
at some point before my turn realized this likely wasn't a word, and that INARMED was the word in here. Still, didn't find MIDRANGE so I had to phony. Got away with this, but MIDRANGE is probably correct #findingSADDEST
there are reasons relating to precise move fishing that I think AUREI is a better move here. It immediately gives more back, but there is a slight difference in standard deviation which indicates that higher-scoring plays fit there, plays that can be fished for, such as EXAM or EXAMS. I realized this during the game, but figured Carl would be more focused on building into a bingo than into a play like this. +1.1 but in my opinion this is a #tacticssmall
time ticking down, tough endgame, but it's lost. The best I have is K10 EX(P)IRE or just AH O8. I was trying to force an error and also running out of time, but it could come at a cost. -30 #endgamelarge
the worst miss of the tournament I would say. Saw RENAILS and NAILERS and knew there was a 3rd. Then I couldn't find it. So I stopped looking and decided this was better than NAILERS despite TRENAILS because I needed to maximize scoring spots for myself for the rest of the game to try and outrun. ALINERS is just better. How could I miss this. #findingSADDEST
I do draw a bingo starting in B, but I miss the gorgeous MES(H)WORK F2 and make my most hilarious blunder of the tournament. Thinking of BITEWING(S). This was so crazy it worked. Billy held and released. #knowledgeSADDEST
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
I thought I was dead, I didn't see IO(t)A on my timie and thought he had just given me a chance to stay in the game with WO. IO(t)A is by far best. I was playing well until IRONIZED. #findinglarge
now a complete miss of TROO(Z). I hated this move, and I should have kept looking instead of tilting. One-two punch and maybe I can no longer win this game #findingmedium
this was the ugliest play I've made in a long time. A better version of this would be VUG(H) to the H, which, again, I never saw. 3 misses in a row #findingsmall
super low on the clock already. Couldn't stomach this, or HIT B6 (or HI). Sim says J(O)T 9C is an option. I didn't consider that, but did consider J(O) to try and maximize bingo. HIT sims best, so probably best play. #strategysmall
7L GRR has a considerable positional advantage over this placement. Leaves the easier 7s lane open on row 10, but moreover blocks the R and T in OVERTLY that aren't super useful to me and leaves the A in FAKED alone. #tacticssmall
this is actually a pretty counterproductive play. I need to admit I am at a disadvantage and play FIB 7K. This gives back too many bingos and scoring plays. I am setting up points on row 8, but also on row 4 with TEFF. Cool play that I should have seen. I saw BE(D)IM, which is also a lot better. #findingmedium #strategymedium
this is actually a pretty counterproductive play. I need to admit I am at a disadvantage and play FIB 7K. This gives back too many bingos and scoring plays. I am setting up points on row 8, but also on row 4 with TEFF. Cool play that I should have seen. I saw BE(D)IM, which is also a lot better. #findingmedium #strategymedium
Never considered that TUFT 4C blocks X and Q bombs. That alone makes it worth playing. I was really close to playing this but just felt Jason was too likely to play on row 2 anyway, but the Z has a decent future on this board anyway. Even if I assume Jason plays on row 2 a ton more often than random, TUFT is worth doing. I thought I was being mature, but I was just being cowardly. #strategymedium
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
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
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
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
almost played ANNO(Y), which would have blocked RALLYE unwittingly. I wanted to block REFRAINS stuff, which is obviously far less of a factor given RALLYE. I thought this did a good job outrunning 14E plays. I could play EAU at L11 to also block the dangerous REFRAINS hook as well as scoring plays to the Y, but I was more worried about getting outrun from 53 ahead instead of 62 ahead, and that would allow Jackson time to play something on the N column like OE maybe, since EAU protects that sort of opening. #visionsaddest for RALLYE again.
I took over 8 minutes on this rack. I eventually saw ASSUAGER, the only bingo, around 6 minutes in, after generating AGERATUM, ARGUABLE, GRADUATE and RUNAGATE. At first, I thought ASSUAGER made sense, but because I was fairly certain that ASSWAGER* was invalid, despite ASSWAGE being an alternate form of ASSUAGE, I ended up deciding against playing it. Throughout the rest of the game I was fairly certain ASSUAGER was valid. If I had pulled the trigger on ASSUAGER, the time I spent would have been somewhat reasonable. I never saw D1 AREG for 30, which trumps my play of VAGUE by a few points of equity. In and of itself, ASSUAGER is around 9 points better than VAGUE, which is about what I intuited during the game. This was my first stroke of luck in what would become an absurd work of art, as not even making the best non-bingo play worked out by blocking Jackson's huge double-double. #knowledgemedium
Spent around 1.5 minutes here, knowing I needed to speed up. I should have easily spotted TRiAGED, which doubles G and D. The only issue is the X spot that creates, but I would be slightly closer to drawing it than Jackson, so it might even be beneficial to me. Quackle rates this as a bit more than 2 points worse #findingsmall
Absolutely insane. To make matters worse, despite slowing down for a half a minute to look for row 9 overlaps, I somehow fail to spot PLATIEs for 3 more. This time, creating the X and Z bomb spot at 10F is somewhat contemptible, seeing as Quackle cannot quickly decide if it likes sacrificing the 3 points or not. PARTIbLE has some decent control. I can see attempting to close things off within 3 moves or so after PARTIbLE. After PLATIEs, not as much, since the R and S of MATADORS and the E and R of ROILIER aren't very intuitive to deal with without opening new threats, despite their closeness. Furthermore, the P on B9 can always be used to make desparate forking plays. Still, I rate this as yet another mistake. #findingsmall
rough, but I need to find EAU 9M for 2 less. This is just slightly too reckless. EAU sacrifices 2 points, but sims 4 better. UVEA doesn't create a great lane, and I have OHMS that is hard to deal with, as well as the deterrents on the F column and 11 row. Marginal lanes are good to deter opponents from playing overly defensively, but also sufficiently defensively. The difference between the two can simply be lack of information. #strategysmall #findingsmall
rough, but I need to find EAU 9M for 2 less. This is just slightly too reckless. EAU sacrifices 2 points, but sims 4 better. UVEA doesn't create a great lane, and I have OHMS that is hard to deal with, as well as the deterrents on the F column and 11 row. Marginal lanes are good to deter opponents from playing overly defensively, but also sufficiently defensively. The difference between the two can simply be lack of information. #strategysmall #findingsmall
I either have to fish eit something like O(C)A or A(C)E, or I do this, which seemed to win if I drew some X? stuff. I did not iterate properly though, and this seems to always lose with the draws I was hoping for. I have to avoid stuff like FOIBLE, but a lot of outs in two will be good enough for Arie even without big plays. Spread was not important here, so I needed to find something better. Maybe I had to play A(C)E or O(C)A, though I felt he could too often block everything with a play like FIL(AR) 5B, although those plays are hard to find and make with one in the bag. Gotta try something, so maybe I do something like (P)EE or (L)EE going for ANOXIA for 67 and complications. Maybe best to play EE somewhere else. Yeah, I think that's the right idea. If ANOXIA?T or ANOXIA?B are unseen to Arie there's (P)AINTBOX, if ANOXIA?E is unseen there's (A)NOXEMIA. Damn, wish I had thought of that. Way better at conceptualizing wins that don't involve very specific bingo threats. #strategysaddest
outruns most out-bingos, but not all of them. Had I been sure of CLODPOLE, I might have played that, since most of her bingos fit there. I think CLODPOLE should win the most games, since I don't foresee losing in any endgames that don't involve bingos. 32 draws seem to win for Chloe after WOODLICE, and 27 after C(L)ODpOLE, so a slight edge to blocking. If it were the beginning of the tournament, WOODLICE would be the best play for spread. #knowledgesmall
this is only an 8-point mistake, but it's laughably stupid. Completely spaced out on GAM's obscure hook. Best is 3G AGMA which I saw as a 2nd play following F(R)EMD, but thought this was best because it blocked RAYAH plays. Great job, me. #endgamemedium
totally missing COU(V)ADE which I saw instantly today. Interesting that I'm patting myself on the back for an error I made. I guess people (never) change #findingsaddest
18 points off of HET because blocking the 2 row costs Deen dearly. HET follows a very complicated out-in-5 sequence according to Quackle. #endgamesaddest
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
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
wow, M(AI)LE H1 is available for a whopping 42, but best is to block (L)UNGI D2 with C1 R(I)LE, R(I)EL or L(I)RE because MAILE is unblockable. -20 #endgamelarge
my original thought was ZE(E) F6 for 32. But then I saw this, and wondered if it could be worse. Quackle thinks this is around a 3-point error, which I find hard to argue with unless somehow Ricky plays more closed after ZE(E) such a significant amount of the time. #strategysmall
wasted a lot of time here and didn't even find all the plays. NEWB is there as well as WREN (I saw WREN but not NEWB), BR(E)W I didn't even consider, but I don't like it. Not sure what is right here, but I am sure that I overscored this by 2 and Joey called me on it, and 2 points is a lot. B(U)RGER might just be the play at E7. I was trying to get a blowout here also, since if Karl beat Mack, I would have to have beaten Joey by more. I was hoping that my insolence wouldn't cost me the game, so there was a lot of pressure. This is probably a bit much especially since I'm trying to win by a lot. #strategysmall
incredibly frustrated here. The board isn't close to being contained and now if he gets a bingo I am barely ahead. E7 T(U)RR is winning a sim, isn't that ridiculous. I saw it but thought it took an E. lmao fuck. I can just block the S hook later with a VIVAT play ending in RT. #knowledgemedium I exchanged XTTRT keeping RZ
I talk myself out of EXORABLE, remembering that there was something weird about it. What I was remembering was the fact that EXORABLY* is no good but that INEXORABLY is. #knowledgelarge
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
hated everything. Quackle suggests W(I)G 7M. I get AUTO(g)ENY with AE and TOURNEY and YOUTHEN with VILLAE, YOUN(g)EST as well with ES, BUOYANT with 2A. If you're wondering why I'm treating this position like a pre-endgame, that's how bad this position is. I ended up running out of ideas and wanted to continue to distract Adam from VILLAE. with the E I figured I get TOGUE/EW if that huge scoring spot I shouldn't open stays open. This was a very difficult position that I failed to navigate. GUY M12 is also recommended, but yeah, I think W(I)G 7M. #strategysmall
hmm. I wasn't sure how to proceed here, but I thought this woud lead to the most bingos, and opening was important. However, this play gives a ton back, and bingo chances are low regardless. It seems better to either score 24 with K5 TOW, play OUTGO 10C (hate it) or play the weird-looking GU(A)CO F3 to prevent big QADI underlaps. Quackle sees this as a significant mistake, and it's hard to disagree. It definitely didn't feel right. This board will open from the R in SPIDERS, and the 10 row is hard to deal with. #strategymedium
sad miss of BROWbON(E). I saw BORON but I just lose so often after an S bingo. Sure, him playing YE doesn't mean much, but he probably has a lot of balance. YES is 13 more points, but I think Jon would be saving a case S with SAUTOIRES on the board and the game being close. I thought that after BORON and a BORONS bingo I could sometimes return the favor on row 14 with overlaps, and with 9s through the letters on columns C and D, and even more rarely with B column bingos. It's hard to set things up if I miss, and even harder to outrun. Quackle prefers BORON in a vacuum by a steep margin of 8 points. There are also a ton of N's left to duplicate, and the same issues apply after a BOWS bingo, but then it's even harder to overlap, and harder to play 9s. Still, if I bingo next turn, it's hard to imagine losing, which isn't really the case after BORON, unless that bingo is on the 15 row. Anyways, it's all moot I guess, because of BROWBONE. #findingsaddest
I really just need to play off the X. Just gotta find my 9s. If he bingos with BOWS or BOWL, I get N(AT)ROLITE with an I or L, I get R(AT)TOONED, and with Y or S, I get (AT)TORNEYS. With an M, TORMENT(Or). And then there are the overlaps of whatever bingo Jon would play on row 13. Still, I do insta-lose after some bingos. X(ED) 13B is the alternative, setting up a new lane. There's only one E left. Even if Jon plays on the A column, I will usually win after an out-bingo. If he gets something huge like FILMIER A8 for 101, he will be at 439, with a full rack and an empty bag. If I draw the Y, I get ATTORNEYs for 94 and 14 from Jon, winning with a 455. If I draw a bingo on row 13 like TONNERs, I'm scoring 72 and getting 20, tying with a 439. That's at the upper end of bad for me. However, if Jon doesn't bingo immediately, the same will then apply for my bingos on the A column. So it gets kind of dicey. Still, it's a very interesting option. This one, OX, runs into some bad draws, with only a 2/3 chance at best of a bingo. Playing just the X off is more like a 75% chance. This does block a bit, and his bingos will actually open a lane after this, which is why I chose it. But this was a scared play. Could have really gone badly for me. #strategylarge
chickened out of both SNIFFLER and SNUFFIER. It's not that I didn't think I could get away with SNIFFLER, but I was going to challenge the S hook, which means I was not playing optimal Scrabble. SNUFFIER just looked wrong, but FUNFIRES kept resounding in my head, so I should have gone with it. #knowledgeSADDEST
wrote a big X here on my scoresheet, which seems to designate that I saw that I had missed NAKFA from the N in DESIGNEE. #findingmedium
AUK L1 is only a 4-point sacrifice too, seems worth making for the leave.
