I strongly considered (C)AF here, but idk. I do get bailouts wiht AAAAIIIIIIUUU which is nice, but they don't always stay open. I like what QI/QI does for me next turn w S? in hand, but idk it feels too limiting to keep the Q. Q prefers CAF here, #tacticssmall it seems it blocks some scores crom the C (QAT lets him average a couple more), and just looks about worth it given the Q bailouts.
I didn't even realize FLAGGERS plays at G3. Even then, I missed a superior option of 5G FA(N)GiRLS for 72. That would have neutralized the dangerous H4 spot. #findingmedium
Suuuuuper low on time at this point, didnt really look at what was left in the bag, and didn't want to lose to a trip-trip. I need to play 6J OE. I3 UN(d)OES is pretty cool (I saw O10 UN(D)OES and didn't want to float an S, so it's sad that I didn't see it at I3). My play, horrifyingly, actually gives back a lot (opp's avg score goes up 4 compared to OE and 6 compared to UN(d)OES/UN(D)OES with random rack, up by 7 and 10 if I specify J, and up by 9 and 13 if I specify EIRST). Huge #strategysaddest
This was not a great time to dump my U separate from something since he has the Q. It's possible he had more clunk after also showing a P and a K. I have to assume he will dump the Q next turn. With QOPK specified as a partial rack, I think if I wanted to make my type of play, 4K RULY is a better version of this since I also have 1 more shot to draw a scoring tile compatible with the N10 hotspot. #strategylarge
Tough call here, I tried to Nigel this out and figure out as many permutations as I could here to see which bingo would yield the lowest chance of counter-bingo, or whether maybe I should just fish off an N or the D; as it turns out all three bingos yield exactly the same bingo% of 71%, but INTENDS does in fact yield the lowest average scores. It does look like I work out a little better here by fishing off the D, which hits everything except the M. #strategysmall
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.
spent way too long looking for better bingoes and eventually gave up. i couldn't find MONgOES and didn't like MOONErS for whatever reason. #findingmedium
I knew that C2 GINN(Y) gave back 4A Zi(N)G but I was low af on time and could not figure out what else to do. Maybe play L11 N(I)M? He can have 14H ZOoGLEA for a million #strategysaddest
12H (M)aLEaTES is probably worth the 16 more. Saw plays at I1 but didn't want to hang anything in the triple, especially against this opponent. #visionmedium
C: ugh RET? out of that poolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
A: Apparently 15A ThEATER is best. #strategysmall although Quackle is bad at pre-endgames
Q prefers DUH by a bit, hmm. I feel like I want a better leave to deal with openings he may make, and HUV is more likely a non-exchange rack than RRUV. Q seems to think my average leave after DUH is better next turn, interesting. Maybe more exchanges? I'll say #tacticssmall but I'm not sure.
I did not know D6 MADHO(u)SE in this position. I did look for H11 plays and did not come across H11 (A)MAHS. That's a gettable one and clearly worth it over YODH if I don't know the bingo. #findinglarge
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
This is the first of several turns where I miss VIBRION plays after convincing myself that it's just VIRION and VIBRIO but I feel like the F hook will freak him out and force a weak play to block the top line
still, fml #knowledgesadder
Considered A6 VIDEO; classic give and take between points and bingo%. The RASSLER lanes look pretty appealing for bingos but odds are pretty good that they get blocked. The plays sim in a near dead heat with VIDEO slightly ahead. #tacticssmall
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'm proud to say that I didn't miss the overlaps for UTOPIAN at N9, I literally did not think of either bingo on my rack whatsoever. Amazing. #findinglarge
did i even look for bingos to the R? there is no evidence that i did so, although i did look through the U for some reason. wtf? -11 #findinglarge #focus
Chosen over 9G AG, which allows 10G pOMFRET. H6 OVA wins the sim; ADEGR >> ORV, and after OVA, Steven's highest-scoring bingos are 6C/6G FOREMOsT 66. The sim assumes that after AGED, Steven will play 10I FORMaTE, allowing potential OVER- plays at O8--which means that if Steven plays at 7H instead I can expect worse results than the sim suggests. #tacticsmedium
I tunneled too hard on the ING leave and thought I could dump the S to retain it, but this was a huge mistake since the S can counter and create setups on the right side of the board. A12 (V)INA is clearly best. #strategysaddest
