7A ANTIENT I have never been able to successfully anagram this word in my Zyzzyva before and I wasn't about to start doing it over the board now lmao #knowledgesaddest
i think i actually have to exchange all of them. there's a lot of Es unseen already and Ss and blanks and other good tiles to go for. -0.5 #tacticssmall
I'm far ahead that I can sacrifice over ten points of equity to avoid allowing triple-triples. In this case, I should play 10D SIKA. This play got probably the longest hold of my career, because Michael was directing the tournament and a bag of tiles was spilled. #tacticsmedium
I didn't like my position after K8 SAnDBOY -> play on A12 for 40ish points, so I played this instead, but K8 SAnDBOY is fine and K8 DAYBOyS is 1 more point, maybe, I dunno. #strategysadder
D12 HA might be better here. I am worried about JET D12, especially since I have 10 fewer points. NAH K3 seems to hit more bingos than this and accomplishes the same thing, also sets up QI for 33. Seems better. I liked blocking all of the bingos. Hard to infer anything from MY. #tacticssmall
8K (T)OZIE is best. This ties because he can play M7 D(E)NI threatening to go out with E1 (Y)ODE if I play B4 ZO, though he had very little time remaining and finding that sequence would have been difficult. #endgamesaddest
I didn't have much time here and decided I just needed to play fast and I missed K3 (G)OETY. I also wasn't sure of 12H (C)OUTHY. #timesaddest #knowledgesaddest
i got so afraid that he would have some 3-3 through IT that i decided to block it, instead of just play AA, keeping EINRS for the triple-triple (or a likely bingo) myself! i really psych myself out a ton when playing top players. -10 #strategylarge
RURP and URP on row 6 look best here; they score as well or better than TROP and yield fewer bingos in response, especially RURP. The A1 scoring spot is tough for Ayo to hit with this pool. #strategymedium 4:39
10B WIENERS is far superior, but even if I don't see that something like C2 WRIEST is absolutely fine...way too big an equity hit with WURST just to get another S hook on the board. #strategymedium #findingmedium
Q also likes VEIN M9 to set up the S. Likes it by a whole lot, like 7 points, evening lowering his average while raising mine by 10. It's really aggressive and I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with that in this favourable position, but it is valuated way higher. Quite a bit higher standard deviation. I think this is #visionsmall
VAR(I)X might be better since I keep the W for J10 and G7. I don't like 2E AX since it leaves me vulnerable should Leesa decide to gambit and throw a 3x3 or a lucrative hook open. I thought I could just draw an A and play J4 V(I)VA, which doesn't seem to get blocked a ton. I think VAR(I)X is OK but I liked using columns L and M instead of J. #tacticssmall
K2 PRu(DE)NTLY is a 9 and i don't hold it against myself for not finding those. That said, D13 PLY is a better version of what i did so #findingsaddest
I might take out Column K seeing how easy PEE is to hook, but there's a better bingo that I missed either way- D8 (C)LAMOURS for 2 more. Not to mention, Libero isn't out of this one yet with how easy it is to hook this board. #visionmedium
Close. I have to block SIXTHS/XYST down there, but better by a few points is simply 15G EATER, scoring only one fewer point than AFREET but setting up FAE on row 14 for many more points than the move I ended up playing. #endgamemedium
totally confused here. This was actually pretty awful since he can just re-overlap and fork the board. I did happen to block SUBATOM in two spots, but
#tacticsmedium
quite a few plays with with blank draws, but it's highly unlikely I'll draw the blank after he played bemix. I didn't see any legit wins over the board so I went with AQUAS which put enough scoring pressure on to make his endgame fuckupable. I missed a win with the S though - QUANT wins with the S cause he can't play TiME cause I get STIME/BATS for the win! #endgamelarge
never thought of AHA, which bingos just about as much as AWA next turn, but is far more scoring-restrictive for Karl, as there are no vowels that can re-overlap HE. AWARD does a bit better than AWA as well, and I had definitely considered it. #findingsmall
spent forever trying to find a triple triple and ran out of time. i hope i would have found POSTBAg if the game depended on it. -14 #findinglarge
i absolutely knew i was going to have a bad tournament after this game. it really sucks to lose the opening game, and as much as i need to practice zen and whatever, you just know it's not your tournament after this. i was not feeling it. i do need to practice staying calm before nationals though, and i should have made more of an effort here.