VI(N)E is a play I considered at 6I. This is a good practical decision, but VINE seems too strong to discount. It does a great job outrunning. #strategysmall
this is actually bad because I can no longer Q stick him when he bingos, since 12B and N1 will be open. I should play URI(N)AL 14E instead. That solves all of the problems and should always win, while this does not always win #strategySADDEST
wow, really misevaluated this one. NEEPS for 37 is definitely better. Quackle also prefers playing HEP L11 and EPH(A) J1. HERPES at 8J also a good move here. #strategysmall
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
J3 VANqU(I)SH #findinglarge
He took over 3 minutes on his opening move, I should have seen all the possible 8s since there are only 3... Just saw UNSHAVEN and UNSHAVED fuck
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
now worried about ABASIC* smh, the star play is 7G P(R)EED(I)T for 42(!). This hits PRIED 13I with an R, thought it might be worth going for. #knowledgelarge #findinglarge
now worried about ABASIC* smh, the star play is 7G P(R)EED(I)T for 42(!). This hits PRIED 13I with an R, thought it might be worth going for. #knowledgelarge #findinglarge
G5 G(U)ANO ugh #endgamelarge
and he shorted me 4 points from his rack even though I knew it. I was rattled after this game. Matt was very much a destabilizing force.
in huge trouble, need to bank on a 3x3 now. Really stupid to not play LINY instead, but his idea of playing ENTOIL might translate into not blocking the L next turn either? No, this was clearly a miss. #findingsmall
this is an absolutely huge swing. I'm a favourite if I don't challenge, but I was completely tilted at this point and I didn't want him to be winning. It seemed almost inconceivable that this would be a word. #knowledgelarge
the best play here is an awesome setup, I12 E(V)E. This sets up ZA J14 and if I draw one of the 6 remaining I's, I get ZI(N)GY K5 as backup (or front-up, depending on position)
TE(N)GE is also better at K5. I don't think I ever saw GHAUT. Wanted this over GAZE for 1 more so inhibit L-column plays down the line that open up annoying parts of the board
#tacticslarge
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
considered QUAGS as well, since the G is a huge impediment here. Incredibly, my reasoning was off. The S doesn't improve Joey's chances at a bingo, since QUAGS is otherwise quite defensive. He also scores a whole lot more after QUATE because of the hooks, and my chances of a bingo next turn are only slightly better with GS, perhaps only because of how open of a play QUATE is compared to QUAGS. #strategysmall
I immediately miss one of the three extensions of QUATE, ADEQUATE. This is pretty terrible. I only saw TORQUATE and COEQUATE when playing QUATE. Last turns' slight mistake snowballs into a much larger mistake on turn 2. #findinglarge
missed a bunch of better options here. QUIFF and QUAFF 9C are the most obvious. I couldn't stomach AQUAFIT 13I opening a 3x3, so I tunnelled on how I didn't like this play or that one. #strategymedium
lots of things are close here. I should probably play longer and leave more promising tiles with J4 TRYMA. The K column will probably get opened regardless. #strategysmall
very happy with this simple win, but CL(E)AN is best, setting up the sick TSK I5 for next move. I think this is something like 17 points back. #endgamesaddest
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
I now began to realize how many damn E's were unseen. This would be a wet dream for some.
I missed 6I (R)ATOO(N) which is a fantastic way to close the 3 row and further cripple Josh's options. WOOED L11 was a bit much for me, since after wISSING I'm basically just asking to get 3x3ed on. #findingsmall
Apparently FOX is better, but it seemed like it gave back sooo much and I can score with the X next turn, but DHNR can turn into something as well. I could hit INHOLDER or something #tacticsmedium
(J)EU is nice here, keeps things quite tight and keeps a more balanced leave. This seems a bit worse since it makes things a bit easier on Rob #findingsmall
could just play DUD(E) here. That seems fine actually. The problem is the duplicate I's which might cause me some trouble here. As a result, fishing off the U with (K)U(E) is quite strong, since it hits with AAEEIIIIIOOORR. However, blocking the E in ZONAE is a good idea as well. KUE still looks too strong to pass up. This hits similarly often to KUE, but KUE scores 8 more points. The E is definitely a liability, but not that much, it would seem. #strategymedium
oh my god appendix fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk #findinglarge #fuck
weird decision by me. I should just keep Z or ZN, ZNT is wayy to conso heavy in this early game position. I felt like I was responding to a bingo so I wanted to be ready, but ZN is ready. #strategysmall
this is not a word and certainly not signifcantly better (or better at all) than the best valid options. 9F NONE sims a lot better due to scoring defense and immediate score. I had gotten way too averse to bad leaves at this point in my Scrabble quest. #knowledgemedium #strategymedium
this is not a word and certainly not signifcantly better (or better at all) than the best valid options. 9F NONE sims a lot better due to scoring defense and immediate score. I had gotten way too averse to bad leaves at this point in my Scrabble quest. #knowledgemedium #strategymedium
tough choice here again. I could open nothing of import with M3 JOG and sacrifice a lot of points, go with DEBARKING now and eat his bingos, or go with JINGO 4A which seems to be most thematic, hoping to respond to a bingo with a scoring play from the J. Big issue with both JINGO and DEBARKING is that they bail out a lot of draws. AI and II in particular get bailed out bigtime with bingos after DEBARKING and JAILER with JINGO. That's just the beginning. However, he bingos so often no matter what (2/3 if I do nothing and he finds everything) that it's maybe worth giving up here. I so often sacrifice points to play JOG and get bingo-ed on from the C. But the lingering issue is DEBARKERS. Since Quackle once again assumes DEBARKERS will be played if Wally doesn't bingo, other plays (JINGO and JOG) are a lot more reasonable than Quackle thinks. Considering the numbers and what I know here, I think this was a minor mistake, despite winning the sim. Definitely a tough position to sus out without calculating and iterating, which I don't think I did either. #strategysmall
I might have misevaluated this position. I didn't like creating the M7 lane after L1 FeSTIVE. If I try to block, I might open column N. It is true that the board control is better after my play, but I also didn't think about what Mark might be doing with BIT. #strategysmall
9H (ZA)G actually sims best here. Really cool fish. I was unsure of THANGS and would rather have played THANGS or (T)HANG over this. #strategylarge #knowledgesaddest
9H (ZA)G actually sims best here. Really cool fish. I was unsure of THANGS and would rather have played THANGS or (T)HANG over this. #strategylarge #knowledgesaddest
FEM looks very solid because the leave is much better and I'm much likelier to hit PIEZO H1, can also hit ZERO and stuff 12A. The E is a good tile part 1209830935. #findingsmall
didn't think long enough about other vowel combinations under HW, but FOISTED or HOISTED score 2 points, and have different defensive value and different drawbacks to this. This is probably as close to a 2-point mistake as one gets #findingsmall
this has quite good recursion potential, so it's not as much of a mistake as quackle says over OU(T)AGE. But it's a testament to how OUTAGE is better than FUG doesn't immediately do as well, since it means I don't draw a huge Q play as often as I would like to. #findingmedium
didn't see GHEE 11B OTB, definitely like that more because it gets rid of the G. I at least liked this for potential SQU plays down the line, or ENQUIRE and stuff like that #findingsmall
now I see the spot and decide POUNCY* is phony
I missed every scoring option here. PUNANY# and UNPAY# and NU(N)NY# I didn't know, but L4 NANCY sims best. #findinglarge
This was just a clear misevaluation of an opening position I think. The math in my head was all wrong. There are three plays better than this one, I like VET the best #strategysmall
such an insane bingo available here. Can you find it? This is probably worse than MAY L11 because although I block myself with MAY, I also give him a lot less to work with, and I have the blank, so I don't really need to leave everything open. #tacticssmall #findingmedium #knowledgemedium
such an insane bingo available here. Can you find it? This is probably worse than MAY L11 because although I block myself with MAY, I also give him a lot less to work with, and I have the blank, so I don't really need to leave everything open. #tacticssmall #findingmedium #knowledgemedium
such an insane bingo available here. Can you find it? This is probably worse than MAY L11 because although I block myself with MAY, I also give him a lot less to work with, and I have the blank, so I don't really need to leave everything open. #tacticssmall #findingmedium #knowledgemedium
really weird position. I think this is OK, but I could see how something else would be viable, like SADL(Y) and SAND(Y), which are both very aggressive. SL(Y) now is also a thing. It looks like LA(H) is better than this though. #tacticssmall
I should play E6 (F)RUG here. an A draw gets me kANZ(U), an O pONZ(U), and the Z has value later on once stuff opens up a bit, which is pretty necessary at some point. #strategymedium
I was very intent on getting a bingo next turn, but I might not even win if that happens.
I wondered if bURNOUS(ES) was good, but not so much because it didn't score anything and this might be better anyway. However, I missed aNUROUS somehow, which fits for 70 at D9 and is clearly the right play. It will be a close game, but aNUROUS gives me the best shot. #findinglarge
huge lowlight where I completely fail to see the possibility of a word fitting through an I in 3rd position. Andy had a 1/3 chance of winning by 2. I recounted everything after seeing a possible word there would tie. Found Andy underscoring MAW by 2, got pissed off, and was not able to see the possibility of EV(I)CTION. Horrible. Obviously, 9s may exist, and they happen not to. Terrible. #findingSADDEST
update: ONIE did not block a lot of bings
Wanted to do HUB to set up the Z plays underneath but thought the math didn't work out. Still, I should be playing more romantically than this. And the math does work out. #tacticssaddest
the idea behind TAJ was drawing good letters for a bingo. I saw NATURAE# and chickened out. Had I seen TAUREAN# I think I would have vaguely remembered the pair and just played NATURAE# and probably won the game. #knowledgesaddest
I don't know if I ever realized I had SOLUNAR. My handwriting later in the game doesn't give anything away. I know I never alphagrammed just the rack on my scoresheet, just 8s through the I and T. #findingsaddest
and how stupid to see CONIINES and know it has an anagram, see this, and not take a bit of time to make sure this was it... I've messed this up before too. I knew the anagram didn't take an S, but this ain't it. Wow. #knowledgeSADDEST
and now I consider BOXINGS and don't even think about what it could mean, just that I must be confusing it with FOXINGS. Idiotic. CENSING or INCENSE play with BOXINGS. This is horrible in comparison #knowledgeSADDEST
M9 SAMBUR even, over H10 SAMBUR, with the inference. And this is a good inference, since his range with FERED is random. Until I figure out what his other two tiles were very quickly #knowledgemedium
I know he opened horizontally becuase I remember where he played REDEFIED.
K11 OVUL(E) appears to be a better version of VU(M). It scores the same, blocks more and scores 6 more than VU(M) next turn because D1 plays appear more often. #tacticssmall
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
almost fished the O for ATELIER/LAETRI(L)E unblockable or ELATERS/STEALER.
Fishing the O is .5 better for average spread than my play of SOLATE. The I, along with the A, is most likely to be in the bag given his last play of S(E)A. So fishing the O is best #tacticsmedium
I was too afraid of all the lanes on this board. I should still just play HEA(R)D because it scores well. I felt like I needed to be proactive and try and go for blanks and stuff, but yeah... #tacticssmall L(E)HUA 9F is also an option
M7 ANNEXES is 7 more but this has certain advantages as you will see later.
