Will: Didn't notice that OUTVAUNT plays at 14F. There's already a gigantic S hook on the board so making another one isn't quite the same problem it would normally be, and OUTVAUNT doesn't open a 9x lane for Josh. #findingsmall #strategysmall
S isn't amazing here so it's best to take 13 points with SN(E)LL 6H which I considered. Also better to keep RS here, the vowels to play through do not comprise of an E so the D is not very good. #strategysmall
N: I saw 5K EX but I wasn't sure if I should go for the bingo that I was sort of sure of or play EX and hope I could find a bingo next turn. I figured the game was close enough that I needed to just get the points. Also a #knowledgesad for the challenge
Omg...I missed a really cool idea here. I did not see that I could have made BRAIDINGS, which is valid, with G7 CAB. That sets up an S hook that will be extremely difficult for Evan to block and it keeps additional lanes in MANSIONS open. #visionlarge
I got too excited here because I knew I was close to 700. The play should have been H1 DELUSTE(R) for the purpose of play finding. But it worked out in the end because if he has AENOORT, he still hypothetically has RATOONE(D) available, which I think he's more likely to find than ANTEROO(M), which he has right now if I pick EJR out of the bag. #visionsmall
It was about 2 minutes later during the game that I realized I missed the E5 placement for the same word. I would eventually hit that spot. But still, this is #visionbad.
10L PEH is better, presumably because it blocks the high-scoring bingo lanes in columns L and M. I like EDH because it keeps my vowel, and I can score well with 10M EF next turn. #strategysmall
This might be an overreaction even after an exchange 6. I'm certainly correct to play ELATING over ATINGLE, but B8 AGENTIAL is fine despite how much easier it might be to hit 3x3s through an L in the 2nd spot than a G in the 7th spot. I should have gone with AGENTIAL. #strategysmall
I've been doing fine with spotting bingoes until now. I did not see 3E (U)RETERIC for 62. Not the easiest to spot and it's also easy to miss a U as a bingo lane. #findinglarge
veratrin takes an E as well as an S. but that's a tiny number of the unseen tiles. maybe just take the points? would you? i suppose if i'm playing someone better i should try to make it a bit more volatile. -2 #strategysmall
he was low on time in the endgame, and I spent a lot of time on AQUAS so I was low on time. I have a win here - 2K B(I)N(I)T. fucking awful #endgamelarge I thought this might be good, wasn't sure
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
Even after an exchange 6, I think 10E LIE would have been a little better because even though I set up EWER and the EDIT hooks, L10E LIE sets up both my D and my R and Brandon averages about 3 less next turn. #strategysmall
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
J2 V(I)N and 6D V(IF)F sim best here. I liked H2 G(U)V because it killed the top part of the board and H1 plays by Austin create long term problems for board control. The equity is just too bad though, and a two consonant draw is devastating. H2 F(U)NG is a better version of this idea (since I get another shot at a vowel) but still bad. #strategylarge
This would be close with C9 ZO except that she put down an S on the board before playing 15A KIN(G) the turn before, making this very sad. #strategysaddest
13G PYE is probably slightly better. I didn't play it because I wanted to more completely block row 14 bingos. I figured my opponent must be on really good stuff to only play 1 tile. The problem is that after 13D PEONY, I basically guarantee that I Q stick myself. I could not find anything better so I just ate the Q. #strategysaddest
he would later mention that i got all 10 power tiles but if you notice here it's a great disadvantage to have these tiles in this case. D11 BEG looks standard, i suppose, but so ugly. ugh. -7.5 #tacticsmedium
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
i didn't think of PRIMATAL. when we talked about it at the end of the game Lou told me it took an S.. sheesh, maybe it's better i didn't play it or i would have likely lost a turn on an S hook. #findingsmall
Sim is saying 15F HUI by 8 points, but I thought I really needed the S hook created by D12 HUB. Someone convince me that D12 HUB is wrong. I await your hatemail. EDIT: it's wrong, I was wrong, #STRATEGYSADDEST
huge miss of SHEAFED, which I saw but chickened out of. Wasn't quite confident enough that there was a word in this. This is a huge 25-point mistake just as the momentum was turning in my favor. Maybe if I had but more thought into it and thought about SHEAFING. AEFGHINS looks potentially good. #knowledgeSADDEST
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
#knowledgesaddest for not challenging ANAGOGUE* earlier. This is also a tilt play. UH is fine, even though he's likely to have a D. I eat those chances up with the benefits of the UH play, and it's not like HUH doesn't give him so much back. #strategylarge
the idea behind TAJ was drawing good letters for a bingo. I saw NATURAE# and chickened out. Had I seen TAUREAN# I think I would have vaguely remembered the pair and just played NATURAE# and probably won the game. #knowledgesaddest
I spent quite a lot of time on this, aapparently I should play FOU on the bottom for defense, but its really close. I actually didn't generate that. -1 #visionsmall BUFO sims one up too. FOU top gives away 3 more, which is a lot.
