I think I had 10 seconds left here. I did not have time to track and didn't realize how good the pool was. 10N (P)O wins 5/8, this wins much lesser than that. #TIMESADDEST
not good enough. 12A SWIVED scores more and i might be able to score next turn too on the S. VICED though sims best, for 38 vs 33 and keeps the W to score with. -6 #strategymedium
9H (ZA)G actually sims best here. Really cool fish. I was unsure of THANGS and would rather have played THANGS or (T)HANG over this. #strategylarge #knowledgesaddest
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
Very tricky move. I desperately wanted to keep ET together here to play down column O with RE and ST; drawing the H or M would be great if I could find a way to keep EET here. However, I also have to worry about being outrun if I take too small of a score here. For that reason, I felt the best compromise was BURET; I did also consider BUTEO, which appears to be a smidge better according to sim/CP, but it's not because it performs better defensively by covering the O1 triple; it's because I score 4 more points on my next turn with BUTEO than BURET. A little bit of that is because BUTEO occasionally draws bingos at the bottom of the board, which BURET blocks; the rest of it is that keeping EEL works better with the O12 spot than ELO. For example, if I draw HT or MT, I get my big play down there after BUTEO, but need more help after BURET. #strategysmall 4:26
this is actually a pretty counterproductive play. I need to admit I am at a disadvantage and play FIB 7K. This gives back too many bingos and scoring plays. I am setting up points on row 8, but also on row 4 with TEFF. Cool play that I should have seen. I saw BE(D)IM, which is also a lot better. #findingmedium #strategymedium
#knowledgesad for the desperate challenge. This turn is notable because there are 14 plays that are all tied for best at a valuation of 13 points (this is one of them).
Figured this would be a controversial move, but while I accept it's a mistake and I certainly got burned to the maximum possible extent, I had logic behind it, as I expressed on the stream; if Alec didn't have a bingo, I expected he might be more apt to open something than the Gibsons of the world. #strategylarge
I missed that I had VAC and VEERY. JOKE is therefore better to leave that, but COV(E) or CAV(E) is a fantastic idea to set myself up for 66 #findinglarge
I saw DOGDOMS and him having blocked DOGEDOMS, but I couldn't convince myself that the 7 was valid. CATDOMS* is no good, how could DOGDOMS be? But I'm pretty sure I had checked this recently. #knowledgelarge
dropping the Q bingoes way more than QA(T) here! 23% vs. 6%, AAILRV is surprisingly strong. however, Quackle likes playing QI/VIE or QI/POI best, cause it outruns more consistently. #tacticssmall
I liked that I saw this play hoping he wouldn't see that METICAL is good, but 13B ME(S)TIZA is a more sound play, clearly best, and is 56 which was missed. #findinglarge
damn OE is just way better. I totally didn't see the TOEA hook and instantly regretted it! even just the straight up 8 point sacrifice for the T is good. #tacticsmedium
I only remembered ANTEFIXA taking an L, but it is EL. my position if I accept is also not very good, I will probably do OPERA or exchange. #knowledgelarge
i deserved to draw another I. i recognized here that i was in trouble, and i took a deep breath to calm down, i spent about a minute before looking at the board again -- then i still was unable to find a spot for IDIOM even though i saw it on my rack. sigh. it's the best play here, at 11J. -4 #focus #visionmedium
had better spot for these letters, which I either saw during the game or upon analysis on a previous device I forgot about. 13I FROWARD or FORWARD #findingSADDEST
Too defensive or nah? I wanted to block 1A bings and 12E MUTUE(L) creates an S hook (he might not know RIPERS). I await your hatemail. 12E MUTUE(L) and 12M UTU are probably okay? #strategymedium
I thought SCRIB was a word #knowledgesaddest so this doesn't leave a bingo line that I need to win. Something like 3K (C)L(E)W seems good here. #strategysaddest
a little sad that FORGETS was blocked and he didn't give me any floaters for a bingo. i was thinking if he bingoes through the L he'd at least give me an E for GOREFEST! i considered GOFER, but not strongly enough, I guess; should have counted it and compared to OFTER. quackle prefers FOG(Y) best, keeping a great leave that bingoes > 2/3 of the time. i tend to dislike not taking points early and staying within striking distance; if FOGY doesn't work out I'll fall farther behind. It's hard to really know. -3 #strategysmall
interesting position, depending how I view his odd placement of BLITE. it could be something weird like a scoring rack where he wants too make two spots, or a K. most likely is probably an X. not really sure. it's hard to justify blocking the X bomb cause my plays there are pretty bad and leave the G column. I could also counter-setup with ZA/BA, which mmight actually be fine anyways. this play was a sort of counter-setup, keeping 12a possibilities and h1 possibilities. Q thinks it's way too big a sacrifice, that I should just play YA. i'll call this a #strategymedium
I'm so damn lazy. i saw sherbet, and freshet, then i thought hey freshet looks cooler, so i laid it down, then halfway to hitting the clock i realized sherbet is better positionally, but i couldn't be arsed to change it!! wtf? come on cesar! -2 #tacticssmall
a poor pre-endgame. once i laid it down i realized where it put the A, and with the unseen tiles he's likely to hit me back for a ton of points. i figured i'd probably won the early bird but i shouldn't be so lazy and pick it up and look again. i considered ducal and acold too. 1F CADI sims best on many-ply. -3 #lazynessmedium #strategymedium
however, in 2017, I won against Joe Edley, thinking I had cashed, but everything else did not go my way and I ended up right outside the money. I saw WEEPIE and was just too uneasy about its validity to play it. I knew that I could afford a few small mistakes, so long as I didn't lose a turn. Though, I had lost a turn to Karl earlier in the tournament and still won that game. WEEPIE is obviously a word and I just have no self-confidence. #knowledgesmall
missed a bunch of better options here. QUIFF and QUAFF 9C are the most obvious. I couldn't stomach AQUAFIT 13I opening a 3x3, so I tunnelled on how I didn't like this play or that one. #strategymedium
I briefly thought about doing 5C OHIA or 5C CIAO as well as this, but those gave up too many points, and I still have Columns C and D to use. J2 OHO would have also been an interesting move setting up my C, however, I'm still not likely to win this game. And that's the hardest for Robin to block. #visionlarge #strategylarge
This sims best but I'm not sure it's correct. I might need to make some drastic opening at this point because the sun is rapidly setting on this game. #strategysadder
Fishing off the U and N with K7 UN(WIELDY) is a lot better. I got inexplicably fearful of the triple-triple I'd left open for so long? playing too scared. #findingsadddest
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).