Josh: I completely missed ANNExES. This should have cost me the game, this is a very bad mistake. #findinglarge
realized that I fucked this up after playing IXI(A)
I just can't see IRE(N)IC over the board for some reason. Thought it was -12 but Quackle says -9 #endgamemedium
I shouldn't play so many tiles to let him stick me with RR. 15K RE is 8 points better than this. But I calculated it out and it seemed I still won. He was also low on time. #endgamemedium
this was very tough. (B)I(Z)E comes to mind. I really didn't like my position here, and felt the need to score. However, this is just a terrible leave, more terrible than WU would be. Just play BIZE. Tunnel vision. #findingmediu
I missed E2 MISSOUN(D). I looked through all the other letters, never shuffled or put in MIS- as a prefix. Sorry Tunnicliffe for I have failed you once more, bingo finding with prefixes and suffixes is still hard for me. #findinglarge
this was probably the most idiotic thing I did at Nationals. I saw that I could probably find a 2x2, but thought that I could just hook AY and score just as much, since the 2x2 was just 6 more points, equivalent to hooking AY! So I just went for the first thing I saw. Unfortunately, math does not work like that. #sad #findingsmall
13I DROWN is simming best, which sort of says something about the position. I think I was trying too hard for the J setup, although he does have unconducive tiles to block the setup with. #tacticssmall
This is when S(PORTERs) becomes relevant. I was not a fan of it at the start of the game, but I forgot about it when things started frowning upon me in this middlegame. It is absolutely relevant here and keeping my S is very important. #knowledgemedium
NOH might be better because it saves QA(T) 8D which is currently my best Q spot, and unlikely to improve much. I could also play QA(T) now #tacticssmall
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
now I was hoping she'd just challenge PEISE, and not MUCROS, which I was still unsure of. EPRISE# is best. I have to give +5 again next turn to report the score accurately #knowledgemedium
I was ready to play UNTENTED despite being unsure, but he gave me an A to play through, and I decided to make a big sacrifice to play something I was sure of. Once I played TAUTENED I started getting a bit pissed off at myself. I had been convinced UNTENTED was valid, but was more like 70% beforehand. 30% of the time I lose way too much to justify not taking around a 10 point sacrifice, but this assumes Seth will always know. Once again intimidated by the word knowledge, to a fault. Seth was likely to have challenged this, as he demonstrated when I asked him about UNTENTED after the game. #knowledgeSADDEST
I really didn't want to play YOWIEs N10 because of the I draws, but this has to be worse. I ran out of time. Quackle likes 11E (Q)I, which is hilarious. I think this is just bad. YOWIEs has to be better #strategySAD
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
saw TUNNY and RUNNY but not RUNTY, which is what I would have chosen. I knew EIT was worse than EIR but felt the R in UNDERLIE gave the leave a nice boost. However, if I had seen that there were many T's to duplicate, I wouldn't have made this decision. Who knows if I ever would have spotted RUNTY. This was overthinking and bad playfinding. #findingsmall
really tough to sacrifice 7 points, but with both blanks out and no great scoring spots, it's potentially worth doing. Quackle thinks this is a significant mistake. It definitely makes things a lot easier as well. #strategysmall
RIP, completely forgot to consider AHOLDS being valid, which I knew. SMUGGER wins. I made some insane calculation that this would tie if she saw (YE)TI 12A setting up (N)IDI and I blocked with G(I) D14, but she was low on time and I hoped that wouldn't be found. Quackle can't even find that sequence because it's so weird (and just flat-out wrong). Somehow didn't think of NIDI first. Oops. Also, just (YE)GG which I didn't have time to calculate wins as well, since she can't block oMeRS and go out in two and will lose by at the least 1 point! If she blocks the 3rd and 1st row with ID 1K, I win after (WIZ)aRdS and M(E) F14 since she isn't going out. Horrible miss on my part to finish a crazy game. If I play QUERYING first here, she can play I1 D(O) and just outrun me. #findingsaddest #endgamesaddest
RIP, completely forgot to consider AHOLDS being valid, which I knew. SMUGGER wins. I made some insane calculation that this would tie if she saw (YE)TI 12A setting up (N)IDI and I blocked with G(I) D14, but she was low on time and I hoped that wouldn't be found. Quackle can't even find that sequence because it's so weird (and just flat-out wrong). Somehow didn't think of NIDI first. Oops. Also, just (YE)GG which I didn't have time to calculate wins as well, since she can't block oMeRS and go out in two and will lose by at the least 1 point! If she blocks the 3rd and 1st row with ID 1K, I win after (WIZ)aRdS and M(E) F14 since she isn't going out. Horrible miss on my part to finish a crazy game. If I play QUERYING first here, she can play I1 D(O) and just outrun me. #findingsaddest #endgamesaddest
PEEpULS is much better. I only see UPSLEEP* and recognize that as a phony, and I had already lost 2 minutes because I was late from lunch. Still need to see that shit.
#findingmedium
I had problems focusing and counting plays here. I don't remember exactly, but I remember counting both plays and getting it wrong and then trying again and getting it right, but blocking the TO and partially the E in AUTOED is much better for bingo defense than blocking up top. This is a stupid decision on my part. I think I thought I could deal with the right side later. #strategysmall
Even if the scores of both HEW plays were reversed, I should still play under AUTOED.
14A TAPER was my first thought. G11 R(I)P sims second best, and I never thought of it. I decided there's no need to open the bottom, but I think RIP is probably correct, it sims 5 points higher. I bingo much more. #findingsmall
absolutely horrendous and proves my weakness as well as my tilt. Saw TYRAMINE instantly, and never found ENORMITY or MISENTRY. I decided against TYRAMINE because he is a lot closer to 3x3s than average. This I think was fine, if TYRAMINE was the only bingo. #findingSADDEST
so stupid and tilted I was, getting pissed I didn't bingo and missed DEVI in the same spot for better scoring defense and likelier 3x3 through the I than the E. #findingsmall
pretty bad miss of AC(T)OR. (FE)M M1 hits bingos with a D, S, U and V and also Quackle wants me to play SCORIA 15A next turn a lot which I will never do, so M1 (FE)M has the best valuation. #findingmedium
totally lost my mind here and thought I could block her bingo. Turns out she was holding the nuts. Well, actually, quite the opposite of the nuts. #strategylarge
4A BRAV(u)RA was missed. #findinglarge
Quackle likes 6D R(E)B. Not sure what to make of that other than there are no scoring spots on this board for Fern so I can leave myself with my case N for D4? I don't buy it.
decided this was worth a shot, even over (OX)IDIZE, since it was an amazing Q setup, and I just win if he lets it go basically. He challenged not based on knowing OXAZINE, OXAZOLE or OXAZEPAM, but on just not liking this. Ugh. #knowledgelarge
F5 (WO)LD is a great idea. GLAZE(D) and GLOZE(D) are quite likely draws, so it's probably a beter play than (HE)LD J5 for 6 more. Also, I should keep Z?, not ZN? apparently #strategymedium
I don't quite understand playing through with ROO instead, other than I get QUA(y)S a lot more. I wasn't sure if I should exchange instead. This sets up QIS at least. But maybe I just have to Deal With It. #strategysmall
I didn't like (W)OOD instead because she had first dibs on extensions that she certainly knows better than me, but (W)OAD is totally fine here. This is too aggressive with the Z. #findingsmall
really sad miss of t(O)RRIDER, since I saw hORRIDER in the same spot. I just couldn't come up with it. It might seem wrong to bingo here, since I am still behind and it gives her free reign, but I need to and threaten some big H1 play. That's my best shot #findingSADDEST
I honestly didn't think too much about this opening. I thought this was clear given that it was a lot more defensive than other stuff. Quackle doesn't like it, at all. Surprising, and I'm not often surprised. -4? #strategysmall
I overdrew here for the only time this tournament. And it's obviously since I had the blank. Luckily I didn't mix, so he only chose from the 5 I drew. CIZ and the Z is gone. Quackle agrees with that choice. Lucky it wasn't a bigger mistake, but losing the Z is pretty bad. B11 (J)IBE is the favourite. I couldn't stomach it. #strategymedium
after CARD I want to reduce bingos as much as possible, but I don't need to open a 3x3 and try to outrun that way. I can just play M(E)TED and do virtually the same things. This was game-losing. #strategylarge
tough spot. I saw J7 (SAD)HU but did not like that Q(I) 2J would not empty the bag. However, it keeps E4 EGO behind which I missed. That's huge. This just doesn't get the job done. #tacticslarge
I had also completely missed QIS, thought I was winning until he made his crushing move. Having to block RE(G)INA(E) was just the icing on the cake. -7 to LO(G)OI, but this seemed to have the only chance of winning. #endgamemedium
It's not like I was a huge fan of this play, but again, it seemed pretty straightforward. It's not. It's way less defensive than POGO and even EGO. POGO is probably the best play #strategysmall
this is a bad play for many reasons. Reason number 1 is that I didn't think this took an S. Reason number 2 is that TIT(B)IT is a word. I once again thought this was a great play since it set up my X a lot and blocked EMPLOYERS. #knowledgelarge
Once I made this play I realized it was not good. There's one place left to score easily on this board and it's E5. If I draw poorly after this, I won't necessarily be able to withstand a bingo and a scoring play from Noah. E5 BO is far and away best #strategylarge
so now this plays with TUTTIS for 101. I considered many times whether I would be game to challenge TUTTIS this game, and figured that I wouldn't be able to. #knowledgesmall
I feel I've already lost this game. I missed ECO J9. Hoping I paralyze him with this play and that next turn I can either draw well or take a low-variance turn to exchange. ECO is the best play. #findingsmall
figured I missed a play or two here. Saw LYTHE# though, so I didn't technically miss a thing. Just had no idea if it was good. It was between 11D HEY and this, seemed like a coin flip so I went with the play I was most comfy with. It is indeed a coin flip. LYTHE# is best, 8K. #knowledgesmall
Quackle remarks that MO 12A improves my bingo chances significantly. The I is useful since not many to redraw and the ING line I made with QUAG. MO is +5 apparently. PEONIS(M), which I also considered, does well too. #strategysmall
I figured that with the blank in hand, I would rather bingo next turn than cash the X. But this was my golden opportunity to just play EAU. I even laid it down before adding the X. What is he going to do about it? It's perfectly unblockable. Really pissed at myself for misanalyzing this. #tacticsmedium
KEELHALL, KEELHALE, KEELHAUL, KNEEHOLE, KEELHOLE*. I knew that this was very likely to be one of those one-two punches of letting a phony go because it gave me a phony. But I couldn't think of ANAGOGE, and I couldn't think of all of the KEEL words that this wasn't. Only KEELHALL. I knew there were more. I also wasn't sure of PEEKHOLE*, but then eventually remembered PEEPHOLE. I didn't know KNEEHOLE. I hated ANAGOGUE* at the start, I needed to act on that gut instinct. #knowledgesaddest
#knowledgesaddest for not challenging ANAGOGUE* earlier. This is also a tilt play. UH is fine, even though he's likely to have a D. I eat those chances up with the benefits of the UH play, and it's not like HUH doesn't give him so much back. #strategylarge
#knowledgesaddest for not challenging ANAGOGUE* earlier. This is also a tilt play. UH is fine, even though he's likely to have a D. I eat those chances up with the benefits of the UH play, and it's not like HUH doesn't give him so much back. #strategylarge
totally missing AGREEING #findingsaddest
At least it's cool that this game has some really fun point sacrifices for both players, EAU vs. EAUX for me and SNOT vs ENTRESOLS for Jackson. I should also probably just play IN(H)ERE 1G in this spot, speaking of sacrifices. I just don't have a good shot leaving him to choose what scoring spot to use first and what letters to leave himself with for the specific board we have. HERNIAE would be better but it doesn't open anything. I should open something. #questionable
DAI(R)Y scores the same you idiot. I realized after I hit the clock. Again. Reason DAIRY is better is because it allows bingos ending in E on both sides of 9C, creating a more viable comeback threat. I figured he probably had the S already given his confidence. #strategysaddest #countingsaddest
getting V stuck if I play REL(I)EF, so I need to keep at least an E or playing the V. Thought this would be good to keep VEE(P). Quackle doesn't find it but I imagine it's fine. I draw into EVENT sometimes as well. This play has a value of -3.875, average spread +137.125. Quackles best find is 2A LEV(I)N which has an accurately calculated value of -1.75, average spread being 139.25. So this is -2 unless there's something better #strategysmall
so close. I knew nothing that I saw won, but I missed two of his J plays. Quackle again has nothing on my wordfinding ability since it cannot find this play -9 to just brute force with PUt(Z) E9 or VEIN 4A #endgamemedium
didn't know for sure if ROQUE had a hook in CSW (CROQUE*, etc.), had I known I probably play ROQUE. QI(S) was not on my radar, sims close to ROQUE. REIVE is a bit behind #knowledgesmall