It's none of Jay's BEESWAX what I have on my rack (except if he tracked correctly which he did). Sadly there is no spot for this cool bingo and I would go on to miss F1 WAXE(r)S saving multiple out plays with BE. #endgamelarge
I'm really surprized to see RAX F4 win the sim. I wanted to keep that RAZ combo for 14H. I suppose drawing the Q without that U is pretty bad, but I wouldn't think burning the R and the A would be worth it. (-5) #strategysmall
a bit of a counterintuitive situation here. quackle says i bingo slighlty more next turn if i do ROVED, and it scores 3 more. it sure doesn't seem that way to me. -2.5 #tacticssmall
I missed 8K SEAfOAM, the best bingo by far, scoring 8 more points (ignoring the +5 for OMAkASE) and not opening a 3x3 lane. However, F13 OMA wins the sim. #findinglarge
i wonder if i should actually exchange. quackle likes 14J WRIT. at this point in the game i'm low on time and not thinking straight; there's a lot of Es to draw so if i play WRIT i give myself a chance at JEU (which is hard to block) or even JOULE. i need to play faster and stop taking so long on every play so i have time to actually think here. -7 #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).
i saw TARRIER but it seemed dumb to block up a couple of (bad) lanes. however, 10 pts is 10 pts. i should just take the points, right? what do you think? -7 #strategymedium
Quackle picks 3H YOW, which is tied for the best equity with 13B YOW--OWLY is a point behind, and the three unseen L's do not significantly diminish the gap. I prefer 13B YOW over 3H YOW, as it opens a potentially high-scoring lane on row 14 and doesn't obstruct the lanes on rows 3 and 5. #strategysmall
i spent a long time trying to talk myself into TEUCH but couldn't pull the trigger on it, thinking i was confusing it with TEUGH. i have not as much time to study as some other, taller experts. #knowledgelarge
The engine wants me to block the open U with J12 (E)RF or 14G T(U)RF which I immediately rejected, but it reduces her bingo % and I guess it thinks I'm the favorite to hit the DAWNS hook. I dunno. #strategysadder
This was a stupid moment. Thought that he only had one out after O(W)IE (he doesn't, I'm setting up the second with C(HE)ESE). Even so, I CAN'T BLOCK his other out of A2 CEES... I thought I was clever here going out in 3. I also just flat-out missed BOH(E)A 15A. (M)OAN is best, forcing him to block with (J)O #endgamesaddest
this is not a word and certainly not signifcantly better (or better at all) than the best valid options. 9F NONE sims a lot better due to scoring defense and immediate score. I had gotten way too averse to bad leaves at this point in my Scrabble quest. #knowledgemedium #strategymedium
need to fish off one with G4 (A)N and hope to draw the S (all my bingos rn lose). My bingos next turn (if i draw the S) are basically unblockable #endgamesaddest
I played QUIRT because the pool was more than 2-1 consonants to vowels, and preferred EIT to IRT. Quackle suggests that the plays are equivalent defensively but that I still get a couple percentage points more bingos down with QUIET compared to QUIRT. #tacticssmall
Chosen over G3 WOG because this scores two more points and opens, and the G can hook SIN while the C cannot. D11 WOG scores the same as G3 WOG (which I didn't realize), so the same argument applies--but Quackle strongly prefers D11 WOG. In retrospect, I agree; D11 WOG keeps better tiles and closes, which I should want to do with my lead. #tacticsmedium
Quackle doesn't like this either because the leave is too gross (too GROST...heh). It prefers F5 GOOK, but Matthew is perhaps least likely to play the way that Quackle expects of anybody I know. Maybe 9H DOG or 6H LOG are more reasonable. #strategylarge
The score is close enough, and my tiles and the pool are good enough, that I should go for one more bingo. FE does not work as a fish, as it hits with only the blank. The best play is D3 FOB, the fish that keeps the best leave and, for example, hits SCALENI with the most likely draw. #strategylarge
I was thinking about blocking the N on M2 here, but Quackle thinks I should just play D4 WI(R)E. Playing N1 LAW doesn't stop the other bingo lanes that are still on this board, and I get hit back with O1 AVE anyway (and my opponent holds on to the blank). #strategysmall