scrabblings

[scrabblings]

Until next year!

Made it home after midnight. Hoping my Scrabble friends make it home soon - epic snowstorm in NOLA today.

Here’s one last pic of me with my Scrabble BFFs. If you don’t know, puling is whining. Nancy is holding the CSW sign because she played her first Collins lexicon tourney (a totally different word list than the North American (NWL) list). There’s been an infusion of cash to support CSW players in the US, so I may make the switch at some point.

The quest for the Crescent City Cup resumes next year!

[scrabblings]

It’s a wrap!

Played last four games - going 2-2. I would’ve needed another win for first, but proud to finish 3rd place.

I had my best game first thing against a formidable opponent who had shut me down the first time we played. He played very defensively in our first game, so I was glad to start with an opening play of OVATION to blast the board open. Followed by LEAFING. Soon after I got away with the phoney, TEMPTORS.

In game 2 I faced the guy I got my 613 game on and he got his revenge. Bingoing on me early and keeping the lead much of the game on a fairly closed board. I bingoed out with DESIRED but it was way too late to catch up. This guy went on to take 1st place!

In game 3 I played the woman who started the day in first. She “bagged” me. Drawing everything and using it smartly. She commented that this was the first “dream” game she’d had all tournament. I stupidly challenged “TUNEUPS” and then never even got close.

Ended on a good note by winning my last game which sealed 3rd place for me. I had won the previous game against this guy by playing a phoney 5 (COOTH) and got away with a phoney 8 in this game (AIRTABLE). He held the play but ultimately didn’t challenge (phew!). I also thought my hook of SOONEST to make OYEZ was pretty cool.

Most proud of my 613 game and maintaining a killer spread at +1385. Learned some good lessons and saw lots of Scrabble friends!

At the airport now hoping my flight gets outa before an unprecedented snowstorm hits NOLA. 🤞🤞for Diana and Nancy to get home safely. People leaving Tuesday have had their flights canceled.

Diana says the woman in blue next to me is my doppelgänger. We’re no longer friends. Jkjk.

[scrabblings]

Dinner out in NOLA!

Thanks to an excellent rec from a friend for a NOLA restaurant, we ventured out to eat after our games. You probably wonder what Scrabble friends talk about when they go out for dinner? Well, Scrabble gossip of course. And whether certain items on the menu would be valid words in Scrabble. Lo and behold…NDUJA was on the menu!

Gonna rest up for the final four games tomorrow morning and then a dash to the airport. Send good luck vibes my way!

[scrabblings]

Halftime Report, Day 2

2-2 this AM. And I got my first 600+ game ever! 613 with six bingos (one wasn’t good - can you guess?).

I went 3-1 in the afternoon and I’m currently sitting in 2nd place with a monster spread. The woman ahead of me had a tie so she is up a 1/2 game on everyone. If I clock some wins tomorrow I could place!

The last game of the afternoon was against a formidable opponent - Diana! She was also on a 7-0 hot streak for the day. Coming back from having to forfeit a game after a delayed flight. She is a bingo queen and a master at phoney-ing. But luckily I know that and was able to block damage in the end of the game. I was also very lucky to draw the first S of the game to play STALKED for 103. Challenged the phoney, PURELOINS. Which is how you want your meat, but not actually a word.

I went into the way back machine to find me and Diana at “Table 1” in Reno in 2015. 10 years ago. Fun fact: Diana and I are birthday twins AND our record high game is 613 (which I clocked today). She has promised to take out #1 tomorrow if given the opportunity.

[scrabblings]

My NC Cheerleaders

Jay’s fav stuffy friend is Pupper. A small stuffed dog who used to white. Now he’s gray and his nose is falling off. Jay says sniffing Pupper makes him feel calm.

Pupper has a squad of little animal friends Jay calls, pigs. Pupper is king of the pigs even though they are not pigs. Anyway, Pupper typed me a letter. He’s not so good with spelling.

