sometimes you just lose a game on the first turn. This is #, couldn't remember even though I just checked this like two weeks ago. ETHERISE SHEETIER#. Thought SHEETIER was + rather than # and even then SHEETY# could just be invariable. But the elephant in the room is the bingo through the I. Alphabetized DEEHIRTY to no avail. #findingsaddest
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 wasnt 100% on BOULLES. iirc this is one of the "hardest" racks in aerolith, because people always forget one of the three. also soluble takes an S and i wasn't sure on that either. eep. #knowledgemedium
sick block, though I guess it was pretty likely. This was a huge blunder since TELLY takes an S! I would like to say that I knew this and it was an exploitative move, but it wasn't. Optimally TROLLY is the best play here despite hanging the Y. Or just CLOY or COLY for safesies. #knowledgequestionable #tacticsfail
did not see that 13K was better, since I draw into QA(T) simply 14J when I draw an A, and a bunch of other plays through the T that score 60+ #findingsmall
Getting a decent S hook on the board while the equity hit to do so is minimal - I say decent because it takes too many other hooks. Of course, the AANOS leave is pretty gross. It looks like H1 NADA is actually a fair bit better to create an S-specific hook and undouble the A's. #tacticsmedium
J6 ZYGA# has the best equity and saves the S for column B making SWIG, at the cost of making column L harder to hit. Quackle prefers it slightly over ZEPS, but not over ZEPS +5 (Chris challenged UGHS). #strategysmall
I'll give myself a #knowledgelarge for challenging the valid 4 even though it only ended up costing me 5 points; it could've been much, much worse to have chickened out of a valid bingo on row 10.10:55
somehow totally missed NA(T)AL and NO(T)AL here. Only saw A(T)OM and this as blocking plays. Also recognized after the fact that it was better to play YOM B6 and ignore the fact that Kevin can go out with LE(K)U. -15 #endgameSADDEST
unfortunately I totally spaced on just VIA B1 here. That seems clear. I considered BIO and BOA there... I didn't like giving up the S here with VASE, but it did score well. I also didn't like the leave of BIO at all. #findingmedium
7F GOEL# is the clear best play, as it preserves the closed position and keeps the best possible leave, including an S to hook onto AUA# or LUV. #strategymedium
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 wasn't totally sure on FOLIAGED. FADO at N11 is simming best. it seems a bit too aggressive for my liking, but maybe i can do D9 DEAF or DEFEAT then (i didn't see AMIRS). my play bingos < 60% of the time and it may not be worth it. -4.5 #tacticsmedium #knowledgemedium #visionmedium
I felt like he's always gonna block with plays at B12 after something like C11 LUG and the X seemed really important so I went for turnover and score, but maybe the leave is just too bad. Scoring under 20 in this situation just seemed hopeless but maybe I need to keep opening and go for a bingo through the V or something. I dunno. #strategysaddest
I could not remember if AMPLER was good, so I settled on this instead of 13B FORGED. FORGED would have also weakend the SCUP hook Glenn most likely set up. #knowledgesmall
Yes, I saw 2A PANADA, and I absolutely should have played it--it scores better, keeps better, turns over one more tile for the blanks, and creates a high-scoring lane on column A, which I may need because I am behind. #strategymedium
I didn't see TUR(BI)D, which looks like a better X setup. It's not as clearly an X setup and doesn't open an S hook for him. With ADES I wasn't so concerned but I'm still giving him a couple awesome lanes, and he's taking the spot very often anyways. Even XU/LOT is probably fine here. #findingmedium
I tunneled on fishing for 8A NON(QUOTA). Instead, since I don't have a good play using the U, I should keep column D open. J6 WOON# is best, but I didn't know (HEBE)N#; F6 WO(OH)OO# is second. #knowledgemedium
The only bingos are 1G WHIlLIED# and WHILlIED, which I did not know. However, Quackle prefers 13A IWI#, which keeps a better leave than WILI# (including two vowels, which is important given the consonant-heavy pool) and gives me a chance to play a bingo from 1H-1O next turn. I considered 9M WAI#, with the same idea; but WAI performs slightly worse than IWI and the bingos, likely because it blocks column L. #strategymedium #knowledgemedium
IZAR would be a reasonable play here, on par with N8 NAZI and 11B REPAIR, except that I completely whiffed on L11 CAPIZ for 56. After MENTEES, I need those extra points to withstand an A1 bingo to the D and might even struggle to deal with a STAW hooking bingo without those points too. #findinglarge
