No way will I be able to Q-stick him unless something miraculous happens, so I had the right idea to score again, but 1A FOLKIE is slightly better. #findingsmall
i was actually doing some math here to try to figure out what the chances he drew an E were. i think i calculated somewhere in the 30% range. didn't see the amazing H10 PINETA. -0.5 #visionsmall
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)
Ben looks like he wants to cry and I'm convinced lunch is after three games so I just played this fast so I could eat. Unfortunately lunch is after 4 games #endgamesadder #lunch
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
Suuuuuper low on time at this point, didnt really look at what was left in the bag, and didn't want to lose to a trip-trip. I need to play 6J OE. I3 UN(d)OES is pretty cool (I saw O10 UN(D)OES and didn't want to float an S, so it's sad that I didn't see it at I3). My play, horrifyingly, actually gives back a lot (opp's avg score goes up 4 compared to OE and 6 compared to UN(d)OES/UN(D)OES with random rack, up by 7 and 10 if I specify J, and up by 9 and 13 if I specify EIRST). Huge #strategysaddest
Obviously not opening after YIN. LUN preserves HAZAN/AZAN possibilities for the future. The only other move I would potentially do here is 9C HULA, which should be pretty difficult to bingo with. #strategysmall 14:46
Before this turn, I had maybe 9 minutes on my clock, but my tracking was off. I think I spent about 8 minutes retracking before realizing we were missing a tile. By the time we found it I had maybe a minute left. I panicked and played this. #TIMESADDEST
14E R(A)ND is the kind of play that I have a really hard time seeing. It sims best, but I'm not sure what is actually best since I assume a human would play very differently from Quackle. On the other hand, the EDS/EDH hook is difficult to block without the hooks. I dunno. #strategysadder
K5 JAY. I totally missed that spot. Also B10 CA(R)NY sets up a huge X spot which I guess is okay since I'm down a lot but I didn't even notice it. #VISIONSADDEST
5B TRUED does multiple things: it turns over more tiles and lets me grab S? and a vowel; it sometimes lets me play -TZ words, hammer the Z or J on the triple through whatever bingo comes down on columns L or M, or plop the Z on row 13. I don't bingo, but my score next turn averages ~47. #strategysadder
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 have three wins, but they all involve WILCO, which I did not see. The best play is D4 UM, threatening WILCO in three spots and outrunning 9A OES with 3A WILCO. MAW ties. But remember the scoring error, two points in favor of Gunther: This game was counted as a loss for me because of that. I really should have recounted. #endgamesaddest (-6)
I think GN(U) has to come down here. Again can't reasonably outrun, so have to go all in on defense. TONG is also reasonable, emptying the bag here is good to prevent him fishing (he could hit the B and E column, I will not be able to block both too often). GNU has the issue of allowing better fishing options for him, but it's really hard for him to open a new lane after GNU, so he's stuck having to hit the blockable B column. I looked for blocks but didn't consider GNU. #findinglarge
I was afraid to play off my other I with BIDI for 4 more points with the consonant-heavy pool. But now it's pretty funny that another reasonable option is B7 BIRD for just 1 less, which might look a bit better since there's still 2 more Is to draw. #findingsmall
I think it might be fine to cash in immediately with 2J ZE(A)lS immediately which I didn't even see. I'm up by enough that I can comfortably just score. #findinglarge
js: COIN at 7H is kinda sneaky cd: this is it, i finally lose. gg man. i should see 7H COIN, which is clearly much better, but i was starting to have tunnel vision. -11.5 #findinglarge
My opponent's clearly been fishing and the pool looks spanking, so I figured I needed to block bingos but what I also really needed to do was keep scoring. 4H VEN(o)M is great here #strategysaddest #findingsaddest
-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
I chickened out of 11H INLIERS and then never saw 14A RESILIN #KNOWLEDGESADDEST oh my god. All I had to do was play a valid word. Like, just a valid word. I before E, bro. I before E.
I forgot if HAOLE was expurgated or not, so I didn't play that. Either way, I would play J7 O(L)EA in a do-over and save a much better leave of AEHS both for bingoing and for scoring potential. #findingsmall