[scrabblings]

Day One, Wrap-up

Apologies for the infrequent posts, but there was only a small lunch break and lots of Scrabbling throughout the day. I finished today in second place with a 6-2 record.

Started off with a loss and chalk some of this up to nerves. In the next couple games I started to gain some confidence with some solid wins.

In the last game of the morning, I got a weird win when my opponent forgot to draw the last tile out of the bag. I went out at the end of the game and we both said, where’s the J? It was in the bag. According to the rules he had to give me the points as if he’d had it on his rack. It was an unfortunate situation but I squeaked out a win.

I went 3-1 for the afternoon. One close loss to the person that is now in 1st place. Below is my best game. Got challenged on MINNEOLA (a reddish tangelo) - it’s good. Also found, TALLIER, FONTINAS, and SNIGLET.

1.5 games to go and then hoping to get out before the winter storm arrives!

[scrabblings]

Day One, Pre-game scene

Games start this morning! I had the pleasure of meeting this dude and his Barney as people were setting up. Got up in the 3am hour (4am est), but that’s pretty par for the course.

4 games and then lunch. Diana is on her way after a delayed flight. She will swoop in and hope that she doesn’t have to forfeit too many games. Nancy will be dipping her toe in the Collins division where an infusion of cash from a Collins enthusiast is converting players from NWL. DRAMA.

I did a bad job of studying what words are good in WOW lexicon. It’s all the no-no words and BROEY, BROIER, BROIEST. And for some reason HAOS and ZENS is no good in WOW.

Here we go!

[scrabblings]

En route to NOLA! I worried about my short connection (40 min) in CLT. Luckily the flight is super short and landed early. I landed at the gate right next to my departing gate. Directly across from BoJo’s. Someone is looking out for me.

[scrabblings]

Quest for the Crescent City Cup

I HATE, HATE, HATE January. Cold, long, drab. Trump. To combat all this dreariness, I’ll be returning to the Crescent City Cup! A long weekend of competitive Scrabble in NOLA. SpongeBob-style magic!

To prepare, I’ve been learning high probability 8s. In a recent game with Marvin my 8-vision was strong: EPIGONE, STEARINE, MASONITE. Being able to spot 8s is especially helpful on an open board.

I also love my 5s. Got a little mixed up with mispelling NDUJA - an Italian spicy sausage (duh). Luckily, Marvin didn’t challenge because he knows I love weird 5s.

I also got in a couple practice games this week with my Scrabble coach, Lisa. We had two close and fun games with lots of bingos and some interesting 5s (ORACY, RAVIN, BULLA). Lisa has convinced me to spend some time learning interesting hooks which she is a master of (ex. MORAINES/BULLA). Weird hooks open your options and might also draw a challenge.

Excited to see the Bowens and many other Scrabble friends. Diana is making a special trip from professing in the Virgin Islands. Sad that Scrabble friend, Katya, can’t make it.

I will be updating the blog frequently with documentation of the sights and smells of my Scrabble journey to New Orleans. If I make my connection.

[scrabblings]

It’s a wrap!

I went 1-2 for the morning and didn’t land in any 💰 BUT my overall record was better than the past two Nationals and my rating bumped up into the 1300s! I also had a really fun time…though now I’m daydreaming about the next Scrabble tournament.

In my first game I beat Cameron (a repeat match). I drew well (both blanks) but made some good plays in the end game to block his bingo. I scored over 500 so I got to take a photo with the W necklace. My bingos were PAYOUTS, ORCEINS, and STRAINED. The good end play was NELLY for ~50 points. Cameron challenged (it’s good) and that sealed the deal. He’s a kid so he doesn’t know the old timey expression, Oh! Nelly! He did challenge off my WOG which was no good. It’s one of the scrubbed words in NASPA (still good in rival org, WGPO).

Next up was another repeat match against Carl. I played well but couldn’t quite pull it off. I played the TONSURE(blank as an S). He answered immediately back with DREIDELS. What I learned was I should have made the blank a D so that it was harder to bingo off of. Carl is really fun to talk to and taught me some great lessons - that I’ll hopefully remember.

