OY E9 wins the sim, even though there aren't many bingos to be drawn. It's probably even better than that since Rafi is telegraphing a bingo and might give me more lanes. (-2) #strategysmall
At this point I think I have the board under control because she didn't put the E on HAWS, so I burnt the R so sevens didn't fit on the board. Big mistake. There are a bunch of vowels left and I'm not even up by that much. #strategymedium
This absolutely needs to be something at 3E or 3F using up more tiles. I liked the annoying O column lane that PAN created, especially with the possibility of a huge ZE/OX/NO hooking play coming down and crushing me, but something like GAMBA also creates lanes while avoiding being saddled with 5 consonants. #strategylarge
oh my god what am i doing this is not a word. i wanted to play K12 JEEP for the longest time but couldn't stomach it because of the E hook (???) and the more obvious I hook. 3A QUA is fine here. #knowledgelarge
7I HIRCINe and I chickened out of I4 CHIR(M)INg because why would that be a word? #KNOWLEDGESADDEST
Spoiler: I maintain that spending like 100 minutes on this move is what cost me the game (along with all of my following mistakes). Stay tuned for primo facepalm opportunities.
there it is; missing PETITORY# is unacceptable. but i know literally 3 csw words. #knowledgelarge -27 also i should block the 14F spot with NOY if i'm going to play those letters (i thought of BEZ too, but the Z at 14F would be worse).
WEEDIER only plays in Collins! :( WEIRD might just give up too many points. JEWED or WIDEN sim better partially for that reason -- i also bingo slightly more often after JEWED. -2 #strategysmall
I missed O6 AUDITEE, which scores three more points and gives me two more chances at the two blanks unseen. N6 AUNTIE is also slightly better than ADIEU despite getting rid of my only consonant, the case T, and setting up the O1-O6 hotspot. #findingmedium
I should have fished off something and hoped he had all consonants, but I just gave up and took the spread. There's probably something that has a chance of winning but I didn't see anything. #strategysaddest
i had too little time here, but i think i should keep the Q and hope to get lucky! 20-minute timer really messes with me, clearly OW is the only thing that gives me a chance to win here. -15 #strategylarge
Played ZHOS quite quickly but didn't stop to think of N2 SHASH, which scores 9 more and draws into a boatload of heavy Z plays on column A or at the very least O1 ZO/ZOO. #findingmedium 14:42
N5 (D)ALTONIC got blocked and LACTONIC doesn't fit due to the Z being in the way. I think O8 COATI loses on the spot because that empties the bag and Scott could use Column E to take everything out. Maybe A8 AL is better just because it's 12 more and I could still hit ELECTION on Row 4 with 3 more Es unseen. #strategymedium
Obviously not opening after YIN. LUN preserves HAZAN/AZAN possibilities for the future. The only other move I would potentially do here is 9C HULA, which should be pretty difficult to bingo with. #strategysmall 14:46
Sim slightly prefers G1 VIMS; it scores a lot more and doesn't offer parallels thanks to the V. In fact, VERMIL yields more points to Andrew on his next turn than VIMS does. Obviously, I do much better on my own next turn holding the S, but still #strategysmall
this however is a big mistake. i totally didn't spot JEEZ, so ZA there is perfectly fine, but so is CRAZE(D) if i miss ZA. i remember thinking of crazed and i wasn't enthused about it. i wanted to just keep scoring but thought this was probably not quackle's option; i was pretty far off. #strategylarge #focus -15
#knowledgesad for challenge
M1 Z(E)X #endgamesaddest #timesaddest I need to pay better attention to what my opponent has. Hopefully, by some miracle, they don't see 14B ANDR(O) and C6 DRAN(T) and I get another turn to go out with 7A JEDIS.
Tunneled on REZ almost immediately, and it's not a huge error; but OOZE and ZOO at least retain some bingo% and need to be considered. #findingsmall 16:51
Quackle puts FUN and FUB very close to each other in the sim since keeping 2 Ns isn't exactly ideal to keep either. It slightly prefers FUB despite the duplicate Ns. #strategysmall
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 clearly didn't see 13H (E)ARWAX which cleans out this rack better. MAX is decent in terms of the score but it's too volatile when I don't have an I. Questionable play for sure. Maybe I'd do 13E WAX(E)R with the DOURA hook in a do-over if I don't spot EARWAX. #findingmedium
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`
This was really bad. I got paranoid about the S hook for MADLINGS for some reason which is ridiculous since I have two S. 12A BUIKS is best. #strategysadder
big error, and I didn't properly find my options here. My thought process was very much focused on JET, and I really remember kinda pretending to myself that I was looking for other options when I was really just excited to play JET cause it felt so good. I want to not make these sort of excitement errors in the future, and truly look for other options. I think I was temporarily unaware of the SEGO threat or something, because once I notice that longterm threat I should be less satisfied with JET. JIB(E)R is absolutely the play here. Not only cause PLT is better than BILPR on this board (more flexibility, not as many problem consonant racks), JIBER takes out the SEGO spot which will be a bitch to block, and the recursive threat will let joey wait for a big play there. #strategylarge even though I didn't find the play, it was based on being unaware of the threat, and JIBER isn't hard to come up with once the threat is noticed
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
Hm. I saw CAPRIC but didn't like how it took out lanes in ENROBERS. It is an 11 pt sacrifice but it doesn't sim that far behind CAPRIC. #strategysmall?
yeah i considered playing 5H VAT (and chickened out of FRATER for J5 VARS), but played kinda loosey goosey bcuz my opp had just exchanged #strategysaddest
KAB isn't terrible; I'd do either 6I KEG or 6I BEGAT in a do-over since GTT together is kind of clunky. This is defensive, but Ken isn't the right player to make this play against. If he bingoes with a HAAFS hook, I'm already in trouble. #findingsmall
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
eep I saw my best bingo, NEGATORY, but thought it was collins! this seems close-to as good, negatory gives back way more and this bingoes a ton. #knowledgesmall
Championship Player likes 4F PROTEI, which is an awesome find but doesn't block FARL. Of the plays that block FARL, CP prefers K9 PUERIlE. PUERIlE also wins the sim, with O13 ORE/IRE close behind; OUT is too much of a sacrifice. I suppose now is the time to confess that I wasn't certain of INCLINER. #strategymedium
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
js: this is not a word cd: yeah, i wanted to just play POUCH but i didn't like keeping ALL. i didn't think of HAUL I7, pretty straightforward. i spent a lot of time iterating subwords through P and R etc, gotta always get better at anagramming. -6.5 #findingmedium