1F ST(O)OKIES or 1F SO(O)KIEST or 1E STO(O)KIES. I'd like to think that I would have found the bings with more time, because I had almost none at this point, so I'm marking this as #TIMESADDEST
#findinglarge Missing this was frustrating but not surprising. High point tiles in weird locations like this has been a pretty persistent weak spot for me in practice.
This is OK in its own right, and it does score the most, but 8J IDEATE would have allowed me to save my J and given me 5 chances to draw an A and something else for nice 6F plays! #visionmedium
I wish Woogles would have a button that allows me to change lexicons in the middle of the game, JAI# at 6F would have easily been it in that case! LOL
Ben: Strange. Why does this sim 13% worse than TWIGGING? Quackle must be broken.
Alec: This and my next five turns in aggregate constitute my worst mistake of the tournament. I did not know nor consider TWIGHTING#. I also missed O5 TWI(N)GInG, which scores the same as WIGhTING# and is best. #knowledgelarge
Wasn't really a fan of giving Reid easy and obvious underlaps to HEX, especially with 5 unseen Is and two unseen Us at this stage in the game. Sim still prefers HEX by about a point and HENT sets up sad possibilities if he's got one of the three unseen esses though. #tacticssad maybe but I'd probably do it again unless someone smart tells me not to
I missed 15J TAHSIL! What a wicked play #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
compared HALT and HILT, decided that yes there were more A's out, but the ZI combo is still much worse than ZA, although I get NAZI with an A, so hmm.
I didn't think SEEMINGS was a word but IT IS. Anyway, since I can't block effectively, I have to play C1 (C)ZAR to outrun. FOR FUCK'S SAKE. #REEEEEEEEEEE #VISIONSADDEST
And now I have to block his only out play of (C)LOVER without giving him a spot to play LOVER. But a move that could have netted me more spread is to do 2A A(C)E so that I get more for my out play. #endgamesmall
couldn't remember if it was AIRSOCK* or OARSICK*. Turns out it was ARKOSIC, which is probably best at N8 for 98. This and it sim evenly, surprisingly. #knowledgeSADDEST
I missed the MOHO hook this turn. I would have probably played YUM there, keeping the board full of S hooks. MY is also okay, but YUM bingoes far more. #visionsmall
IO# maximizes my bingo chance. I missed 11E PA(L)SIER until next turn, and I thought IO# was a blunder; somehow, IO# beats PA(L)SIER in a sim. I wanted to play the I either way, seeing that there were four I's unseen. However, the sim winner is K5 PO(L), blocking row 5 and minimizing Dennis's bingo chance. #strategymedium
weird spot. I saw 4G EE(R)IE which has the best equity by a longshot. I decided against it for reasons. Those reasons are pretty frivolous, but I thought I could control this board I think. But EKE is also a fish, so if I bingo where is the control? I dunno. This is a huge sacrifice so I hope I'm not crazy. #strategymedium
i didn't think of G7 HERD. it seems relatively easy for him to block downards though, with either HERD or my play (column G down, or even something like AE, lol). i'm in more trouble than quackle thinks. quackle likes N12 DENE but that doesn't open a new lane. should i do it anyway and try to open a lane later? i don't know. -4 #tacticsmedium
maybe GWINE? sets up X? plays underneath for later. also might be decent to just leave the L column cause the bingoes don't hit super hard, GLOW sets up the A hook whichmight be hard to block later, and the W is a high scoring lane. I think GWINE is a bit better #findingsmall
Looks like FUGIO is a bit better; WU is certainly worse than the IOW after FUGU, but FUGU gives back the big easy E hook and FUGIO scores 4 more. #tacticssmall
This is going for a draw of B, C, H, or L to threaten 3E bingos while keeping row 10 open. However, M9 WAI(S) sims best, probably because it keeps 3C bingos available, which might be more likely. #strategylarge
I did what I thought was essential--block M7 JINGLED/JINGLER while guaranteeing an out--although I didn't see my backup out, C1 ASKOI. But there is so much more scoring potential! 14M YE sets up O11 OBIAS for 36, with a backup of A1 COBIAS, and Matt cannot both block OBIAS and use the J. M11 AIYEE blocks all of Matt's 30+ point J plays while saving K2 SORB for 25. Both YE and AIYEE are 19 points better than this. #endgamelarge (-19)
this was actually terrible. I wondered about SIZIE(R) and just tunnelled on keeping an S... This was a very scary misjudgment. I hope this was just a temporary lapse. #strategySADDEST
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
I did underestimate how good H1 BET(H) is here despite giving up 7 immediately and allowing Dustin a vowel to play through. There is merit to doing that since I can draw into J5 ZETA to keep the board tight and continue to score. Worst case, if Dustin did not improve his rack, I can always respond with 2F ZE(E) on the following turn to block the board even more. It's a couple valuation points back of ZEP. #strategysmall
Wayyyy to many points to lose out on here. Not only was I unsure of M8 LITHOES (LITHOS* isn't good), but 13B HOSTILE plays for 90! I could have had much more on this turn. #visionlarge
i guess 11F RIGgERS is better but i didnt wanna give back TRIGGERS hooks and i also felt like my play was a bit more open esp since we were about to be pretty even ?#strategysad 11H SERRInG takes the hooks debate off the table tho so #knowledgesad there