My last game was against a very tactical player who I’d lost to before. My draws were pretty terrible and he had both blanks. I lost by 10 points. Need to figure out how to do better in games like that. I don’t think my strategy was super sharp.

Heading to the airport soon to get home to my boys!! Can’t wait!

Thanks to my fans for tuning in! Over and out!

[scrabblings]

Final morning!

Every morning at about 6:01am I walk to the Starbucks across the street. Today the doors were shuttered and lights were off! 😱😱😱😱

I quickly searched on maps for coffee shops nearby and walked to a place called, the Yellow Cat Cafe. A diamond in the rough.

Except the coffee was gross - gas station coffee with little flavored creamers 🤮. But the ambience was amazing and they do make a mean breakfast biscuit. Hoping that the other cafe nearby opens before game time!!

Got a few last glimpses of the St. Joseph River on my walk home.

[scrabblings]

Afternoon, Day 4

I went 1-2 this afternoon. A couple of tough losses to some good players. I’m just barely in the top 20 and have to play this kid, Cameron first thing tomorrow.

I think I should’ve played more defensively in the first game because when I opened up a spot he immediately played a bingo that he couldn’t have played elsewhere. I started strong with WRAPPER and QUBIT, KHAT, and HEX/OX. I also played ACTA and he got 60+ by putting the J there. I challenged his play of RENITENT. Never seen that before. Lost the challenge and that was all she wrote. I have failed to practice WWDGD? (What would David Gibson do?). Gibson would have played more defensively…

In my second game I played REDIALS early. I almost had SOAPIEST but he played in the I spot. I had ASSROPE on my rack which is no good - though apparently SOAPERS is good. I was proud of putting down a triple-triple, SNARLIER for 131. He had both blanks that he made bingos with. Right when I was feeling optimistic he put down CURATION. Nail in the coffin. But a high loss at 441-515.

In my final game, I mustered some energy to pull out a W. Opened up with ELYTRON. I sort of set him up with a bingo lane when he a blank. I found AUNTLIER. Other nice plays were JESSE (48 points) and in a close end game I risked, BOXINGS. The Bowens shared a tip with me that MOST sporting-related -ING words CAN take an S. So I though I’d try out the logic. He challenged and it was good! So I ended up with a nice win to round out the afternoon.

3 more games tomorrow and then I’m headed to the airport! I’ll be home late tomorrow evening. Which is when the Scrabble withdrawal symptoms will kick in.

[scrabblings]

Halftime Report, Day 4

Pretty good (not perfect) morning at 3-1. I got the bag in the first game but played well as my opponent (a native South Bender!) struggled. Played WOOFING and NAIVETES. The latter is one I ALWAYS get confused and I wasn’t 💯 sure. But went for it. It’s good.

Next I played a kid who beat me badly in New Orleans. He’s quite good but was getting grousy over some stupid stuff. He almost challenged STERNER and I was like, “PLEASE!! Do it!!” But he didn’t. I then too an unnecessarily risky play, UNFILES. He challenged it off. He got both blanks and I just tried to get scores while he fished. I happened to get the X in my last draw which determined the game.

The next game is the one I lost. A luckier draw at the end would’ve helped but I got EEIOOWU. She’d played QUIRE and if I’d had just one better consonant I could stretched to the triple. No such luck.

In my final game I got EXTREMELY lucky. My opponent and I used to play together online and she’s super nice. I drew both blanks and played two early bingos GOLFING and SAURIAN. But then I stupidly kept opening her up for some big comeback plays. THEN … despite reviewing the power 5s all week…I erroneously challenged, HERTZ. So she came roaring back. I managed to get ARENITES and then TEXTERS at the very end to seal the deal. I almost chickened out over VUG taking an S. Final score, 426-392. She really deserved it but hey…I’ll accept luck when I can get it.

Ugh, I play two dudes I’ve lost to before after lunch. Please wish me more tile luck.

