thought for what felt like an hour, didnt know A7 VISCU(M) and didnt generate A8 LOCU(M). even B9 VIC(I)OUS (which i saw) is better than my play #knowledgesaddest #strategysaddest
just weighing different leaves and scores against each other. REF and TREF score quite a bit fewer, but definitely keep better leaves. maybe i misevaluated a little because REF sims best. -2 #tacticssmall
I considered RESMELT, but wasn't sure on it. spend a few minutes trying to find a double double here. #knowledgeSAD
Also missed some good overlapping 7s. #visionSAD
chickened out of 2B WH(I)FT #knowledgesad also i picked 15A WHI(T) over 1A WHI(D) because i figured the T was easier to trip-trip through but i should just go for the points #strategysadder
i had about 30 seconds or so on my clock. i didn't think he was going to let me play OVATIONS, so i was looking for a Q stick. then he did this. i didn't think he had given me a bingo, and i was only looking to the right. i saw novations on my rack at some point but then thought too bad the ON is backwards. i then tried to continue thinking of a way to Q stick him and couldn't figure it out. this is of course a ridiculously bad play, but it didn't register that i wasn't Q-sticking him at the time, i literally just ran out of time. The funniest thing is that slow-playing the game actually works too, i didn't need to find novations. 6F IT wins for example. -120 #endgamelarge #timelarge #nojudgment #meowmeow
Found the bingo BEELINE, but unfortunately I did not know it took a D hook. If I'm not gonna realize there's a playable bingo, EEILN is OK to keep on this board for the open D and G, so I think (ADO)BE would have been better than this. #knowledgemedium
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
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
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
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
gotta do 15F BU(S)TI, leave 7 in the bag and set up my S to score. there's hella vowels out, so i dont need to worry too much. #strategysaddest also #knowledgesad for challenge
I think that if I'm going to go with a board that is open enough to potentially benefit me but still leave the left side of the board blocked off, I think M2 DOGNAP(S) is a better version of this play as it doesn't expose as many floaters with QUIZ being in the way. Doing 9H GA(Z)ED, which I didn't even see, is defensive in the short term, but it would eventually defeat the purpose of doing VALINES in the first place. #findingsmall
KATI and KRAI sim less than a point ahead of KINA despite KINA's slightly better bingo% - probably because they synergize a bit better with the K I just hung in space, though it's unlikely I get to use it. #tacticssmall
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
10F WONS has to be worth it even though this sets up my J nicely. I could draw a J play at C7 as well as hit K5 JO, but WONS is too many more points. #strategylarge
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
AACIRT is not all that strong of a leave here. weird move. i guess i like sorta blocking the S too, but this still is meh. -4 #strategymedium C2 YA looks standard, but very easy to overlap. maybe M1 YEA?
7F GOEL# is the clear best play, as it preserves the closed position and keeps the best possible leave, including an S to hook onto AUA# or LUV. #strategymedium
10J S(L)EAZE is the play that was missed. That's definitely worth it. And even so, 11J Z(O)EAE gets rid of another vowel to improve my leave quite a bit. #findinglarge
K5 JAY. I totally missed that spot. Also B10 CA(R)NY sets up a huge X spot which I guess is okay since I'm down a lot but I didn't even notice it. #VISIONSADDEST
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
watching my laptop start to whine and heat up to the temperature of our sun as it sims makes me feel so much better about having had a hard time finding a good play. like, yes, this pile of metal and numbers, too, does not know what to do here. fwiw, it likes 7F WE, so it's only like a #tacticssad (ish)
While this play might have been #visionsolid, I crossed out the wrong letters and had him having ANR left instead of AER. If I had gotten it right, I would have done C4 AVO blocking RAVE knowing he has many outs. Luckily I only lost a couple of spread points because of this.
Blocking 2F CAZIQUES 106. Quackle hates this and prefers N6 BI, which blocks the hotspot at N6 (the Q and X are unseen) and outruns CAZIQUES with every possible draw. If I draw the X, I threaten A5 COAX 66! #tacticslarge
Here I definitely agree that 2K (J)OCKY is better than JOKY. In addition to 6 more points, I improve the leave, and prevent many Row 1 parallels. #findingmedium
3E BEWIG, which I did not see, seems to be the best immediate equity play, but I do like this play anyway to set up -GH plays ending at 2F that score a lot. #tacticsstrong
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
Scored as 78. This is the only bingo, but I did not consider playing at 15H after BENT came down; RABIETIc and BIRRETtA are available. #visionmedium #scoring
hilariously ran out of time here. I assumed he was going to play something with QUATE like ME(R)C so I put down PASSIvE and EQUAT* and only stopped because I didn't have enough time to circle the blank and hit the clock before going overtime. Then I realized I was about to play a hilarious phony and laughed instead of actually finding a better bingo. Then I was down to -00:45 so I had to just play the first thing I saw. #timeSADDEST #findingSADDEST
This is the highest scoring play, but it empties the bag, and Ruth may be able to outscore me in the endgame. Quackle suggests M12 LIB, which sets up a scoring lane on row 15 that only I can use. #tacticslarge
this is so frustrating. first of all, SPONGED etc plays. yet, I have to challenge off a collins-only 9 confidently to win any games here, a perfectly plausible word, which is actually shocking that it's not good in TWL -- what else does a GOSPELER do?? how can GOSPELER / GOSPELLER be good but not GOSPELLED? a GOSPELER GOSPELS right? this game drives me crazy. #knowledgelarge
I think I didn't consider FLABS but I kinda remember considering FLAB and not liking that C- bingoes wouldn't play. I think FLABS is def worth it though, this is badddd #findingmedium
Fishing is not the right play here, for I do not hit often enough, and once Orry makes his play of M13 LEU I have to start blocking again. I should take the points with 10D GIBES, the sim winner. #tacticsmedium
5D STRaNDE(R) is clearly a better choice and his next move explains why. If I'm going to miss that, maybe 15C NERDi(E)ST is a better choice. #findingmedium
Was really close to playing SLY; somehow missed J4 IDYLS which looks good too. DITZY gets hit way harder in response and scores much less. #strategymedium #findingmedium 21:44
There are 7 wins for me here, ranging from just blocking 14J to outrunning with C1 CLOW. I have tracked correctly. I know my opponent has QUARTET on her rack. Unfortunately, I am low on time and do not see 14J QAT because I'm too busy looking for a spot for QUARTET. HUGE fail not blocking 14J. #endgamesaddest ALSO TOS*
C1 C(O)LONI more points is good, PR is good #knowledgesadder #tacticssad because C1 C(O)LON may have been slightly better even if i don't see/know COLONI
The engine is optimistic about my chances to bingo on rows 14 or 15 after 11D WRY, but I think a human would play more defensively, so I'm not sure. #strategysadder
I don't really know what the correct idea is here. Since I had the SLUIT hook I thought I'd open up something at the top to have 2 open lanes. #strategysad
I unfortunately missed his out play of O1 FACIAE. FOP should have been the play here as I can get rid of my Q in 2 spots next turn knowing he can't go out. #endgamebad
I saw O10 IRITIC, and I should have played it. IRITIC blocks column O, one of the higher-scoring bingo lanes on the board, and partially blocks row 12. The reason I played ICIER is that it fully blocks rows 12 and 13, the easiest bingo lanes. But it sacrifices 13 points, W > ITW, and I can easily outrun most row 13 bingos. #tacticsmedium