I wish I could say I picked INVESTOR because I balked at all the CONTRIVE hooks - but in fact I actually just somehow missed CONTRIVE despite looking at the C. #findingsmall
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
1st key miss this game. I completely missed the SPAVIN hook, but I also had a 3x3 of A8 SUbO(C)EAN, which Mack immediately found after the game. If I'm going to miss the SPAVIN hook and the 3x3, at least spot N7 ApO(L)UNES. He dodged a bullet, didn't he? #findinglarge
I could go for more bingos with MOMS, which sims best. MOCS keeps a better leave overall, but I wanted to keep the O for the 8 row, which I realized might be not so important, as many other vowels are lurking. This seems like a small mistake #strategysmall
There's 5 possible bingos through 14H OM and I just wanna quit. 10H sTONERS is notable #findingsaddest #Knowledgesaddest We out here turning up dumbassery to 100%
7I OUR is also cool, the U isn't super parallelable so it's kind of a board fork. GURU doesn't give much back, and I chose this one for 1 less point because it doens't allow h11 plays. h11 plays aren't so bad for me cause they give more lanes, but they still score better than most other plays on the board. I also like leaving a bit more distance from the E column in case a LEGGY play comes down, partially inhibiting my lanes. although EORS > ERSU, the better board position makes OUR bingo almost as much as GURU. #tacticssmall
I was too afraid of all the lanes on this board. I should still just play HEA(R)D because it scores well. I felt like I needed to be proactive and try and go for blanks and stuff, but yeah... #tacticssmall L(E)HUA 9F is also an option
I was a bit wary of opening all the nice floaters, but I still gotta just do ZOSTER here. if it was ERST instead of ORST then we might be talking. He only bingoes 5% more after zoster? interesting #tacticsmedium
i always struggle a bit with making obvious fishes like this but it seemed to work with a lot of letters, and through the A, etc. quackle prefers N1 PST for 29 or O7 PHT for 14. i think i would have played PHT if i'd thought of it. -2.5 #tacticssmall #visionsmall
Here I overreacted to my good 7s lane being blocked and grabbed at points. 9C LUG has the nice attribute of setting up a new lane for ING with GLUG hooks; but it's very hard to imagine Matthew not blocking it somehow. Instead I think I prefer the simple C7 LIG over GRIG, just to maintain much better leave synergy. I also get some draws towards GLIFT and GLIFF 8A, which would be annoying board openings for Matthew. #strategysmall
-0.5 i think, QUELEA lessens disaster racks next turn. i typically like taking Ys in triple lanes because they're good dumps of ugly letters for my opponents. #strategysmall
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
looks like I13 FON is the play here, I missed SICKO. BNNT is quite a bit worse but not ridiculously so, the 7 points seems worth it. I liked making overlaps a bit harder though, but a sim says that's only a minor difference. #visionsmall
7F NOODGE scores 1 more than GEODE, keeps a better leave, and does not set up a Z bomb. While I agree with Quackle that NOODGE is better than GEODE, I don't see how it's a 10-point mistake. #findinglarge
i should have played QUEUER (i wasn't 101% on it). i didn't want to give up an easy high scoring S hook. but it's important to balance my rack. -5.5 #tacticsmedium #knowledgesmall
I don't remember my exact leave here and I didn't record it because I was extremely low on time. This is just a guess since I know I had AEIIRST the next turn. Regardless, this is almost certainly incorrect. #strategylarge
Regretting not doing VAWS now as I could have just kept scoring instead of commit myself to bingoing. I would've done C11 ABY except that I was easily envisioning situations where I hit a bingo that didn't play. Indeed, I get 77% bingo after ABY and 90% after BYE. Still at least a #strategysmall and maybe medium.
Tough call here; went for most aggressive opening. DOW is most defensive; LOW sims better but I don't have hooks for it. I guess DOW is what I should've done. #tacticssmall
His only valid bingo was 12H (N)OONTIDE for 70. Instead, I let him get away with this plausible phony. You can apply things like suntan lotion, right? #knowledgesad
missed 3(!) bingos here, and I knew I was missing them too. LOPPERED and LAPPETED I didn't know for sure, and I chickened out of DEPEOPLE. #knowledgeSADDEST
Played the correct move of DZO and then picked it up for just ZO; it's better to play DZO and then play my M atop CRUOR next turn. For the third straight game I was extremely low on time, didn't record it for these last few moves. #endgamelarge
i'm pretty sure i saw EE, and thought keeping STEEN was fine. i don't like Os that much. it's kinda shocking to me that EE sims so much better at 7H, but i guess it also doesn't give back some big pts. yeah, i shoulda done that. -11 #strategylarge
UNFRESH* #knowledgesaddest
After this game I think I looked up all the FRESH words and that allowed me to win a turn on FRESHING against Jason Li some months later in Ottawa.
didn't like the long term N column, so I should just do cELESTA. Was playing very open to give myself easier decisions while having to direct. #strategysmall
Right idea with the turnover and blocking the HUMPS hook. I will say that TURNIP is a worse play than it usually is because I should not be keeping 2 Os with 3 more usneen. While TURNIP isn't egregious, I should be looking to address my O problem while also blocking more indirectly with F2 UNROOT or even 4C UNROOF. #visionmedium