I'm not sure if I'm supposed to challenge this off or not. It depends on how much I think Karl will see/find. If I challenge it off, the problem is I have no good plays that don't give back bingos I think he can find, and my rack is bad while he has the blank. On the other hand, if I keep this on and play 14B BR(A)INING, I'm down a tempo. I'm not sure what's best here. #strategysadder
this is a very poor placement for my bingo, reminds me of playing newbs who play a blank bingo hitting nothing for 20 fewer than an actual good play. my main problem is that i just completely forgot HUMERAL took an S. if he had put an S on it i would have been like oh yeah! also, the pretty R(EH)EATING is available, and should be eminently findable by me. even BERATiNG is a ton better. i suppose i was trying to play defense, if one was to assume HUMERAL didn't take an S, my move might be defensible compared to BERATING. in any case, i'm very likely to win this game now no matter what, but i should learn the words better. #knowledgelarge -22
maybe thine to somewhat obscure bingoes to the bottom triple. Hent over hint because of all the ee's unseen? Hent sims best despite the s front hook #strategysmall
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
wow, i would hate to play QaTS here, but it sims best by a little. lol. i should keep RS? or ST? or something. i don't need this ugly RSST? leave. jeez. -3 #tacticssmall
I was trying to block 15A (G)ARRISON because I thought A3 CORRI(D)AS might not be a word (it is) or he might not see it. SAD! H11 F(R)APE can just outrun everything. #endgameSADDEST
14J ROOST is a much better play; it does not give back O4 DONEE/RAKEE, and it blocks L12 DANK/DARK, while guaranteeing an out with whatever I draw. #visionlarge (-16)
Spent some time seeing which bingo would be best. Definitely wasn't sure what to do, but even if I saw 12H PIdDLE(R)S, I think I should have at least given more thought to doing I6 DESPoIL or DISPELs. This move definitely could have been better. #visionlarge
I didn't love anything here out of all plays I saw- this, D12 D(R)AM for 20, J10 AM(I)D, and G1 DAM came to mind. I liked taking out the S hook for GESTAPOS with this, but the sim thinks it's too big a point sacrifice when I won't be up by much. I think DAM is a better play than DOLMA if I'm going to miss 11H MAT(E)D, which does beat out all those plays in the sim and on static equity. #visionmedium
Really confusing turn. Basically after EA I wanted whatever my play was here to limit the damage from AXE hooks. Sadly, I saw 10H NEAT and I guess didn't fully appreciate how effectively it accomplishes that task while keeping my vowel. #tacticsmedium
What do I block, 15H sELENIC/sILENCE or O1 SILICONEs? Quackle says neither, that 14A UNS and many other plays outrun. I decided to block sELENIC/sILENCE, I think because it scores more and is easier to find than SILICONEs. However, my block for sELENIC/sILENCE scores only 3 points, and if Matt has sELENIC/sILENCE he also has L4 ELENChI. Also O1 SILENCINg, L4 CaNNOLI, and 4G LYCOpENE and sYNCLINE exist. In order to block all bingos except sELENIC/sILENCE/ELENChI, I would have to play three or more tiles on row 3 spanning from 3L to 3N, but it is impossible to do that without allowing another bingo starting from 3M. In short, blocking bingos isn't worth it, and 14A UNS saving F4 FLEW is best. #tacticslarge
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
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
I wasn't sure whether SLIDS* were valid, so I played COD(EX) to block column A just in case. Of course, if SLIDS* were valid, I could play A6 DOWDS# or something. The best plays are O1 TW(AT), keeping the board closed, and 6K DOWD#, setting up my S. #knowledgemedium
I debated between 3C HAPLEsS, my play, and passing up the bingoes with O3 (W)HELPS for 54. I ultimately reduce parallels with cHAPELS over HAPLEsS and it seemed like playing 5 tiles in a non-bingo could put me in a worse spot next turn. Even though I win as often with the bingoes as I do with the non-bingoes, I still should have seen 3C PLAsHES for 88, that's a little better. #findingmall
I didn't spend enough time generating plays here. I saw this, D8 FIBULA, E2 AUDIBLE, and 7G BUDA#; I chose BULLA to play off an L while keeping a vowel. The best play is BUILD in the same spot, scoring 2 more than BULLA and keeping the better leave; somehow I saw only its anagram, BLUID#, which doesn't play. Other good options include D8 FLUID, 7E BALU#, and 7E BUDI#. #findingmedium
i wasnt 100% on BOULLES. iirc this is one of the "hardest" racks in aerolith, because people always forget one of the three. also soluble takes an S and i wasn't sure on that either. eep. #knowledgemedium
considered K2 POLKA but in the end i can't pass up that many pts, even if i have the case S -- i have the blank! and this move ties the game. i also wanted to take a potential big -ED play for him. didn't think of 6J FLANK. -3 #strategysmall -- i suppose.