1) I should know the extensions for PRIZE if I play PRIZE 2) I should have calculated the difference between ZIG and PRIZE better
3) I should see PIEZO ffs #findingmedium #strategymedium
1) I should know the extensions for PRIZE if I play PRIZE 2) I should have calculated the difference between ZIG and PRIZE better
3) I should see PIEZO ffs #findingmedium #strategymedium
very much wanted this to be the best play, but since almost no A's and only 2 U's remain, I2 TE/SQUAMAE is better. Also, just dropping the T at O3. She almost bit on SQUAMA, so thought she would challenge this own. #strategysmall
missed GLOOPY in the same spot, which I imagine has to be better. PHYTOL I didn't count, but it seems potentially worth playing due to scor. POTTY looked awful. #findingsmall
-2 to ODE blocking N(A)N and slowplaying. He also would have gone over if I did that. Takes guts. #endgamesmall
something was underscored by 2, so final recorded as 388-380
I think taking the points for 13A (IN)VITEE is warranted here. I didn't see it. It does better things to the board and scores a lot more. #findingsmall
I might have completely misevaluated this. I'm probably just not outrunning, which was my goal. Or draw a blank somehow but I was like sure he had it. #strategysaddest
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
missed a couple of things here, mainly MAR(CELLED). Didn't know MARCEL was a verb. I guess I'll know for next time CELLED is the opening play. I also missed OZA(L)ID for 40, and potentially misevaluated ZO(O)ID K2. Wanted to do a bit more to the board here, felt in control. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
missed a couple of things here, mainly MAR(CELLED). Didn't know MARCEL was a verb. I guess I'll know for next time CELLED is the opening play. I also missed OZA(L)ID for 40, and potentially misevaluated ZO(O)ID K2. Wanted to do a bit more to the board here, felt in control. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
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
calculated GUY being a bit better, but for some reason got worried I was allowing something bad, but even the worst possible thing still loses by 1 for him. -1 #endgamesmall
CLIMB was not noticed in time, CNNS has some bingo synergy but CNNS is still 3.1 worse statically than NNS
Josh: yeah I was quite annoyed when I hit my clock. Being a native English speaker definitely didn't help me here, as LIMB did not very easily turn into CLIMB in my head. I have made this same mistake before. I played too fast and there is an inferior stratategem my brain uses when looking at similar positions to these. #findingmedium
I did not see the best rack-cleanup options here, C8 (R)UBIED or 13B BEDUI(N). Again a lack of ability to generate certain patterns that I must attempt to eliminate. (R)UBIED looks pretty good. #findingsmall
I didn't consider for long enough the option of exchanging OQ. I also eschewed the defensive aspect of LOX. It would appear exchanging down to ELR is best here #tacticssmall
I put some thought into this and F4 PARLE. PARLE reduces opponent's average score by 9 over this. If scorinig defense were equal, QAI(D) would be the right play. However, I grossly undervalued defense again here. #strategymedium
and then I just make this inexplicably stupid play, going for ZI(G)S and ZA(G)S, but creating a new big threat and not having a response to a lot of plays that just block what I'm going for, or if I just miss completely. #strategySADDEST
I completely failed to see the hyper-agressiive 9J OF here. What a play. Just decided to equity here and see what happened, since I wasn't ahead by enough to play defense at the expense of my rack with all the lanes on the board that weren't getting blocked and an unseen blank to boot. #findingsmall
I decided FU(G) was such a weird play that it had to be a setup an overwhelming majority of the time. I did a bunch of estimations here and determined that this was barely worth playing if his play was a setup 80% of the time. However, what I failed to analyze was that this does block the hardest-hitting X plays, but gives back easy -AX plays in return which score around 40 points, so I'm not actually reducing Noah's average score by nearly as much as I thought I was. My other thought here was YO(K). I thought his range was specific enough now that the 14K spot would be mine a lot and that I could draw YO(K)ES or even something better a lot of the time. On paper I average well after BUR(F)I(s), but not nearly enough. There are plays that average more immediately as well, such as the bingo-seeking plays of M7 BUY and BUOY. BUR(F)I(s) should edge those out pretty convincingly in the turns after next, though. Even when I specify OUX as a partial rack leave, BUR(F)I(s) performs remarkably worse than YO(K). And unfortunately, just like Noah, I missed a cool disconnected play that solves most of my problems and keeps the game much closer. 13G (F)U(s)IB(L)Y is the way to go here. It blocks any setup potential better than any other candidate play and scores well. It does block the 14J spot which I still thought was a good asset, but that's OK. I've already tried to draw into a big play there and failed, no need to put all my eggs in one basket with the score so close. A ton of time and thought went into this play, and it's a glaring error. Tunnel visioning into not seeing that this didn't rid the board of big X plays like I wanted it to, as well as setting myself up for only one good outcome. #strategylarge #findinglarge
I decided FU(G) was such a weird play that it had to be a setup an overwhelming majority of the time. I did a bunch of estimations here and determined that this was barely worth playing if his play was a setup 80% of the time. However, what I failed to analyze was that this does block the hardest-hitting X plays, but gives back easy -AX plays in return which score around 40 points, so I'm not actually reducing Noah's average score by nearly as much as I thought I was. My other thought here was YO(K). I thought his range was specific enough now that the 14K spot would be mine a lot and that I could draw YO(K)ES or even something better a lot of the time. On paper I average well after BUR(F)I(s), but not nearly enough. There are plays that average more immediately as well, such as the bingo-seeking plays of M7 BUY and BUOY. BUR(F)I(s) should edge those out pretty convincingly in the turns after next, though. Even when I specify OUX as a partial rack leave, BUR(F)I(s) performs remarkably worse than YO(K). And unfortunately, just like Noah, I missed a cool disconnected play that solves most of my problems and keeps the game much closer. 13G (F)U(s)IB(L)Y is the way to go here. It blocks any setup potential better than any other candidate play and scores well. It does block the 14J spot which I still thought was a good asset, but that's OK. I've already tried to draw into a big play there and failed, no need to put all my eggs in one basket with the score so close. A ton of time and thought went into this play, and it's a glaring error. Tunnel visioning into not seeing that this didn't rid the board of big X plays like I wanted it to, as well as setting myself up for only one good outcome. #strategylarge #findinglarge
now I'm pretty much completely 50/50 about whether Noah has the X, and when I make this play, I'm closer and closer to realizing FU(G) was not an X setup. The best play here is 3I FIN(N)AN. That's a huge miss once again #findinglarge
Drawing the X was so painful, but at least I felt the game was somewhat even at this point despite my attempts to sabotage it with BUR(F)I(s). I had realized at this point that my play had allowed -AX words and was really upset. Also, I could be better off here playing POX and keeping the F considering Noah's last play. I think the defense is well worth it here. #tacticssmall
this was absolutely terrifying. I saw that I didn't have DOGMA through the D in DEFINITE. I saw that I had GLIOMATA with an I or an L. I saw the -MATA suffix more than once. Yet, I miss dOGMATA. #findinglarge
once again being safe, though I missed SPElEAN in the same spot which I would be sure of as opposed to SPEANEd, which I was not, given I always confused SNEAPED SPEANED with SNEAKED SKEANED*. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
I suppose he could have S(E)RAGLIO, the only playable 7 on row 14, and nothing else. I should therefore play deP(L)ANES A2 or fish with E(ME).
once again being safe, though I missed SPElEAN in the same spot which I would be sure of as opposed to SPEANEd, which I was not, given I always confused SNEAPED SPEANED with SNEAKED SKEANED*. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
I suppose he could have S(E)RAGLIO, the only playable 7 on row 14, and nothing else. I should therefore play deP(L)ANES A2 or fish with E(ME).
in speed games, there is enormous value in seeing bingos quickly. I unfortunately do not usually have that capacity, so I often make plays like this, that can't be too much worse than a bingo, but that are clearly inferior. The time I save is very valuable, but immediately missing the bingos is obviously a problem. Had I taken the time to see a bingo after not immediately seeing one, I would have lost a lot of time and it would not have been worth it. Best looks to be L5 cATHEAD, which looks like it would lead to a game where whoever gets the next bingo will win. #findingmedium
14H (S)pELAEAN is 78! Despite AnNEALED being better because of the placement of the N, it was not worth the extra second to replace the two N's once I had laid the play down. #findingmedium
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
I now realized that I wasn't actually ahead, but this still looked quite strong to block the easy scoring spot, so I was happy to take it over XI(S) for 55. This is valid strategy for blitz, since I'm also leaving myself with FEH 4F for next turn, but the position is obviously richer than that. Not playing 4 tiles is good here because neither of us wants too draw the Q. The pool is very bad so blocking row 1 isn't really all that valuable, except for a game-ending play there like WEARY, TEARING, YEARN, which happens only once in a while. 14F XI(S) is definitely the stronger choice. #tacticslarge
I think I took like 7 minutes here at least ugh, there's nothing better than this or (W)AgTAILS and (M)ATILdAS. This gives too many overlaps. #findingsmall
FAIL or FAIR because I don't give back any 9s! UNGUARDED, UNDERHAND, UNADORNED, UNFOUNDED, UNDERFUND, UNROUNDED, UNDERHUNG play. (L)ONGHEAD still plays regardless #strategylarge
I missed that I had VAC and VEERY. JOKE is therefore better to leave that, but COV(E) or CAV(E) is a fantastic idea to set myself up for 66 #findinglarge
I am terrible. I thought it was only KNAIDELS and that I had phonied with SANDLIKE before, but it was DIRTLIKE* against Vera in 2013 where I had TIDELIKE available and chose wrong. Stupid stupid, this is the perfect time to phony anyway. Dahhhhh also KADI and KINDA..... #knowledgesaddest #findingsaddest
I am terrible. I thought it was only KNAIDELS and that I had phonied with SANDLIKE before, but it was DIRTLIKE* against Vera in 2013 where I had TIDELIKE available and chose wrong. Stupid stupid, this is the perfect time to phony anyway. Dahhhhh also KADI and KINDA..... #knowledgesaddest #findingsaddest
Joey: ESCARGOT
Josh: had I seen ESCARGOT during my thought process last turn or as a review of said thought process this turn, I would have challenged QUICKY* off the board and been ahead by 200. I should still challenge because how likely is he to block the D anyway? I don't need to worry pretty much at all about having a spot to bingo. Horrible #knowledgesaddest
could also do PAH for one point less to further restrict overrlaps. I retain the only two letters in the pool that can overlap PA. Furthermore, he can set up D(RAG) or B(RAG) after either play with R(AG) for 4, but I can draw an E to block with TE(PA) after PAH and it is much trickier to block after HAP. B(ROO) is the lurking threat here, he could just bingo there at any time, but making another spot with R(AG) might just be his key to victory in some lines. #tacticssmall
This was a stupid moment. Thought that he only had one out after O(W)IE (he doesn't, I'm setting up the second with C(HE)ESE). Even so, I CAN'T BLOCK his other out of A2 CEES... I thought I was clever here going out in 3. I also just flat-out missed BOH(E)A 15A. (M)OAN is best, forcing him to block with (J)O #endgamesaddest
could not be 100% sure of COGG(E)D, so given Glenn's challenge-y nature of years past, I couln't pull the trigger despite being pretty confident. #knowledgesmall
This set in motion a very sad tournament for me with regards with spread. I know there are many more examples of this, where I could have won by so much more in a game that ended up being very tight. EMBODIER seemed totally ridiculous to me, since IMBODIER* was surely invalid. But that is logical. Not NWL-based thinking will not get you far in NWL. #knowledgelarge
it was at this point that I knew I would lose the game. I somehow missed 7F HOYA, which despite sucking, is far and away the best shot I have. #findingsmall
I think I missed 3B NA(I)F. That seems good here as well, since I am not sure of SEPTORIAS, so a lot of the value of OF decreases if I choose not to play SEPTORIAS. #knowledgesmall
14M BYS for sure. I was unsure of SEPTORIAS, which is annoying. I wanted to block RELAND. This is -21. The best non-BYS play is the crazy J13 (T)OR for 5. #endgamelarge
definitely need to play NUBIlE instead of TUBINg considering last play. Still loses just barely. Maybe I fish a U for an A. I thought I could win if I drew the S. #strategysaddest
knew this was invalid, but missed better alternatives. This was the first play of the tournament, and I purposely phonied. Lol #findingsmall for WARILY which I think is best.
