I missed an opportunity here--8L FIG sets up the S at O8, and it can be blocked only with the remaining A. Quackle prefers GIF for some reason? #tacticsmedium
both aitches are out, so this is highly dangerous. It's notably better to play 10J D(E)BUG against a robot, but perhaps not against a human, as the extra points keep the pressure on, especially if he doesn't have the H or any easy play elsewhere.
#findingsmall
I did not see 4A CELE(BRANT) here. That's a cool one and the aggression is mandatory at this deficit. Maybe E4 BELL if I don't spot CELEBRANT? #visionlarge
This was just a clear misevaluation of an opening position I think. The math in my head was all wrong. There are three plays better than this one, I like VET the best #strategysmall
oh yeah HOGMANE is a word. coulda been a second 101 point play smh #findinglarge even as a nonbingo this play is trash, I got obsessed with the S but MHO is probably just standard and better anyway. maybe it's not awful because there will never be as nice a way of dealing with the S, but at least MHO has good upside and some defense value, and HOMAGING only partially blocks the S, when it will be more worthwhile to do a lower scoring but complete block later. awfulawful
Not thrilled to open the double-double but this was by far the most palatable equity move; 7E KEPT was my other option, and Quackle prefers it slightly based on just a bit better defense. #strategysmall 17:51
I have like 0% chance of winning. With L11 SIEGE at least I can prioritize reaching 300 sometime this century. But, like, it's the case S. I'm feeling greedy. Also I forgot to look on that side of the board. #strategysaddest ? #visionsaddest ALSO #knowledgesad for challenging a 3. May or may not have been a "stop closing down the board for the love of god" challenge, but my lips are sealed
This is when S(PORTERs) becomes relevant. I was not a fan of it at the start of the game, but I forgot about it when things started frowning upon me in this middlegame. It is absolutely relevant here and keeping my S is very important. #knowledgemedium
this was an adjustment to what was probably better equity, but it sims like 10 points worse than other options, so I don't think I can justify this. Gotta keep a better leave. M(A)LLET 3C seems best. #strategymedium
once again being safe, though I missed SPElEAN in the same spot which I would be sure of as opposed to SPEANEd, which I was not, given I always confused SNEAPED SPEANED with SNEAKED SKEANED*. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
I suppose he could have S(E)RAGLIO, the only playable 7 on row 14, and nothing else. I should therefore play deP(L)ANES A2 or fish with E(ME).
I always screw up the ACDEINOV rack on zyzzyva! I type this but it's VOIDANCE and it will always be VOIDANCE. I saw the bingos through the R, VOLCANIC through the L, and obviously VOIDANCE to the E if COINVADEd* comes off so I'm almost definitely bingoing anyway... but when this one scores 106 and I think it's good, I have to try it, right? #knowledgesmall anyway
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
Just flat out missed CORTEGE, which doesn't take the zillion hooks CONGREE does - I actually forgot about the D hook and hoped perhaps I would be likelier to remember the T hook than Benjy. #findingsmall #knowledgesmall
Literally I had so many plays that would have won me the game, but noooooo. I was even considering D1 VOLTES! Never let me outside again, please #strategysaddest
Thought WAGGAS would give up the extra points it scores on defense, but apparently it's only two points worse than GEWGAWS. Maybe GEWGAWS slightly likelier to get +5 from challenge too, but still #tacticssmall 17:58
I wasn't sure what to do here, but I should have seen 13G BAA. 9A AE is best, with BAA a close second. #findingmedium and #scoringlarge for the miscount
I did see OXY in this spot but I wasn't willing to do that after Noah exposed an F. That would have given him great counterplay. Probably E7 UNAXED would have been a little better just because the X is a terrible tile to keep on this board too. #findingsmall
then I promptly forget about reovirus! I played this to make the position tougher and to keep the S open for me to hit, as I likely have the better rack. this may not actually make his position too hard as he has lucrative hooks with BDFKM. REOVIRUS is a big miss. #visionlarge
not sure what to do here. i laid down YARROW, and then couldn't pick it up for ROSARY cuz he saw that i had a W, and that's annoying; i thought ROSARY was better after all. maybe it's ok to let him know i have the W! quackle likes C13 YOW or C11 VOWER too. it's hard to make a play like YOW when i'm down by a lot, giving him an easy scoring spot, but it gives me the best bingo chances and i need that. -2 #strategysmall ? seems like a bigger mistake.