[scrabblings]

Afternoon, Day 3

Better afternoon today with one very embarrassing loss.

Started out with a close, low-scoring game with a kid who was fishing a lot for bingoes. I was able to score enough on my turns to negate his bingoes.

In my second game I made a fatal error, hooking my bingo to ET (for ETS). My opponent challenged it off and I went with EARSTONE - should’ve done this in the first place. She was able to bingo out - catching me with enough on my rack to squeak by. This was a very rookie move on my part. I have a doc of “No S” words with ETS prominently featured there.

I was happy that I ended on a high note with a game where I played, GOUTIEST and SCENTING. I had a a good challenge and some nice plays throughout.

Went to dinner with some new and old scrabble friends and looking forward to another 1.5 days of Scrabble!!

[scrabblings]

Halftime Report, Day 3

I fared better this morning - not a hot streak - but a tepid return to more Ws than Ls. I’m also crawling out of my ginormous negative spread to ALMOST positive. At -22 now.

I “drew the bag” (got all the good stuff) in the first game but this hasn’t happened yet - so not complaining. Opened with OKAYED which is kinda cool. KAYOED is also good. I also made a disconnected play on the Q to find QUAINT - getting rid of some vowel trash. Also, got INERTIAE and MENORAH.

Lost my 2nd game with a Hail Mary play of SNORTLE (I swear this is what 🐷 do??). The only bingo I had in the rack was LORNEST which didn’t have a spot. I challenged WOODIE which is apparently a golf thing 🤷‍♀️.

Then I found some great 5s (for about 70 points each) in my third game, IXORA and AZINES, as well as the bingoes EMPTIED and TRAINED.

In the last game I put some of my earlier game’s lessons into practice. I didn’t challenge, BIRRIAS (which is good) bc I had a bingo in my rack. I did challenge of WOOSIER because it stank to high heavens. Then I also challenged off some 4s because I know them a bit better now. My opponent did play WHERES and I challenged … but it’s good. Luckily I needed that S later when I played OUTCRIES.

Still a steep hill to climb to the top 20. But I’ll ride the wave wherever it takes me.

Oh yeah. The Barbie board has been spotted. The pink hand sanitizer takes the set over the top.

Let’s not repeat yesterday afternoon!!!

[scrabblings]

Good morning, South Bend!

I’m running on about 5 hours of sleep (thanks insomnia!) but excited about another full day of Scrabble. After yesterday’s carnage a friend shared this inspiring pep talk from the movie Rudy (notably set at Notre Dame):

Making no promises except that I’ll do my best! Rocky V is on my hotel TV, so I’m taking in all the sports comeback movies.

In other news, Sterling is getting Jay off to his first day of second grade. He says he was chipper except for when the photo was snapped. Typical Jay. I’ve got our niece’s tarot art sticker on my water bottle which always reminds me of him!

[scrabblings]

A Losing Afternoon

Well, I lost all my afternoon games and one was an especially big doozy of a loss.

Started off well when I confidently challenged off my opponent’s play of UNHEAR(d) (D was a blank) / GEEZE (GEEZE is no good JEEZE is). But then…I opened up a triple-triple and he put down a ~150 point, HAUNTER(s). That was super dumb on my part since I knew what his rack was and should’ve known HAUNTERS was a possibility. D’oh!

He then made 5 bingos in 6 turns and got everything- all blanks, s’s, and power tiles. I erroneously challenged, OUTSPAN. Then didn’t challenge the phoney, BOWTIES. Final score? 287-611 - demolishing my spread. Nice guy. Very humble. But I don’t care to repeat that kind of game any time soon, plz!

I went on to lose the next two games - lost one by ~150 to a young player who was a real coffeehouser. But he asked if he could guess my age and said 32. So I can work with that. In the last game I lost by 10 points to a very kind Canadian. So maybe I’m improving? And getting younger?

Going to wipe the slate clean and look forward to 21 more games before heading home to my boys!!

In a walk this evening I had this moment of zen.