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
HONE is better because it just bingos more and scores more. CONE also takes an S hook and I didn't see it. ONE also might be the play because it doesn't create the S hook #strategysmall
This seems totally wrong when there are plays that bingo a huge amount. For example, if I am going for the A (the main goal of this play), I can play 15K IT, which bingos with every single combo with the A besides AR and AA, but it can be blocked by OLDER 11H or (H)OLDER M3, OARED 11H. Quackle suggests CR(U) J12 wihch also bings a lot, but Jeff can play stuff like AE/ECRU to block, so that doesn't seem like it. Maybe 6I (E)R. I saw I was drawing TRAN(Q) so often here especially with an inference, and I was going down by only 17. I figured I was winning so often whenever I drew a vowel, but I don't think that's necessarily true. TRAN(Q) would take Jeff by surprise, but only puts me ahead 42 not including his play. If he plays 4 tiles such as with DALE A1, he's threatening to go out and win anyway. I can do better with IT, certainly. #strategylarge
I have no respect for my opponents and my results are suffering as a result. *OR* I have a high expections that max will not lose this game if I don't bing here, and that it was more likely he would not challenge the newly expurgated word. Obviously I played NOOKIES, not this #knowledgesaddest
F8 (C)OO(E)E is good. I drew my 3 tiles without shaking the bag too hard and before looking at them had the urge to put them back into the bag. I feel like it's often not the tiles that opponent threw back that you draw, even when you don't shake, but that whenever the draw is bad, you assume. I should have been allowed to put the tiles back before looking at them because Scrabble draws should be random. #findinglarge
I should probably get rid of my I. A8 FOIN sims best, which is crazy but just might work. But all the 4-tile plays on the A column are better than this aparently. #strategysmall
did not see that 13K was better, since I draw into QA(T) simply 14J when I draw an A, and a bunch of other plays through the T that score 60+ #findingsmall
who misses two-letter words? I miss two-letter words. I think I might have been conflating the C's inflexibility with my irrational despisal of the G. #endgameSADDEST
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
Wondered about EFIRS vs EIRS here. I thought EFIRS was slightly stronger for bingos next turn and also just more balanced in general, the F can be used for scoring as well as bingos. However, EIRS is remarkably stronge than EFIRS here, mostly because of the floaters on the board I imagine. EFIRS might hit a similar amount of 7s but definitely not nearly as many 8s. #tacticssmll
This was quite aggressive. I didn't see 7D OF, which makes it quite hard for Rob to do much of anything. This is a bit counter-productive, since my 2nd S is useful to hook LUV (or BUY for that matter). This nicely creates a spot to play a bingo that doesn't require the S to be in 1st to 6th position, but he is just too likely to play there, and there is just no reason to give up an easier spot for Rob to bingo as well. My rack is more than good enough to coast despite being a bit down on the scoreboard. OF 5J was definitely too aggressive though, at least I didn't play that. #finidingsmall #tacticssmall
Hide your eyes, folks. Missing OR(Y)X until a few seconds after I hit my clock. The big issue was that I don't see the word ORYX quickly enough. The next big issue is that I was concerned that I drew RUX to my bingo leave. The next smaller issue is that I played too quickly. This is a bush-league error that puts me back over 30 points, the leave of ERRSU being a few points worse than ERSU despite hitting a few more bingos. #findinglarge
and as all these thoughts permeated my mind, such as "I should lose this game now, I deserve it." and "am I going to blow this whole tournament now?", I once again faced fake results orientation. I saw REAROUSE, then REASSURE, andd wondered if there was an anagram. I got close, but failed to recognize my high-prob 7. ERASURE keeps me well in the game. #findinglarge
now that I'm not winning, I should at least be able to limit the damage a bit. between HUT and this, HUT is a lot better, since it keeps a scarce vowel. #strategymedium
4J V(IN) is the V fish I just missed. I also missed STILB(I)TE fwiw. I also missed SLITT(I)ER fwiw. But mostly I just missed V(IN) which is just dreadful. #findinglarge
50% chance I draw the R, perhaps there's a universe in which I get that down. Also VI(R)T(U)S is just better? Why did I miss that?
so I missed (G)HAZI. That's a huge miss. Saw TEL(O)I but wanted to block something or score something. This seems like second best but it's a far, far second. #findinglarge
first instance this tournament of seeing a clear best play after making my inferior play. He gave me the perfect letter at 9J to play through this rack, in pretty decent fashion. 9F AU(G)U(R)Y is way better than this. AU(G)U(R) is actually a really cool play as well, and sims similarly to AUGURY given the huge scoring potential of keeping the Y, not only for 10 row plays, but 8 row plays, and also just stuff like K9 YOW that will often balance really well and score 31. #visionsaddest
tough endgame. I have to block MELODIA (and EARLDOM which I missed). Didn't see any way to do this and save two outs, but NOM(O)I does it. MORI(O)N is very gutsy and also leaves outs. -10 #endgamelarge
#knowledgemedium APP(U)LES or PAP(U)LES here, also BAP over PAP by 3 points! I was definitely focused on ABLE words too much here especially with no open A.
maybe TO(C)KED (which I doubted) to induce a challenge. I realized shortly after playing this that LO(C)KET might actually be better as I retain the last D which goes a bit better with the pool and board. #tacticssmall
I completely missed AR(M)FUL here, which is definitely optimal. I did this because things are starting to look dangerous and I'm ready to induce mistakes. This is #findinglarge way behind AR(M)FUL and 13J FERULA and even 13L TUFA but actually considering that I will likely get FOULERS* to fly or get a turn off of her playing it, I think this is correct. If she's 50% to lose a turn after FOULER, I'm right to play it, and/or if I'm somewhat likely to use the spot which I think I am (maybe 15-25% of the time or something).
Wow. I had severe tunnel vision on this first move. I only saw X(U) which was very defensive and draw into some stuff like OTOLOGIC and ZOOLOGIC or something else if more stuff is opened. The other thing I considered was IGLOO 9J to try and set my X up. I totally failed to consider another X setup play, COL(U)GO I5. It's a less worrisome version of IGLOO, giving around 2 points fewer back on average, fewer bingos, and giving me a little bit more. IGLOO is more defensive down the line, which is good if things fall into place, but not good when they don't. I also totally missed OXIC 7J, which is standard. I would consider this a mistake over COL(U)GO for sure, even though IGLOO appears to benefit me over time. FWIW X(U) sims similarly well to the X-setup options, and it also seems to complicate the game the most. With so few moves available in the position, I find it most outrageous that I failed to see other candidates, and am more concerned about that than anything else. #findingsmall #tacticssmall
Wow. I had severe tunnel vision on this first move. I only saw X(U) which was very defensive and draw into some stuff like OTOLOGIC and ZOOLOGIC or something else if more stuff is opened. The other thing I considered was IGLOO 9J to try and set my X up. I totally failed to consider another X setup play, COL(U)GO I5. It's a less worrisome version of IGLOO, giving around 2 points fewer back on average, fewer bingos, and giving me a little bit more. IGLOO is more defensive down the line, which is good if things fall into place, but not good when they don't. I also totally missed OXIC 7J, which is standard. I would consider this a mistake over COL(U)GO for sure, even though IGLOO appears to benefit me over time. FWIW X(U) sims similarly well to the X-setup options, and it also seems to complicate the game the most. With so few moves available in the position, I find it most outrageous that I failed to see other candidates, and am more concerned about that than anything else. #findingsmall #tacticssmall
I honestly thought he had taken away a ticket back into the game, but unfortunately I did not see my bing to the O, once again. Damn. If I had only thought about this rack as more than a "play ENTICES/IGLOOS if he doesn't block and play it with KIS if he does block" #findinglarge #knowledgelarge
I honestly thought he had taken away a ticket back into the game, but unfortunately I did not see my bing to the O, once again. Damn. If I had only thought about this rack as more than a "play ENTICES/IGLOOS if he doesn't block and play it with KIS if he does block" #findinglarge #knowledgelarge
sort of balked here. Never saw 13K INN which looks pretty good to block the likeliest lane and score, while maintaining the R for RYA. I don't necessarily want to block one spot here, but I might be able to get away with it. #findingsmall
huge miss of SHEAFED, which I saw but chickened out of. Wasn't quite confident enough that there was a word in this. This is a huge 25-point mistake just as the momentum was turning in my favor. Maybe if I had but more thought into it and thought about SHEAFING. AEFGHINS looks potentially good. #knowledgeSADDEST
should not go out. -15 to just dropping the blank G at J10. Funny because I set myself up to do a better-than-optimal endgame with KAE. #endgameSADDEST
there are no scoring spots on this board, and the pool is clunky. Therefore this is actually a really poor decision over U(K)E or (K)UE. KUE was my other consideration, but I liked how this kept a bunch of things open and allowed me to sscore well next turn if I couldn't bingo. #tacticslarge
completely missing a few plays here, such a tough spot! 5J MES(N)E is pretty clearly best here, sets up a lane that's really hard to block completely. This is all I came up with. I can get something once in a while but mostly, I'm preparing to use the C next turn on row 6 to fork the board. Otherwise, if I want to wait, I can play C(H)EL(A) 11J. This doesn't score enough to threaten much #findinglarge
L2 WIN is a nice idea to set up my case T. TWIN also sims better than this, not a human move, though I guess considering there are no vowels left it's fine. #findingsmall
sometimes you just lose a game on the first turn. This is #, couldn't remember even though I just checked this like two weeks ago. ETHERISE SHEETIER#. Thought SHEETIER was + rather than # and even then SHEETY# could just be invariable. But the elephant in the room is the bingo through the I. Alphabetized DEEHIRTY to no avail. #findingsaddest
I probably missed the spot for QUIRTED here. Actually I think I chickened out? Though UUUU? is out, still probably worth it? It's hard for him to fish for a big QU play, especially if I could just draw a U. #findinglarge
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
UNFRESH* #knowledgesaddest
After this game I think I looked up all the FRESH words and that allowed me to win a turn on FRESHING against Jason Li some months later in Ottawa.
trying to set my X up, but this is kind of a weak setup. F7 (P)ITHOI and M13 OH(O) sim better than this. OHO is interesting, not a human idea, but since I am already keeeping the XI combo, I am planning on playing it next turn anyway, so the I duplication is less of a factor if you consider that my leave is actually a leave in two parts. The IX+ play that I will be playing next turn, and the leave I will be keeping. It's commital, but sound. #tacticssmall
this was a pretty crazy draw. Quackle doesn't care and tells me to play NIX for 53 and open that huge spot. I felt I could hold this closed position, but maybe the leave is just too unwieldy. I score 10 points more on average after NIX, which is relevant here. #strategymedium
If Andrew doesn't block along the F or E file, C7 GAM is best by far. BEGO is still there at 7B but I have to end in an E. But I think he blocks too often and I just lose. Here, I thought he can't block both bingo spots on column F and row 2. Seemed like my best shot. However, he can just play with GAME on the 6th row to block everything. So I'm kind of boned regardless. So maybe it's back to C7 GAM, since that might outrun some blocks? Maybe I just have to make a desperado play opening up row 15 such as (S)AG and go for CAMEOED or CAROMED. That also threatens DORMICE, but Andrew can probably block both lines and still win. Toughens things tho. #tacticslarge
hated the idea of a forking bingo at 14H, creating H15 and O column stuff. This still creates long-term weaknesses. A similar idea is to play 8M LOO, block that S hook and scoring spot and keep a better leave. This deals with the more troublesome of the two spots a 14-row bingo would create, creating indirect prophylaxis. The idea of creating a new lane without blocking any specific bingos might have given me too much pause. #strategysmall
I didn't like LIBRI because the CN didn't seem to go well with the C in HAPTIC, but I guess I'm also not completely stuck having to use that C. I didn't like CIB(O)L because it's easy enough to dump an S for 30+ and outrun me. Still, that might be the way. C12 CRIB is also interesting, going all in on using the C next turn. This just doesn't hit enough. #strategysmall
Saw AMBEERS and remembered it had an anagram but couldn't see BESMEAR. Jackson didn't see AMBEERS and so he let this go. Weird word knowledge mutuality. #knowledgelarge
Jackson overdrew and I overturned EIN putting back the N
B1 WOOdR(U)SH iis therefore the play because he can't have a game-winning (W)HITENER to go out
Here I'm hoping he doesn't block the N and I get DISHONOR 3x3
#knowledgelarge
should definitely find a block of AEFRSTW here. This gives way too much back. TEAWARES and SOFTWARE. I think I probably missed both. His leave after JUN basically never contains an F or W, so there are so many reasons why this is a bad play. #findinglarge
If I was going to chicken out of a valid high-prob 7, at least I did it while making a pretty good play, but it's absolutely horrible that I couldn't be sure BORACES was valid. Noah thought BORACE* was good too. #knowledgeSADDEST
#knowledgelarge for GOITERING*
I thought this was a decent try, considering there were already 7 E's in play and 3/4 of tiles unseen. He's still at like 41% to have an E though. I should probably just play E7 TE(E)PEE and brace. Thought there was a chance Noah would miss EPEE? But he's a young player, why would he miss that? #questionable
I am most angry at this one. I honestly tried really really hard to see Pe(G)BOX but something in my brain just wouldn't process it. I can't see BOX words, I can't see some ING words, and I just feel like I never will. I literally stared at the -GBOX extension for many many seconds. After I made my play, I saw it, so maybe there's some slim chance I will start seeing more of these things. Until then, #findingsaddest
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
was 90% sure of TURTLER, which wasn't enough apparently. Really bad confidence at this point. This could theoretically lose to something like BROADAX J7 and I don't draw a vowel. #knowledgesaddest
this is 1 off M11 DR(A)B, blocking LUN like I wanted to, but going out for 20 with KA(F). Thought about (TURTLE)D to go for some fun AQUA stuff if he plays LUN, but it works out 1 worse for me if he plays it right. -1 #endgamesmall
I didn't see NONHErO which I would have been more sure of, and also sure that it doesn't have an S hook. The R placement makes G8 NONHErO the move. #findingsmall
seems clear that I should just do G7 OVOLI now that I am analyzing. I knew I was playing scared here, but felt Mack still had a decent play at H12 despite challenging. #strategysmall
hm, definitely thought WELT had better equity overall. Seems TWEET is slightly better as Mack bingos significantly less given the lack of home for lots of 7s and only 3 floaters. Didn't think of that. WELT seems around a point worse #strategysmall
AWEE seemed to give a lot more easier plays back, but that shouldn't be a huge concern since I'm probably slightly behind regardless, so the extra point, better opportunities next turn and one fewer vowel might be good. #strategysmall
this was really dumb. I can actually outscore if I play K11 OF (or EF which is just slightly worse but same idea). It's 31 points and does actually threaten a lot of stuff when the right letters are in the bag. Really dumb of me. I have to make a play making FEH to reopen the N column, but I can also do other stuff at the same time. This just never outscores. #strategysaddest
this isn't going well, but I can't play scared scoring defense. A5 IOLITE is much better balance and gives back way fewer game-losing bingos. #strategysmall
I put an exclamation point here. I don't know if I didn't see that she had AXE for 57 (doubt I missed that) or if I felt she would miss it again or if I just wanted to go for equity despite knowledge of her rack. Weird. I feel like J5 OW is clear. #strategymedium
reallllly overthought this one. Why didn't I keep my A instead of my O? Worried about duplication with 3 A's unseen DO(D)O H6 is also probably fine.#strategysmall
from this position arises (edit: what I thought was) the most amazing endgame sequence I've ever seen a sub-1000 rated player play. I genuinely thought I was Q-sticking here. (edit: And I was)
Quackle's choice is N1 NU, and it seems to win by 209 according to its endgame analysis, so at least that's consistent with its estimations here. Still don't know if I should trust this.