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
This line certainly looks weird, but the S just doesn't have a lot of value here, and I really want points this turn. Quackle is convinced that TOE bingos over 1/3 of the time and thus prefers it, but I just don't know if I believe that, especially since Sam is more likely to block than Quackle believes and doesn't have VW as much as randomness dictates, but still, that is a massive number, so I'll go with it. #strategymedium
I was worried that I would get outrun with a small fish, so I grabbed enough points that a lucky bingo would still matter; but keeping EIILT and blocking the O of GAUCHOS is not a good way to do that. 9A LIEU is the play if I want to get points without blocking any of my scarce bingo lines. #strategymedium
I knew DONNART meant stupid but i couldnt remember if it was an adjective or a noun (i.e. a stupid person) #knowledgesaddest NORLANDS fits in this same spot
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
Probably just 6L LI is fine. I really should focus on my I issues knowing it was hard to stop Cornelia from potentially bingoing next turn. G8 (N)IOBITE cleans up my rack nicely but with an S inferred it helps her a lot more than it helps me at this score. #strategymedium
The sun has pretty much set and I was also slightly tilted because I thought UNMARRED might have been phony (it's not). I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here other than resign. #strategysaddest
When will I learn that I should never keep two I's? AHI has the best equity, but 12C TAHINI is best overall; having two I's greatly hinders my potential for a 2*2 on column K. #tacticssmall
This is a massive blunder. I thought I could infer that he was trying to dodge the Q from his previous play, but he ended up having QU with a strong leave, which seems more likely. I thought since the Q might be in the bag I need to give myself a spot for it at 6F after he takes the triple on row 1. I really just need to not give back such massive counterplay and admit I lose if the Q is in the bag without the U. #strategysaddest
C: In fact, Alec did draw the T, so good thing I'm not a wizard.
A: 3L LIE is best. The lane in column O is easier to use after LIE than after LIED, and the D is a useful bingo tile. #strategymedium
THIS is how you give yourself a chance against a monster of a player. #VISIONSOLID. Notice the CAPSLOCK*? I was VERY pleased to find this move that got rid of 4 vowels and an F!
hard for me to determine which one is better between YEW and WAME. i see that EUY is a worse leave than AEMU and WAME might be worse defensively, but i like keeping the Y to score again next turn; YEW seemed easier to overlap etc. meh. -2 #tacticssmall
missed mate in one. somehow I got so bogged down in being able to play 14B GLAZE with an A draw that I missed GLOZE until the second I hit the clock. Absolute game-losing mistake. this was ridiculous #findingsaddest
C12 OGEE has the best equity, but ODEA is more effective in blocking JIHADI; OGEE still allows -IE- words on row 15. So Quackle prefers OGEE over ODEA by a wider margin now? #strategysmall
could someone explain how GOT gives up 2 more pts on average than TOG? easier to overlap? is it just the H hook? this is so weird. TOG also results in a higher average score for me next turn so overall this sims a shocking 1.5 pts worse than TOG! #strategysmall
Everything wins 100%, but M1 POLIC(E)S wins the sim by ~8 points of valuation, and many other plays making (FANE)S are favored over H(O). #strategylarge
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
When I was inputting this into Quackle, this seemed like a terrible play. It isn't even one of Quackle's initial choices. However, it sims decently. The bag is consonant heavy, so I figure to be able to use column H more easily than Thomas. Also, UNITED takes out column D. I remember considering sim-winner AEDINE O10, but the strategic benefits of UNITED seemed stronger. In practice, AEDINE has to be right. Thomas has many uses for the S, not just D12. OU isn't that bad of a leave with that consonant heavy pool, especially with the Q unseen. (-5) #strategymedium
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
One of my worst nightmares as a Scrabble player: on the Tuesday after this tournament, I was driving to work and I thought to myself, "gee, I think I missed a better bingo than OLIGURIC". Sure enough, I did. H8 (U)RoLOGIC for 83. #findinglarge
Thought hard about whether to play 5M DAB setting up KABO(B) which is kind of never blocked ever but I chickened out of it. I think I need to be a little more free with my setups sometimes but I'm glad I spotted this idea (and it does sim best.) #strategysad