This is a mistake. I think I can play more open after G10 DALT, which probably blew up his rack with no blanks left. H12 IOTA seems okay. #strategylarge
3L REI.... but then I have to find CRENATION after C2 CHOIR and C1 ICHOR are blocked. Also N4 CIRRI is better than this because it does not allow 6M MIG. #endgamemedium (-10)
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 wasn't sure if it was HYOIDS or PYOIDS* that was good. If I was sure, I definitely would have done 13C OsTIARY. Out of the plays I did see, I considered 11A YAk(I)TORI but that gave back too much to him. I also saw this as more sound than I6 AuD(I)TORY or pO(D)IATRY. That said, 13C OsTIARY is clearly best but those -OID words that do or don't take an S are a bit tricky. #knowledgelarge
such an insane bingo available here. Can you find it? This is probably worse than MAY L11 because although I block myself with MAY, I also give him a lot less to work with, and I have the blank, so I don't really need to leave everything open. #tacticssmall #findingmedium #knowledgemedium
I thought this may not have been best but if I lost I knew it would be close, which was important at this point in the tournament because I just need to beat Alec on spread to make the finals. However, it looks like 13K (D)HOW is just too good here. #timesaddest
4A JE(ZA)IL would have been 10 more and forced a response from him that would allow me to open the board more. If he takes the J spot, I could have a nice Column K reparallel. #findingmeh
I took over 8 minutes on this rack. I eventually saw ASSUAGER, the only bingo, around 6 minutes in, after generating AGERATUM, ARGUABLE, GRADUATE and RUNAGATE. At first, I thought ASSUAGER made sense, but because I was fairly certain that ASSWAGER* was invalid, despite ASSWAGE being an alternate form of ASSUAGE, I ended up deciding against playing it. Throughout the rest of the game I was fairly certain ASSUAGER was valid. If I had pulled the trigger on ASSUAGER, the time I spent would have been somewhat reasonable. I never saw D1 AREG for 30, which trumps my play of VAGUE by a few points of equity. In and of itself, ASSUAGER is around 9 points better than VAGUE, which is about what I intuited during the game. This was my first stroke of luck in what would become an absurd work of art, as not even making the best non-bingo play worked out by blocking Jackson's huge double-double. #knowledgemedium
I didn't have much time here and decided I just needed to play fast and I missed K3 (G)OETY. I also wasn't sure of 12H (C)OUTHY. #timesaddest #knowledgesaddest
At this point I am very low on time and proceed to absolutely blow the game for this turn and the nex. This is technically winning, but it's way harder for a human to play, especially with no time. L4 AE is best. #TIMESADDEST
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
should play (J)EE here, sets up the R and I get to play YAGER for 40ish with an A draw. Very interesting, I think I shot my load too early on this one. #strategysadder ##fuckme
now, CZA(R) 4G is important to find. I can also just play CA(V)A, not sure how I missed that one. I knew this was a terrible move, but for some reason I just couldn't find anything else. #findingSAD
I did not see the best rack-cleanup options here, C8 (R)UBIED or 13B BEDUI(N). Again a lack of ability to generate certain patterns that I must attempt to eliminate. (R)UBIED looks pretty good. #findingsmall
i really find it impossible that i lose after this play unless he has a 6 with -oke. piquet is an option i did not see and pretty much outruns any bngos -10 #findingmedium
Hm. I recognized that 1) 3/4 u's were already gone 2) no good Q spots exist before or after this play but I don't think I ever considered just dropping the Q. I don't know that Matt can really afford to make up all that equity with a specific block at 3I, but he can definitely try. I just don't even think I considered Q(I) played at 10L. This is the best chance I'll likely get to get rid of the Q without significant lucking. FILET also sims better, so this cannot be the right play, and FILER too, of course. #strategymedium
This game is not going well. This play does not even sim since the leave is horrible. I think keeping just the A or keeping nothing are much better even with leaving Column K open. #strategylarge
I was not comfortable doing N1 LOO. That said, I think I need to clean up my rack better with J9 TROLLO(P), which was missed. It also defends the bottom of the board nicely. #visionmedium
11C THE wins a close sim over L7 UH and EH. I rejected THE, fearing heavy underlaps. I did not consider UH or EH. I like how UH blocks the scoring spot at 8J-O. #tacticsmedium
his rack is pretty specific here. I don't know that it's at all worth trying to block a little. But I didn't want to get boxed in after an O-column bingo by playing on the 13 row. And I completely missed just playing this on the M column, or DEG/GED M10. This is terrible in retrospect and I'm only hurting myself. #strategySAD
Even though I am basically hosed at this point, this should be 15H FRONT if I'm going to go here. I didn't recognize the JELLO hook for some reason. Even then, O1 FONT, which was missed, is better to leave the JELLS/JELLO hook open. #findingmedium