I should've just passed, but I wasn't sure of the math after B8 TIRITIS -> G8 (G)EROnIMO, but it wins by 1. This loses 3/8 when the I is in the bag, except none of any of that matters since we miscounted the bag and it actually wins, but I didn't do a recount oops lmao. #STRATEGYSADDEST
It's not like I was a huge fan of this play, but again, it seemed pretty straightforward. It's not. It's way less defensive than POGO and even EGO. POGO is probably the best play #strategysmall
Joey: ESCARGOT
Josh: had I seen ESCARGOT during my thought process last turn or as a review of said thought process this turn, I would have challenged QUICKY* off the board and been ahead by 200. I should still challenge because how likely is he to block the D anyway? I don't need to worry pretty much at all about having a spot to bingo. Horrible #knowledgesaddest
should not go out. -15 to just dropping the blank G at J10. Funny because I set myself up to do a better-than-optimal endgame with KAE. #endgameSADDEST
-3.5 to the pretty aggressive 10A OGIVAL. but i shoulda spotted VOILA or GAVOT. remember that the meow meow was not in full effect after my round 2 loss. I had to reset myself after the early bird and start over, and it wasn't until the next day that i achieved good focus again! #findingmedium
almost played ANNO(Y), which would have blocked RALLYE unwittingly. I wanted to block REFRAINS stuff, which is obviously far less of a factor given RALLYE. I thought this did a good job outrunning 14E plays. I could play EAU at L11 to also block the dangerous REFRAINS hook as well as scoring plays to the Y, but I was more worried about getting outrun from 53 ahead instead of 62 ahead, and that would allow Jackson time to play something on the N column like OE maybe, since EAU protects that sort of opening. #visionsaddest for RALLYE again.
F4 (B)OX sets up a hotspot at E5 and keeps column O open, and (L)OX apparently gives me a 3% better chance of bingoing next turn. Yet (B)OX wins the sim. I suppose that I often draw decisive double-doubles afterward. #tacticsmedium
now this isn't actually so bad since I have a pretty good stranglehold on the position afterwards, but 15A LO is still the play by a few points. #knowledgesad
clearly i should block his F spot and play DIB at F2 but no matter what i lose. he can set up an unblockable FLAM at H12 by playing ER. still, endgame fail. #endgamemedium
just with BRANG*, I was about ready to snap challenge, and the longer I took, the less I felt I should challenge. This is a huge mistake, but I still figured my best chances were holding on from this position. But I missed AR(M)Y for 39, which is too many to say no to. There is very limited risk of 7 consonants next turn being pivotal enough to lose the game, and also very minimal chance of not drawing a vowel, given the 15/10 vowel/consonant ratio. Something like 10-15%? I just missed AR(M)Y, but worse, I made this play with absolutely no clue about RALLYE, a word I know. I never saw RALLYE. This was Jackson's game to come back and win. Incredibly good pressure by him, picking at my confidence levels more and more every turn. #knowledgesaddest #visionsaddest #strategysaddest #findingsaddest
I am most angry at this one. I honestly tried really really hard to see Pe(G)BOX but something in my brain just wouldn't process it. I can't see BOX words, I can't see some ING words, and I just feel like I never will. I literally stared at the -GBOX extension for many many seconds. After I made my play, I saw it, so maybe there's some slim chance I will start seeing more of these things. Until then, #findingsaddest
awful and discouraging. I completely forgot that DEVI was a word so i only thought of making the hook an A. also, because I had spent like half my time on the first three moves, i was pretty low here and could not see a good way to win. i did see FRAT, which quackle says is a winning play, but where's the other spot for WAI besides WAIT? -8 #endgamelarge (edit: 5B WAIR, making three "new" in the last few years 2s!! how can I hope to play Collins if I can't find TWL 2s??)
#knowledgesad for challenge and #Knowledgesaddest for chickening out of CITROUS (i felt like my impulse control was shot on Day 2 from lack of sleep and wanted to rein hallucinations in)
I think I sacrificed too much short-term equity even if I made a board conducive to my S hook. 4G U(P)HOVE is not an easy play to spot and I think that's better to minimize risk. Evan is more unlikely to hit 2x2s from the V after he just picked 6 tiles, and me picking 2 vowels could potentially kill me for several turns. #findingmedium
I'm correct to play off fewer tiles. But this isn't the right way to do it. Quackle really loves the aggressive play of 7H D(I)N for 7, which sets up my E and T nicely and opens up a 2nd potent bingo line when I am close to something and Joel isn't closing the board down anytime soon. I might have given myself a better chance with DIN instead of MAN. #visionsmall
It appears that exchanging does sim ahead of my play and G9 (F)AUNAE, which I was not a fan of. I'd probably exchange down to EN if I had to do this over again. #strategysmall
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
GIS and just GI bingo much more than GIT, though keeping both esses ensures that I sometimes get QIS scoring plays to bring up my low-end scores next turn after GIT. Obviously, GIS is ill-advised here thanks to the EGIS hook, but I accept that GI should've been my play. #tacticssmall
It seemed like Ian was consonant heavy, so JEU appeared to be more sound. I somehow average 20 more after AJUGA. I think I played this turn too scared. It's one thing if I average 1 point fewer after JEU. But not when I average 20. Even JUG in the same spot is probably fine to avoid X bombs, but I shouldn't be too concerned with that since there's many ways to play it, and Ian only averages 4 more after JEU vs JUG. #strategymedium
I considered RESMELT, but wasn't sure on it. spend a few minutes trying to find a double double here. #knowledgeSAD
Also missed some good overlapping 7s. #visionSAD
this was really bad, since I was almost sure ENORMS* was good, despite it coming up with Rafi at 2022 Word Cup. Misremembered, horrendously. #knowledgesaddest
I had her on sticks including the D after this. Since I didn't have a good block I'd thought I set up my S, though maybe I should have just done H1 TONUS. I'm not really sure how big of a mistake this is, I'll just mark it as #strategymedium
F2 ENDEAVO(R) #findingsaddest #knowledgesaddest (i love that i stumbled into GROUPIST, which is 13k probability and couldnt find ENDEAVOR, which is 1k probability. i am truly composed of paradoxes)
(exch AIIIRY) is better even if it bingos less because i draw into J plays on column D and through the K on row 12. It also goes for the blanks more aggressively. #strategysaddest
1st tile on my rack is after a Q in the alphabet. Not too often one sees that. 11G V(E)R(I)ST appears to clean up the rack much better and is a clear improvement. I did not spot that. #visionmedium
1st live tourney for me in 2.5 years! The drive to Holden, MA was well worth it. I stopped off in CT on the way there the day before to hang out with another buddy and had a great time with him too. Despite some word knowledge errors I made this tourney, it felt nice to use real equipment when it mattered most. So here it goes: I saw SLEEPED* but correctly passed that up. Unfortunately, I thought SPEEL was a noun and not a verb, so I chickened out of SPEELED. #knowledgelarge
C13 AWN 10 points is way too many to give up. I saw AWE and discounted it because it's still possible to trip-trip through the E, but the N in that spot is a lot more defensive (opponent's avg score goes up by 7 compared to AWN). My play doesn't stop WR bingos #findingsadder #tacticssad
i spent absurdly long on this move. it was frustrating. i should probably just keep it closed and do EM at N1, and pounce on any openings (or still draw a bingo - EM bingoes 46% next turn, maybe a little less because he'll keep it closed, but still). -7 #strategymedium