not great; the leave is not good enough. i could do something like 7I WEAR or even the pretty awesome 7I WE -- ACHRRS is a very strong leave through that E. (but would that stay open?). tough move. -6 #tacticsmedium
I did consider H11 XENIA and I6 ONYX. The problem with ONYX is that it gives him a nice scoring spot to work with and keeping 4 vowels wasn't exactly appealing to me. N11 OCEAN would have been really nice as I do save the X for another score. #visionlarge
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
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
AX is the 2nd best play, but a distant 2nd behind N11 IXORA for 44. I need to dig for the 2nd blank better. 4 points might not seem like a lot, but turning over 3 more tiles is actually key here. #findinglarge
CoCo Seattle Scrabble tournament round 14. I considered 8H UNKED# and rejected it because it has hooks and NUKED doesn't. Quackle prefers UNKED; I suppose putting the U next to the DLS's affects David's average score more than UNKED's hooks. #strategysmall
3A THY has the best equity and is made better by the fact that I need a bingo to come back, as the Y is bad for bingos. I didn't consider any valid play other than HORNLET#. #strategysmall
I12 (I)GLU wins. I didn't see 15A (D)OTATION. Even if I didn't, I might not have had time to figure out how to block and win. I just played this and hoped he wouldn't find a bing. #endgamelarge
No home for THORITE after that got blocked. Seems like an oversight here- I didn't see K9 THO(U) which only scores 3 less but keeps a stronger leave. Not sure I really need to go for an S that badly despite there being 4 left. #visionsmall #strategymedium
C7 ECU is good here because I'm still scoring enough to stay in reach and, assuming my opponent has the J, I can still pick up a bingo after this. #strategylarge
i chickened out on baneful (thought maybe i was confusing it with baleful) but didn't think it was a huge mistake. but it sorta is. -12 #knowledgelarge (also, it's risky after his last couple plays).
Leaving OO isn't appealing either, but AXIAL was missed for 6 more. An exchange 4 is at least random enough to the point where I can just play my game. AXIAL keeps the board open longer, which is what I sorely need to have against Richard. #findingsmall
I missed H1 KEIRETS(U) and 6F TEARIES(T), so this is actually a big mistake, since it loses to 6F TEARIES(T). I always lose to H1 KEIRETS(U) so I either have to block or outrun everything else, so the winningest play is 13I Q(I)N. #endgamesaddest
#findinglarge Missing this was frustrating but not surprising. High point tiles in weird locations like this has been a pretty persistent weak spot for me in practice.
My thinking here was that by playing SEEM down low instead of EMEUTE the odds were good that if Ayo bingoed, it would still be on row 3 or 5 yielding strong counterplay. the other play I strongly considered was 5E MEE, but a SMEE bingo after that could be a disaster, especially because it scores 11 fewer points than SEEM. Quackle calls for 3B EMEUTE, which I also thought about; I suppose I can withstand most of the responses to that too, and the somewhat bingo-prone unseen tiles combine well with the S, so I get EFS bingos a lot. Thinking this is probably at least a #strategysmall 6:56
This play isn't bad. It is a sound play. But the leave after 12H BE(S)TOW, which I didn't see, is much less clunky. The score I average next turn is several points higher after BESTOW than KOEL, and it is more than enough to offset the 1 extra point David will average after I make the more open move. BESTOW is the play since I can save my K to score again next turn. #findingmedium
Pivotal move. I balked at VETCH because I felt that I was in control of the game and saw no reason to create a massive-scoring K hook along row 1. However, after I played, I realized that I should have played FECHT instead of FETCH at the very least because I was holding an S, and adding another S hook would help me dump some bad draws. Looking at it now, though, it might actually be a good thing for me to add the K hook with a slight tempo advantage; given that the X already scores well on top of DUNAM and that the J could score decently paralleling BELAY, adding the K hook to the board makes it more difficult for Winter to draw each and every one of those tiles to stay ahead. As long as I can draw some of JKXS?, I should be able to use them to preserve tempo. Sim prefers VETCH by about 4 points of valuation. #tacticsmedium
It's probably just MINCY here. I don't hate this I guess, but if you don't hit you're in a lot of trouble. The sim has this very close, and MY does underperform since I'm farther behind than Quackle realizes, but OPA means that I really need to kill the C and T more than Quackle would think too #findingsmall
ouch big miss of FELLA here. VAT is definitely the play. I considered VACANT, which seems more thematic with the lead, but I felt like it was too big a sacrifice, and the top-left defense it does is only minor cause the C is aready fairly defensive in the position it's in, and VACANT gives up a few more bingoes immediately than VAT. def a #visionmedium for the hook - in the sim this play is only 4 points back, but that's assuming I find FELLA next turn, which I don't
The only win is fishing the U or OU with OE in the bag to draw the unblockable G2 TENAIL(L)O(N) which is notable but difficult to spot. #endgamesaddest
i blocked my own DIASTOLE. OPINIONED is nice, i wish i'd thought of it. i did think of the hook earlier on. it seems like he is going to block much of the time if i do that. #tacticslarge
This is a good play, however, O7 YEN(t)E for 40 is clearly better and was missed. IIP isn't that bad of a leave with only 1 more I to draw. #findingmedium
i always struggle a bit with making obvious fishes like this but it seemed to work with a lot of letters, and through the A, etc. quackle prefers N1 PST for 29 or O7 PHT for 14. i think i would have played PHT if i'd thought of it. -2.5 #tacticssmall #visionsmall
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
Quackle picks 5K OWL, but I prefer 5K OWN, which has slightly better equity. I missed the spot, and I thought FON scored 22 before I played it. I also mistakenly thought FON kept better than WON. #findingmedium
quackle prefers taking the pts with B4 NAV (and also killing that part of the board). RTU? should bingo pretty often, and it's good to score more points here. -5.5 #visionmedium #tacticsmedium
13A GLIA seems kind of insane to me with two Is and two Ns still in the pool but the sim says it's best. I really did not want to open it up like this, but I didn't see any other options. #strategysad
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 picks 14A BABA and 14A BABE. My best chance of winning depends on me drawing the X (I'm not expecting to draw a bingo), and BABA and BABE turn over 4 tiles, empty the bag, and save 14J XI. They also increase Carl's chance of having a bingo, providing a lane for sevens starting with L or R on row 15--and BABA permits A or E as well. I chose BIB because it allows fewer bingos, allows me to play another turn after a bingo, and saves 8A ATAP--although I should really be concerned about the X. BIB saves AXE at 1A and A6. #tacticsmedium
I spent all my time trying to make some Z setup, but it doesn't seem like there's anything that's unblockable, so I played this hoping for opp plays off OSS -> H2 I(D) -> pass -> 1F ZIG. #strategysadder