Perhaps I should have thought to do 4A GEnITORS here, which is the top simming play, instead of either my play or VERGIToS in the same spot because it doesn't open up anything new for Brandon, even though I am sacrificing 4 points. It's still a relatively nice pool and I would not be out of the woods. I should probably force Brandon's potential counterbingo with this reasonably nice pool to score less and give me back more. #strategymedium
for this tournament i'm trying to take my time quackling. often i can find plays i missed in the actual tournament if i look a little harder. i need to figure out how to stop missing these. FEE 9B seems pretty standard. my play is bad. but even 9C FE is better than what i played, or VEGETE, all of which i saw now. i couldn't see anything else while playing. :/ -5 #findingmedium
I'm more than a bingo behind and I'm not comfortable fishing because there's not a lotta places to bingo AND my opponent's gonna block them. 14I LARIAT also accomplishes the task of just scoring to keep the spread down. #knowledgesad for not knowing LARIAT
J2 ROT is actually a little better because it takes more hooks, as annoying as it is to keep the U. i actually have a decent shot at winning with it (well, if he doesn't have the F, which he likely does after TELIA because he's Will) i could also consider K3 O(U)R. -5 #tacticsmedium
Wolfram remarked that he should have just kept the T after losing the challenge (or something to that affect) which is why I favored this over N1 AROID, but A10 (A)DAGIO is probably just better. #visionsadder
2nd best play, but a distant 2nd. This is where I could have used the WORM extension INCH(WORM) for 66. I clearly did not think of the extensions that could have come into play with my placement. #visionsad
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
i'm a bit surprised at how horribly this sims, but it's not just a simple points formula; QUERN sucks because it gives up 12 more pts on average than exchanging keeping DENR! (it only barely increases the bingo %). -9.5 #strategylarge
I was sheepishly just trying to catch my breath after I had to wait for 7 minutes for TA to come down. Still should find this, though my spread doesn't much matter #endgamemedium
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
I tanked for a long time just to play this. Sad! Sim says 9F SAIN, which looks way better. I was trying to block row 9 bings and column N bings, but I give back row 15 bings which is asinine. #strategysaddest
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 think if i were to train a neural network to play scrabble, it would choose 10B PAINED. that really really is not my style, but i did very strongly consider it. i think i do need to play like that when necessary. PAINED puts me up at least 50 on a closed board. now he has the responsibility to open it and i can just keep it closed. i would come to regret this move strongly. #strategy?
6A UNA(L)I(v)E and B1 U(N)AI tie the game. I thought of B1 UNAI before it was blocked but didn't realize it was still available. With more time I think I would have been able to find at least B1 U(N)AI. #TIMESADDEST
I felt like he's always gonna block with plays at B12 after something like C11 LUG and the X seemed really important so I went for turnover and score, but maybe the leave is just too bad. Scoring under 20 in this situation just seemed hopeless but maybe I need to keep opening and go for a bingo through the V or something. I dunno. #strategysaddest