sigh, hard choice here. 12A MAZER is probably right, but i just hated giving up a ton of points if he has an A. should i not care? hard choice.. but i think i have to play MAZER. ZARF's leave is just so lame. my average score after MAZER is higher, and MAZER also scores more. i regret this play. -2 #strategysmall
A really interesting first rack! PAYED is standard and I think I still should have played it. I didn't realize the S hook it set up when I considered it, which would have pushed it over the edge for me. Also, as I took a little while on it, there is some challenge upside. I could also do PAY or PYA to set up S hooks, they do well in the sim. I was worried about the overlaps after PAYED, and some of them do give back good plays to me, but he can probably find one that doesn't. I think PAYED is definitely better though, I average 6 more after PAYED! #tacticssmall it is a bit odd that I forwent the standard payed due to overlaps then I went with the PEATY that gives easier overlaps, but I felt that Y on the star was too bingo defensive for my leave. not a great play
this is 1 off M11 DR(A)B, blocking LUN like I wanted to, but going out for 20 with KA(F). Thought about (TURTLE)D to go for some fun AQUA stuff if he plays LUN, but it works out 1 worse for me if he plays it right. -1 #endgamesmall
i didn't think of PRETAPING at the time but of course it's good. F2 PI most likely, but do i want to keep the E open like that, i don't know. -4.5 #visionmedium
Too aggressive and open here...M3 ZOMBIS is fine to score, but 7G UMBO is also better score, more defensive, and does just as good a job of saving scoring potential. #findingmedium
The last time I had an S, the only way I can get out of the bad rack was to score decently with it. I would have only scored so many more with it now that I didn't feel that it was worth it. 2J GLUMS I suppose would have been OK, I think I allowed emotions to influence this move too much. #strategymedium
Whiffed on some good options here, especially L1 DUSKER, and definitely should've done L1 RUSK, taking a small advantage on a bad board. KNAUR is also better than DROUK just to avoid keeping a U. #findinglarge #strategymedium 11:10
sim likes C12 (L)OT. it bingos on row 3 and to the N. I had like nonezo time, so i just went with the first scoring play i saw #timesaddest #strategysaddest
LUAU seems a bit better, from the L in UNTITLED, it blocks some bingoes and lowers his avg. that being said I scor a lot more with ET than AEIT and it's a less risky leave. #tacticssmall
this is probably an overadjustment, I wanted to prevent monster E column bingoes. however, I am taking quite a big hit, about 6 points in the sim. Tough call, cause VERY also makes her plays a bit easier. I think this is a bit too far, since TERM has some risk involved as well with the leave and stuff. #strategysmall but it's up for debate!
C: In fact, Alec did draw the T, so good thing I'm not a wizard.
A: 3L LIE is best. The lane in column O is easier to use after LIE than after LIED, and the D is a useful bingo tile. #strategymedium
Lamented STEEPEN being blocked - at no point did ENSTEEP remotely come close to entering my mind. If I'm being honest, what *did* go through my mind was - should I play STEEPEN and hook NAD*? Nah, Winter surely knows that NADS is sticky-S, and probably has some kind of lewd device for remembering that factoid. #findinglarge
I basically stopped looking after I found BATEAU. There are many plays better than this, including Quackle's pick C2 ABATE, C1 ABYE, 2L AYE, and 7B BATTIER, which is significantly more awesome than this. #strategymedium
Her only out play is A6 LE(AR)N, so this scores while blocking her only out. But come to think of it, J11 D(E)VS gets more stuff off my rack. So it's better to allow her to go out. #endgamelarge
PEOY* #KNOWLEDGESADDEST Also Quackle likes 13A QATS but i'm not about that dangerous life. Not that I made the correct decision, because my opponent ended up playing for the same amount of points under 4J QAT next turn anyway #strategylarge
I didn't see any wins here and went for tricks. My opponent has about 2 minutes left and I thought if I created some distraction she might miss A1 METALIZ(E) or A1 MELANIZ(E) or have mistracked and block the N column. That hits 2/8 and I need my opponent to make a mistake, but J10 ZO wins 1/8 when I draw the G, threatening A2 MILEAG(E) and L6 MILEAGE, so that seems like a better way to go. #endgamesaddest