#endgamesaddest
I thought the A(V)A play was genius, which it was, setting up Q(A)t/t(OY) and Qu(AY) unblockable. Sadly it gives me an out I somehow failed to see!!! And then I play this for some really stupid reason. Maybe hoping she missed Qu(AY)? #endgamesaddest
missing the beautiful (JIN)GKO at 10F. This seemed better than GE(C)K for draws at RESEX* which I hope I would have remembered is invalid. #findingSADDEST
thought a lot about LI(E) 10B to set up PLIE, but if he plays QI/LI there I might be in trouble. I didn't know PULY#, which seems right at 3L #knowledgeSAD
maybe I can get away with A1 NOTA here, I just hated the idea of keeping the U. But that's such a damn dangerous spot, that it sims 6 higher than this, which was an attempt to create some counterplay and keep scoring. I think I was psychologically disinclined to play NOTA there because I was rebelling against my draw. #strategymedium
did I actually assess this as "I'm setting up TI(NKER) for 3 more and blocking IZARD-like plays so I'll sac 2 points" or did I just flat-out miss THE. I think the latter #findingsmall
sims near to FROE J6 even without inferring Jason has a strong leave, but FROREN# makes this play a lot worse. I am supposed to know that word, since Matthew Tunnicliffe taught me the FRORNE# FROREN# FORREN# combo a couple of weeks ago #knowledgesmall
I wasn't sure if LEW(D) G5 would always outrun H1 plays, but it does just barely get the job done. This can lose to NO(C)T(U)RIAS if I leave the A in the bag. I only calculated RE(C)A(U)TION, which also loses when the A is in the bag. I transposed letters when thinking about the draws and didn't recognize this. Had I seen that drawing EY wouldn't necessarily win, I would have gone with LEW(D) #strategySADDEST
I had spent probably half my time at the point of making this play. But I just couldn't spot REIGNED. Again, I felt like I was falling into my old patterns this game and couldn't escape. No excuses. Couldn't even spot DE(R)INgER or anything that didn't open a 3x3 or score too low. I knew this was wrong but my time was ticking so fast. #findingsaddest
best by far is N2 TINDAL# for 41. I've somehow never seen it. I was not 100% on POWN#, and knew this would be at least a small mistake if POWN# was good, so that didn't feel great. Still, I could have spotted NITID C5 which seems decent. #knowledgeSADDEST
A(QUA) doesn't seem all that important according to Quackle. Apparently I should play LOAD in the same spot, which was my original instinct. 11L (F)OLD is also reasonable if I think STOVE was a Z setup or if I don't want that variance in my life. Truth is I didn't even think of ZE. #strategysmall
I may have chickened out of DOGTROT here. But maybe that was some other game. GAROTT(ES) seems better since only OI are out to overlap on the O column, and I would be keeping an O. #tacticssmall
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
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
tip: if you have a bingo on your first move of the tournament, play it. You'll be infinitely more likely to win said tournament if you do. I saw TROWTHS, but ROWTH didn't have a hook in my head #knowledgesaddest
clueless here. I could play something like F9 BE and give up on equity. That sims a lot better than other stuff, maybe because U draw and some other 2-tile pulls give me 15J stuff. #findingmedium
UH 7B is a fascinating option. I bingo a bit less than with WI(C)H or wHI(R) 5I, but my bingos score a whole lot more, without actually giving Ricky that much. He is less likely than average to have a D or an H to hook UH also. This would have been the right play. #tacticssmall
I considered this, FIE 11E and FETA 7G. I missed OHIA 11D which seems like the play. I didn't want to play FIE because it set up PIER with ECO and 6 R's out without a good lane on the board. OHIA sims better than HAO by 4 points, and I imagine it's even better than that in this position. #findingsmall
F10 (Q)UOTA seems like a good idea here. I didn't like (Q)UAI despite it being more proactive than U(N)AI, since it could help Kevin a decent amount potentially. QUOTA is best by a lot #findingmedium
completely missed the PSHAW hook! I went for PAESANO 2B and APNOEAS 14E, and set up another hook just in case I was missing another bingo with the N/Kevin would be less prone to blocking with more live bingo lanes. I might be best off playing N2 (T)AE for 10 here. It threatens PAVANES with an AN draw and REPAVES with an ER draw. I think Kevin is very likely to have the R, which is why I rejected the hail mary bag-empting EAV(E) D3, which would set up REAVE and a possible bingo in two spots (maybe?). But (T)AE also sets up the Z, and maybe if Kevin messes up somehow I can win if I draw the Z for P(RE)Z or O4 Z- plays. #findinglarge
I might prefer playing this for 9 more at I5? Can't imagine this is worth sacrificing so much.
Upon reviewal I like I4 TRIP, since it blocks a lot of annoying scoring plays at H1, despite allowing me to bingo next turn significantly less. #strategysmall
D11 (T)OTTY seems right, I hit SIZ(Y) with an I, DOZ(Y) with an O, ZEDS or DE(CRYING) with an E, and a whole host of other fun scoring plays exist because I kept the Z, the best tile in Scrabble. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
D11 (T)OTTY seems right, I hit SIZ(Y) with an I, DOZ(Y) with an O, ZEDS or DE(CRYING) with an E, and a whole host of other fun scoring plays exist because I kept the Z, the best tile in Scrabble. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
I6 HE(R)BAGED is available here as my only decent chance back into the game. But I talked myself out of it! I also talked myself out of DEBAG! I have played too many games in which an option I am unsure of is invalid and reveals to me that I was too hasty with the comeback attempt. Scrabble is psychological warfare sometimes, and I am all but shielded from it. B(A)DGE is also not as bad as it looks, since 4 R's and 3 D's are already gone. #knowledgelarge
don't have my racks from hereon out. I think I saw most of the candidate plays and felt lucky about hitting the I in GUILT. This is bad. I think I soon regretted this fishing expedition. This is my best guess about my rack given what I wrote down on my scoresheet (EGLMNOR and EGILMNOR) #strategysaddest
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
should probably play the bingos here for board dynamics and score control. Problem was I was unsure of both SLEAZING and GLAZINGS. I also missed D2 ZAG, gonna have to look harder in my cupboard next time. #findingmedium
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
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
I also considered KI in the same spot. Was going to play that until Mack gave me 2 more points for EKING. KI is potentially still better, but Mack is definitely likely to try and block row 5 next and if I don't hit immediately I might be in board trouble. Row 14 and column K are still available after KI, which is probably good enough. #tacticssmall
the issue with EKING bares its teeth. Now I am potentially in range to come back without a bingo at least? Keeping the Z seems to have a lot of value, and I should play JILT 5D. #strategysmall
this was so sad and bad. I should just do something more aggressive I think. This doesn't hit all that much and I'm just in the same spot next turn a lot, after having scored nothing and done nothing. Should just do SWAIL/TOMS, which I was going to do, but then didn't like leaving the N column bingos open forever. Had a silly idea of being able to fully control this board still. #tacticsmedium
didn't like the long term N column, so I should just do cELESTA. Was playing very open to give myself easier decisions while having to direct. #strategysmall
had no clue there were 6 in the bag here, just played this without checking. Disastrous. Thought it was close between SPIRIT and SPAIT and hadn't tracked TEASELs so wanted to go for the blank. #strategysaddest
tough spot. Thought I was in bad enough position to fork with this, but with VIL(E)R forks are threatened and outscoring is threatened. And the E really really helps my rack. So I think I screwed this one up. Sad, because VIL(E)R was my instinct. #strategymedium
fuck, 13C OGLE is a setup. It's a good one because if I hit an A or O, I'm not opening a lane on row 15 after the X bomb. This was a key miss. Just found a good play getting rid of the X and sent it. #tacticsmedium
yeah so I started to get quite low on time here. The pool is extremely strong, and I thought my best chance was to bingo back. I didn't even know if that would score enough though. I don't think it does, like, at all. So this was just not a good move, since when Michael doesn't outrun with his bingo, he just blocks. I need to bite the bullet and play 15F INKED. I thought it might be giving him bingos he doesn't have, but a cursory glance shows that no, INKED doesn't give him anything new. Gotta try that. It would have won. He actually only bingos around 50% of the time. #strategySADDEST
I did not want to make this play. It's almost certain that Noah has another E here, as otherwise he would have kept his E and played FIST/FAST. Also, there are 8 unseen E's. This means that he's going to be able to access the O column a crushing amount of the time, and I'll be left with row 14 and whatever counterplay his O column play leaves me with, which is peanuts. I basically had to hope here that he just didn't have an E, which meant no A or I last turn either. I considered NIX 11E as well, to keep things open. NIX looks better because I draw COWED 12B which sets up SCOWED. #strategysmall
wtf... never considered just OE, only DOE. Opening bingo spots is slightly worse than usual, but definitely not worse enough not to do that. Unbelievable. #findingsaddest
couldn't remember if it was AIRSOCK* or OARSICK*. Turns out it was ARKOSIC, which is probably best at N8 for 98. This and it sim evenly, surprisingly. #knowledgeSADDEST
was pretty nervous here for some reason. Just wanted to play something I was sure of. But I was as sure as I could be of MUTER. I then thought it didn't make a difference between MUTER and MITER, but the difference is 13 points. I'm expecting Q(I) 10K, so I should be able to see that I get a much stronger play after that if I keep MI than keeping MU. MI(R) would then be 32. Orry has to forgo QIS to play optimally after MUTER. #endgameSADDEST
unsure of RESCRIPT, which is much better, but as always, my potentially disastrous mistakes do not end in disaster. Held and released. #knowledgemedium
this was an odd decision by me. I don't think I saw or considered NOH 12C at all, the clear equity play blocking the clear scoring spot. However, I really enjoyed the look of the board after this. If he uses the full scoring spot at 12A, I might get a very nice score myself, even a 3x3. However, Joey is more prone to playing at 12C or 12B than he is to play at 12A given his style of late, so perhaps this was an oversight, since things aren't great when he does that. The bingo lines are mostly airballs and he has a significant lead before my turn. NOH seems standard and totally fine here. HOV(E)L also seems decent, setting up two lanes. #findingmedium
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
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
unfortunately I totally spaced on just VIA B1 here. That seems clear. I considered BIO and BOA there... I didn't like giving up the S here with VASE, but it did score well. I also didn't like the leave of BIO at all. #findingmedium
wow, missing stuff left and right this game. E3 OAF would be enough, but I somehow missed A1 OF as well... this looked pretty ugly and I needed to keep looking, but he was playing the fast game again since I took forever in the opening. #findinglarge
YOLO moment. LATRIUMS* still in play, but I didn't think this would matter much. Kyle won't play it, I probably won't, he could definitely challenge. 6J F(U)SE is best, missed it. #findingmedium
no clue. I thought about this and AVANT. Regretted not doing AVANT. The V is bad reminder #1248793751 and also no need to open unneccessary lanes #strategysmall