Rd 3 Philly virtual 5-16-2021. Missed DEGAGE which is better for turnover. Maybe GEODE should have been it if I'm gonna miss DEGAGE. This just makes it easy for him to parallel. #findinglarge
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
Not bad, but VIEW M1 accomplishes a lot of the same things while also devaluing Row 1 and scoring 6 more points. One upside to the N6 placement is that it neutralizes threats like RITZ N7. (-5) #strategymedium
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
Of the generated plays that empty the bag, J12 SIFT is best, blocking the highest-scoring possible Z play, 15K Z(Y)MES. IF avoids the situations where Dennis bingos out and I am stuck with the Z, but it scores little and falls behind SIFT and several other plays in the sim. #strategylarge
she played ZIT with mucho gusto, and it made me think it was probably a setup. I worried that F(I)G, the best block I saw, was gonna be too big a sacrifice in the case it wasn't. however, I think I should have trusted my read on her since even with just XI implied FIG beats FOE and OF by over 5 points. with QI implied it's an even bigger difference, of course. #strategymedium
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
I thought maybe this has some merit to help control the northwest after bingoes to WHELP, but this was totally ridiculous and I should just play BARF. #tacticssadder
A: The best plays are exchanges: Quackle's pick is to exchange all 7, followed by other exchanges keeping the S and maybe one other tile. Keeping the S seems right because it is essential for column O and also useful on column N making ZITIS. GIRT blocks column D and leaves 6 in the bag, making it impossible for me to play two bingos. #strategysmall
C: Worse yet, a few years ago, I prepared a spreadsheet of all the blank bingos with 5 or fewer solutions, and have looked at the top 3,000 8s maybe 50 times each. One of these blanagrams is ?AEILNNO, with four solutions. If I had recognized this, I might have found mINNEOL(A) E4, but that seemed like the least promising lane, and I didn't give it enough time. All those hundreds of hours I've spent looking at those lists, and then I miss something from there. But it pays to remember that all the study in the world can't guarantee that you'll find the word. It merely increases your chances of finding it.
YET or YELD E9 win the sim easily. It's possible that I missed the Y hook on OGEE, but maybe it didn't seem right to fish at this score. E5 does seem like a good thing to block, but apparently not worth breaking up the rack over. Either #strategymedium or #visionmedium (-6)
No way will I be able to Q-stick him unless something miraculous happens, so I had the right idea to score again, but 1A FOLKIE is slightly better. #findingsmall
N9 SHoFARS and N9 SHARiFS lose to 15H ACRIDE(S)T. I had about 30 seconds left when I took the S off of N9 SHoFARS. This never loses, but H10 (A)SHRAF is much better. #knowledgelarge
this time my play was terrible. i don't care. this is the worst draw ever to EIN?. i was trying to make it slightly harder for him to hit the triple but i may have also made it slightly easier. what a disaster of a draw this was, it nearly seals the game, but i deserve it for the bad play earlier on. -AIII sims best; i almost did that. -3 #strategysmall
i didnt see 4C Q(AT), thought i was Q stuck, so i did this and didnt think oppo could go out #endgamesaddest. Funny thing is, I win by 1 after AMMONO, except I'm a genius and i decided to challenge it before confirming the score. the only reason i won was because my oppo went over time
i shit you not the sim has me winning 100% of the time after 12K (T)RANQ. Maybe i outrun any bingos that are coming for me. never even saw this spot though, so #findingsaddest, i guess?
i liked sacrificing some points here to kill the bottom left of the board; i thought it was worth it. 13G CODEiNE sims best because it scores best, i guess, lol. maybe i should do it. quackle doesn't like these types of sacrifices. is congeed correct? i also saw encoded etc at 13G but it still doesn't kill the bottom left quadrant. -3.5 #notanerror? #strategysmall?
C13 AWN 10 points is way too many to give up. I saw AWE and discounted it because it's still possible to trip-trip through the E, but the N in that spot is a lot more defensive (opponent's avg score goes up by 7 compared to AWN). My play doesn't stop WR bingos #findingsadder #tacticssad
2B AECIA is best, unloading vowels and occasionally drawing into 1A QAT with four T's unseen. I seem to never find AECIA, especially when I am distracted by the Q on my rack. #findingsmall
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