no idea what to do here. I took forever. Maybe (W)RAP to set up WRAPT. I hated (P)RAU because of all the extra bingos it gave back. It still sims best. #strategysmall
Yeah ugh this was difficult. On the one hand JOB C1 just looks like the play. Creates a big spot but blocks the likelier lane, and scores better than GOJI. But I got worried about him fishing for JEZAIL or having it. That's not really enough for him to win though, so I shouldn't have worried #tacticssmall
Quackle really likes (E)RUV, citing a nice increase in bingo and scoring chances next turn. I think the board is open enough that I don't need to worry about closing the N and O files with (E)RUV. #findingmedium
best is nickel-and-diming with any sequence of C6 (C)U(T), 13A JA(R), A13 (J)o and (Jo)T, which gets 54 points total, whereas this one gets 45. I saw JA(R) as an option over the board and dismissed it too quickly. -9 #endgamelarge
saw (E)YESOME but was unsure. The S has a lot of recursive value, but probably not enough to overcome the 16-point deficit according to Quackle's evaluations. This is definitely a board I can come back from a 20-point deficit on. #knowledgelarge
best is M12 BAN(I). I had been aware of the M13 (r)A(GI) spot, but didn't see this one. That saves OI 4L for 15 and stops Stefan from going out in two with W(ON)T 11J. -7 #endgamemedium
didn't quickly see HEAd(L)INE and just figured I wouldn't block. This I think is like 15 points off or so? Not terrible, but stupid. He could miss it I guess, but that would require me to see what it is he could miss. #endgamesaddest #findingsaddest
didn't quickly see HEAd(L)INE and just figured I wouldn't block. This I think is like 15 points off or so? Not terrible, but stupid. He could miss it I guess, but that would require me to see what it is he could miss. #endgamesaddest #findingsaddest
the most heartbreaking miss of the entire tournament. DISCIPLINES from DISC. And it's not like I didn't look. I was just thinking about DIS as a prefix. #findingsaddest
I super regretted this over WAX. Never considered that him overlapping FAX is significantly easier, even though it's easier for me too. Quackle thinks this is around a point worse. #tacticssmall
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
fucking cOAPTED again. I saw that on my rack but once I finished looking through the O and U I didn't realize it also played in the same spot. Feared this was wrong but I had all the tools necessary to make the right play here #memorysaddest #findingsaddest
Freaked out a lot here. I'm up by so much now, basically can't lose. Unless CLAWINGS* is a word and I set up a 3x3 putting the other C at K1. Or maybe if I sacrifice loads of equity for no reason multiple turns in a row. #knowledgesaddest
oh look, I actually saw THIAZINE. OH lOoK, i MiSsEd (D)ISPATCH FoR 101. Karma is strong. Funnily enough I think I get Q stuck after DISPATCH if I don't draw AI. #findingSADDEST
realized my thought process was flawed after I made this play. I have to hope Jason has the worst rack ever here. So if I do that, then I don't want to let him be allowed to exchange next turn. Which is why I didn't play CUE 11J. But I can actually win if he exchanges, even when it throws bad letters into the pool. That's something I might need to hope for. #strategyquestionable
was very tired at this point, 5B IC(E) is the play. I was trying to figure out a way to block JA(D)E and score a lot while going out in two, didn't think of a setup. -11 #endgamelarge. Also missed C5 AIL somehow even though I considered that I could keep CROFT and COFT. Stupid
this was an adjustment to what was probably better equity, but it sims like 10 points worse than other options, so I don't think I can justify this. Gotta keep a better leave. M(A)LLET 3C seems best. #strategymedium
terrible word knowledge continues. I put down STINGE and AIDE, and then take it back, and put this down. Joel says "you weren't going to play that." UGH!!! #knowledgeSADDEST
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
I saw DOGDOMS and him having blocked DOGEDOMS, but I couldn't convince myself that the 7 was valid. CATDOMS* is no good, how could DOGDOMS be? But I'm pretty sure I had checked this recently. #knowledgelarge
not sure why I missed TYING A11. Was debating fishing the Y, but saw it only seemed to hit 27/37 or something not so good. I realized that this wasn't right after I played it. Jason insta-challenged IGNORANTS#, which I hadn't even thought about. Just another reason I am the luckiest player ever. TYING is still significantly better than SWINGY+5, which I should have realized. #findinglarge
thought about ENMOVE# but didn't like it. Thought this was a good time to block SHOVELED, since it didn't seem like a big equity swing. But ENMOVE is too good. #knowledgesaddest
I could go for more bingos with MOMS, which sims best. MOCS keeps a better leave overall, but I wanted to keep the O for the 8 row, which I realized might be not so important, as many other vowels are lurking. This seems like a small mistake #strategysmall
I overthought this a bit I think. XENIC simply is probably fine. She held this for a bit. I think considering she might not know this, and how easy it is to overlap the X and score after this, I should have just done XENIC #strategysmall
the best play here is probably fishing the G with (PI)G, followed by 5 extra points for GRO(IN), which I missed. This reduces counterplay maximally, but it's not good enough #findingmedium
really bad, missing K7 D(E)ICE and CODEI(A) with the same letters. I don't know how unfocused I was here, but probably quite, since Joey hadn't come back for his round 7 game (and wasn't going to). #findinglarge
the aggressive 14K F(I)CE sims far best, but are the 10 extra points of equity worth the incredible defense I am planning to play after FE(E)ING? (yes) #strategysmall
I didn't have to phony here. I saw TOKENING but it looked awful, and missed everything else. KENoT(R)ON is a word I was not familiar with, and it plays for 94! I also had NEKTON(I)c. #knowledgelarge
Thought this was a good phony though. I chose the more volatile spot because it was less likely to get challenged if it meant leaving big spots open.
super interesting choice between D1 ZO(E)A and this. How dangerous is the H1 spot? He took a while to play JOG, does that mean he doesn't have an A or E? I think my gut was really wrong here and I should have played ZO(E)A. In my opinion this is #tacticsmedium but Quackle says it's a 1-point mistake. Quackle has zero hindsight obviously. Jack was setting himself up under JO.
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
however, in 2017, I won against Joe Edley, thinking I had cashed, but everything else did not go my way and I ended up right outside the money. I saw WEEPIE and was just too uneasy about its validity to play it. I knew that I could afford a few small mistakes, so long as I didn't lose a turn. Though, I had lost a turn to Karl earlier in the tournament and still won that game. WEEPIE is obviously a word and I just have no self-confidence. #knowledgesmall
I panicked here. Massively.
I didn't know what the standings were, I just knew I had to play a valid word to secure the win. I also wanted to play the endgame well. I saw (S)PURGALL and briefly wondered if I could be making it up. I tried to see what his highest-scoring play was, but with seconds to go I could only see 15, which would tie the game, but I couldn't be sure. Had I been aware of the standings, I would have played the bingo!
#endgamelarge
i7 ATINGLE is the auto-pilot play. I liked trying to control the board with this, blocking more lanes, but I overestimated the bingo defense this provided. #tacticssmall
there is absolutely no reason to do this. I didn't think SOBERERS* was valid, but because I wasn't sure, I think I was kind of punishing myself, and also, *maybe* he doesn't challenge somehow. #knowledgesaddest
not sure what happened here. If I missed VIEW, if I didn't think it scored anything, what. It's a ton better. I played this whole game like Cesar, especially starting here. #findingmedium
rough, he missed STERNER and I'm still in dire straits. I tried to take that as a good thing. ILK(A) I think was missed, that is similar, probably better #findingsmall
this was really bad, since I was almost sure ENORMS* was good, despite it coming up with Rafi at 2022 Word Cup. Misremembered, horrendously. #knowledgesaddest
thought it might be PREFOLIATE* but yeah, never was going to be sure of PERFOLIATE, which is best here. Dave Wiegand thought CARPETBED* was good, as did I. #knowledgesaddest
missed 3(!) bingos here, and I knew I was missing them too. LOPPERED and LAPPETED I didn't know for sure, and I chickened out of DEPEOPLE. #knowledgeSADDEST
perhaps L2 OVULE instead? This was a stylistic choice to try and limit the left side as much as possible. After a play comes down at 12A though, who knows if I can keep it up. #tacticssmall`
just play X(U). This was stupidly fancy and cost me the game. It just seemed to fit my Nationals profile. Also shout out to PAN(CREATIN). #tacticslarge
should probably just do LUM M2. I thought this might get a hold/challenge or at least unsettle Jason if he didn't know the word. Then I noticed A(LUM) and was annoyed at that prospect, although that could be good for me if I draw an A. I didn't think Jason would miss a play with ALUM. DU(A)LLY was an option I didn't consider. I also considerd (A)DYTUM but that looked to make the game too easy for him and too tough for me with my LL leave. #strategymedium
this also seemed very wrong. It performs OK in a sim, but the sim does not comprehend Jackson's defensive responses that don't allow re-overlaps on the C column. I really have to throw out rack balance for a turn here and make a weird-looking play like B(A)TE G6o r just OB(E) 6F. #tacticssmall
missed the nice B(EWE)PT. Very equity-focused mindset. PET was also a leave I wanted, but I felt like Jackson would more often than not dampen the P by playing on the D column. Thought better to go for an S or R or blank. #findingsmall
this is fine, but just (C)RY is really nice much of the time, giving nothing tremendous back, and bingo-ing way more than CRYING. reduces opponent score by almost 10 immediately. Should have given it more thought. #strategysmall
this was wrong, point blank. I need to play BI N8. Realized I really want my A after hitting the clock. Too used to keeping QI over QA. I also know he didn't have an I last move, so maybe QUA G4 and hope he doesn't have the last A or some other big play? #strategymedium
saw a ridiculous amount of ghosts this endgame, most notable after D2 BEE, thinking that after (TE)MPT 5C, my outs were blocked and that my best was LI(T)U G3 which loses by 1 to uN(FAZED), until a recount would have tied the game up given my earlier misscore of TWeRKED. The worst part in all this isn't that I had misscored TWERKED, but that I missed that TEMPT gives me (M)ULIE E5 as an out. This endgame should have been clear as day to me and instead I just flushed 6 minutes down the drain and basically hoped (informedly) that this would be enough. -10 #endgamesaddest
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
never thought of AHA, which bingos just about as much as AWA next turn, but is far more scoring-restrictive for Karl, as there are no vowels that can re-overlap HE. AWARD does a bit better than AWA as well, and I had definitely considered it. #findingsmall
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.
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.
convincingly better to put the blank on the 4 row rather than the 3 row oh nvm things evened out at 19000 iterations
I remember when I relied on short sims to justify totally ridiculous nitpicky situations like these, now I'm sitting here super happy that BLoOPER(S) is now on top by .1 point
Oh wait I'm simming the wrong position. He played MOJO(S) E4 instead of L4, but you know that because I've already changed the annotation. Now to sim the actual position 20 thousand times
well PROBLEm(S) is simming on top. I lose. #tacticssmall
Just kidding, we're now at 6500 iterations and my play is on top. BLOoPERS is 3rd behind PROBLEm(S).
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
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
weird spot. I saw 4G EE(R)IE which has the best equity by a longshot. I decided against it for reasons. Those reasons are pretty frivolous, but I thought I could control this board I think. But EKE is also a fish, so if I bingo where is the control? I dunno. This is a huge sacrifice so I hope I'm not crazy. #strategymedium
probably EpEEIS(T)S 5C for 2 fewer to not set up long-term forking potential with the W hook or something. Not the 2x2 ending in E thing, no, not that!! #findingsmall
suddenly, things aren't so clear. I don't remember if I missed VIN(Y)L or not. I think I really need to deal with one of the threats this turn. This seems like a tactical failure. #tacticsSADDEST
greedy. wasn't sure, but thought I could draw a free turn a lot. Didn't want to put the E at 4I. knew he couldn't block everything if this came off. Also he might just assume this was an E and not look at the slip. Stupid. #knowledgeSADDEST
I guess L2 LININ leaves 7 in the bag and I should win in most post-bingo endgames. But this way, it's very hard for him to bingo. I didn't think there was a heavy chance that he could outscore me in some other way. INLAND sims slightly better as well, because fewer bingos fit on the D column. Realized this after the fact. #strategysmall
had better spot for these letters, which I either saw during the game or upon analysis on a previous device I forgot about. 13I FROWARD or FORWARD #findingSADDEST
Exch. CDFGL is better. I held the F because of the F10 F spot if I hit an E, and also the D9 spot -- those aren't good enough, unfortunately. #strategysad
Most interesting position of the game is here. I spent a while considering the merits of E4 GLAD and E4 GLADE -- the X setup is beautiful and massive, and hitting an A or O with 4/5 draws seems pretty likely. It is probably pretty important for me to hold the E and only play E4 GLAD on the offchance that I miss every vowel draw. Ultimately, I chickened out and decided to take the guaranteed points. But it seems like blocking lanes to the E + scoring + setting up a SECOND X bomb outweigh the security of crushing the spot now. After the game, I pointed out the potential setup to Josh, and he said something like "that would've made the game interesting. " So there's that. #strategysad I guess.
and then I snap challenged this, not realizing I should have left it on!!! After I 3x3 with OUTRATES, the score would be 541-364 = 177. As it were, the game ended 500-348 = 152. Challenging this was a 25-point mistake! #visionSADDEST
this is Carl's rack. He said he considered QUaSS 14F. He probably also considered QUa in the same spot but knowing his style he would not play this since it gives back an immediately lucrative bingo spot for me. Another really interesting play is 14A SO(T), keeping the deadly QU? combination for 14F. It really doesn't appear to be a play keeping the Q, so unless I had a play in that spot, Carl would be likely to be able to play there next turn, perhaps even draw an A or an I to be able to retain his blank. I really like that play, but QUa's numbers are crushing according to quackle. 38-point average score after 66 instead of 66 average score after 31 (assuming Carl finds all of his blank bingos, which is a likely scenario).
Considering the option of recurringly keeping the Q, I think SO(T) would be the play here. #tacticssmall
didn't like what this did to the board, but something like AW only leaves the 3 row open, the other lanes aren't good anyways. looks between this and AW. AW seems to leave more space open and bingoes a bit more immediately #tacticssmall
missing UNDO(C)K. I miss plays like this all the time. Gonna have to fix that. 9H OK is also interesting, good bingo chances. I also briefly considered UD(O). #findingsmall
Sims says G5 (M)U(REX) but I think this is assuming way more openings than Sokol would make, though it also partially blocks 6F plays. I dunno. #strategysadder
This play somehow wins a sim, though again a pure equity sim won't give great results for this situation. I really thought this was an error after I played it. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here. I thought later that 4K OUMA might be okay, but seems reckless now. I dunno. #strategysad
This was a very lazy sequence for me. The first thing that crossed my mind after FUG was, hmm, I bet he has QU more than usual after a move like that; but I really should've stopped, taken a second, and realized that he practically always has QU after FUG - he also made setups on me in each of our first two games! Therefore, I should have at the very least considered 12I LITHO, which obviously is gonna do very well against the QU range. This isn't as bad as the next turn, but still probably at least a #strategysmall
OK, even less excuse now with some time to think about it, and another turn for him to draw something there - I gotta do something like M9 MAGIAN to block that area. I think I thought that after he gets 80 there, I bingo for hopefully a comparable amount and still have tempo on a crummy board. But why wouldn't I try to stop the 80? FLEXOR and MATH would have been ok plays otherwise, but...come on. I will say that of all my turns at Nationals this year, this one was most tilting, because I saw all 4 of my playable CSW bingos here, and got agitated that I somehow didn't have a single TWL one...stopping myself from those kinds of reactions might be a bigger challenge than actually keeping the words straight. #strategylarge
this is just not a word. It doesn't make sense as a word, but I wrote out the alphagram and it looked decent. I also trust Seth, perhaps to a fault. #knowledgeSADDEST
A rather bizarre play, sacrificing a lot of equity over JEER or either JIMP. I just couldn't stomach the CDIIM leave after JEER, and also didn't like that JEER invited underlaps that block the GURUS hook. EJIDO does a much better job keeping the left hand side open in the long term and floats an E that's not too easy to block without giving back a new lane. DIME(R)I(C) is another option I missed, but I prefer getting rid of the J ASAP since bingoing quickly is of paramount importance. I'm still fine with EJIDO, but Josh preferred JEER and Quackle agrees with him by a decent margin, so I'll call this a #strategysmall.
a little upsetting that i missed mingled. i saw melding, and didn't immediately think it had an anagram, because i don't study as much as i should. pretty important to find the right plays in this game. -5 with an inference of IST or something like that; josh would never play ZIG without an S. #knowledgemedium
the main problem with CROP is that it's much harder to open on the left side now. quackle prefers I11 B(E)D by win%, wish i'd thought of it. #strategysmall.
if i play AOUDAD here, josh is just blocking and i lose. i don't think i have a realistic chance of winning this game. quackle is so optimistic. i was hoping to keep scoring as much as possible and maybe i'd draw some miracle pREX or kYAR bingo. lol. I think DOURA gives me the best chance, though. #strategymedium
french rant incoming "J'ai beau voir qu'il a joué IXIA pour 36 ici, je n'ai simplement pas réussi à voir où..."
All the accents are probably screwy in the annotation. Anyways, I couldn't see where the hell ixia played for 36. Ugh. I'm giving myself a #findinglarge even though it's not even my play.
I should do I6 UNROOF. I figured he always has a Z bomb with the second A of ACETA, but maybe sometimes whiffs the top one, but it draws into stuff enough on a four tile pull that I should be blocking both. Unfortunately, I looked through the R for only a little while for plays like that, figuring I had nothing worth playing, and didn't think of it as an option. #findingmedium
Getting a decent S hook on the board while the equity hit to do so is minimal - I say decent because it takes too many other hooks. Of course, the AANOS leave is pretty gross. It looks like H1 NADA is actually a fair bit better to create an S-specific hook and undouble the A's. #tacticsmedium
Disappointing to not generate 14E CUD as an option instead of my inferior CUD. That being said, the difference in bingo% on my next turn is not particularly large (Quackle estimates are 47% to 43%). #visionsmall
Discarded L1 FYTTE because of the ugly CGI leave, but it's still probably best win %-wise since it leaves the PHOTOG hook open and opens another lane on column N. At the same time, spread was an important factor at this point in the tournament and FIG does a better job at limiting the chance of a blowout loss, so FIG has its merits too. Tough call, maybe a #strategysmall.
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?
I was surprised to see NOTCH H8 outsim CLOTH-- probably due to the CLOTHE hook, as well as the possibility of the Q at J6 after NOTCH. (-2) #strategysmall
I saw APE C11 but figured I was closer to a bingo than Josh, and didn't want to block D13. This turned out to be a pretty costly mistake. (-3) #strategysmall
Quackle burns the S for an extra 5 points with STELAI. I'm not sure why that is. Another superior play is OILCLOTH 8A, which I never would have seen. I'd find it as a bingo every time, but not as an extension. (-2% win chances, -10 valuation) #strategysmall, #visionlarge
Quackle burns the S for an extra 5 points with STELAI. I'm not sure why that is. Another superior play is OILCLOTH 8A, which I never would have seen. I'd find it as a bingo every time, but not as an extension. (-2% win chances, -10 valuation) #strategysmall, #visionlarge
so this was a huge mistake on many levels! Firstly I somehow got it in my mind he had DEHIMOS on his rack. LOVAGES/MICROS would give him DEMOLISH, whereas he would get HOMIE after G8 LOVAGES. That's why I played it here, but not only was I wrong and he has ADEHMOS, I average so much after DEMOLISH that it's actually worth it to play 9B lovages even if he has dehimos! that being said the post-HOMIE board is better for me so I think it's closer than the sim says, but the sim still prefers 9B by like 11 points. #strategylarge for being dumb
I didn't see TUR(BI)D, which looks like a better X setup. It's not as clearly an X setup and doesn't open an S hook for him. With ADES I wasn't so concerned but I'm still giving him a couple awesome lanes, and he's taking the spot very often anyways. Even XU/LOT is probably fine here. #findingmedium
damn didn't see PROMPT! that looks better here. #findingmedium also not much inspiration on this exchange, I guess it's fine? not much scoring power with PR so I wasn't a huge fan, same w the X
maybe GWINE? sets up X? plays underneath for later. also might be decent to just leave the L column cause the bingoes don't hit super hard, GLOW sets up the A hook whichmight be hard to block later, and the W is a high scoring lane. I think GWINE is a bit better #findingsmall
wow this is awful! I def overestimated EEESX and underestimated EIQ. Us are out, I have QI as backup, and QUIN? plays at the bottom right can hit hard. M1 EXES looks like the play here. I also didn't realize K6 QI is better than this cause I set up EXES next turn for 51!! well worth the 2 point sacrifice, but EXES still kills that in a sim #tacticslarge
I felt like my S was going to be very powerful here with LANTERNS and other scoring plays, so decided against EXPOSE for 8 more, even though the blank is good to draw. Q prefers EX/BINE by a bit, I score as well with EEPPS next turn. #tacticssmall also prefers EXPOSE, that ends up simming best. I suppose reaching for blanks mainly, hmm.
10 points seemed like a bit too much to give up for 11A LEVITY, but in hindsight it does seem worth it. GNS has decent bingo potential with 3 Is unseen, and minimizes my chances of consonant overload since it keeps one less consonant. It also blocks the A11 spot and keeps the A1 spot, which I'm probably a favorite to use over Josh since I can put my S at 6A. The LNSV leave after GUYOT really isn't going anywhere on this board and could turn disastrous very easily. #strategysmall
Didn't like C10 WIDGET now that EW is good. I thought about just C12 DIG, and in hindsight I think it's actually best - it's a huge equity hit but makes it virtually impossible for Josh to bingo either now or later as I can just close any new openings he makes in cat-and-mouse fashion. And DIG puts me up 80, which should be enough to avoid being outscored without a bingo in basically all circumstances. Quackle still likes WITING, but I'm gonna call this a #strategymedium since leaving Josh an easy way to tie the game with a 7 on column C or an 8 on row 15 seems plainly unnecessary here.
My issues evaluating V-containing leaves continue. FAVES is the better option; it scores 4 more than BARFS and bingos approximately 1% more without yielding any higher opp. avg. score. #tacticssmall
INHOLDER does not take a P, but my other options score so little (F6 PULAO 15 is best), and if it does take a P I don't want Joshua to be able to use the spot. Somehow Joshua was only a PINHOLDER* holder and not a PINHOLDER* challenger. After the game I learned that INSETTER takes a P. #knowledgelarge
I basically stopped looking after I found BATEAU. There are many plays better than this, including Quackle's pick C2 ABATE, C1 ABYE, 2L AYE, and 7B BATTIER, which is significantly more awesome than this. #strategymedium
since i'm at a disadvantage even after i bingo, quackle actually prefers i volatilize it a bit with M5 TACRINE. i didn't want to fall behind again to a lucky X, but i do need more scoring spots since there's a potentially big one in the left of row 12. -3 #tacticssmall
i can smell that X setup from a mile away, Josh. YACK is the obvious play here, but when you infer an X, 10D DAM goes up to the top. there is a lot more C-K synergy so CAM is not right here. -5.5 #tacticsmedium
bingoes like B3 GYrAtED are not worth it here, but IDEAloGY is definitely the right play here. it's 83 points and i should be able to survive a bingo back on column B. i should have looked a bit harder. -16.5 #findinglarge #knowledgelarge
bingoes like B3 GYrAtED are not worth it here, but IDEAloGY is definitely the right play here. it's 83 points and i should be able to survive a bingo back on column B. i should have looked a bit harder. -16.5 #findinglarge #knowledgelarge
Quackle likes 11I OMEN a lot, blocking columns J-L and, to some extent, M. I wanted to keep my N for E4 INFLUXES, and ATOM is the best equity play, but blocking the board is of greater importance. #tacticssmall
EDUCT closes the easiest bingo lane, row 15, which I shouldn't do when I am this far behind. Quackle suggests 2I LUCITE to open a lane on row 1, or C2 CLUED for equity. #tacticsmedium
Duplicate game detected (Tournament 11377, Round 23).
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