Mark and I played in the Gatineau Scrabble tournament and on the way we stopped in to visit my Uncle Gary and Aunt Lynda at their home overlooking Lake Scugog in Little Britain:
I was seeded fourth out of twelve players and finished according to expectations, in fourth place with a record of 8-6 +459.
01 406-284 Hank Hees. I played the game’s only bingo, BaWLInG (96). After my third play of FOH (21) I drew both blanks.
02 482-377 Louis Siegel. Louis opened with JANTY (46). Going second, I played JUbILATE (80) although I see I could have played EqUALITY to the Y for 83. I found DIaSTOLE (72) on a closed board where the only bingo possibility was an 8LW where the O had to be in sixth position. With my rack of DEILST? I found the only one. Louis played SERVING (99). I held the rack AFIINPR and saw the 8LW RIFAMPIN immediately. It’s one of my (too numerous to mention) favourite words I have yet to play. The M on the board was not accessible and one was still out. AFIINPR plays through only an M for an 8LW.
03 473-430 Callum Lehingrat. Callum opened with AVIAtOR (76) and also played TACONiTE (70) and got 57 for JAIL. I played OLEINES (68), BARTENDS (80) and EXTRADOS (98). I took the lead after EXTRADOS, 359-352, but felt the game was lost because my replacement pick was DIIIQWW. Finding a place for my Q, and a later S-pick won me the game.
04 434-444 Letitia Sears. I played TaLKIEST (83) such that the initial T was to the immediate right of the lower left TWS: it was just itching for a front S-hook and an easy 36 points, not to mention whatever you play going down that ended in -S. I got two more S’s in this game, using one for GESTURE (88). Letitia played BANNERoL (70) and RELIEVED (67). By the end of the game the board was blocked such that no vertical plays ending in -S could be played, and only the single word STaLKIEST was possible. In order to reduce the spread in a tight game I could not see myself winning, I ridded myself of clunky high-point tiles during the endgame with my S. It was more advantageous for me not to play STaLKIEST. Early in the game I held EPSSTT? and the double duplication made it hard to find anything, even though I knew the blank had to be a vowel. There’s only one 7LW in there: I missed SEPTeTS. The board had an O and an R to build through and I missed all of the 8LW with that rack. I’m not talking about uncommon dopy words, but things like PrOTESTS (or PRoTESTS), SPaTTERS and SPuTTERS. I also held the rack OOTTSX?, again more double duplication. There are no 7LW in that rack, but it does make a flashy 8LW: fOXTrOTS.
05 441-317 Timothy Long. I played SEAPIEST (76–which does have a valid anagram, EPITASES)* and got 78 for BRAZE. Timothy played sUNLeSS (65). I bingoed out with DOCTRINE (72), sticking Timothy with EOQRTX, an additional 44 points for me.
06 402-603 Caleb Pittman. It was a bingo blowout with seven between us. I played DOVENEd (69), INTUITED (74) and SCANDAL (75). Caleb played NEATENS (85), RIDABLE (87), SWOTTER (94) and AGAROsE (88). I missed out on cONVENEd (83) through the initial N in NEATENS when I played DOVENEd. That play would have prevented Caleb from playing WIZEN (51). Not much I could do with the extra fourteen points though.
07 485-447 Max Panitch. Max opened with ITEMIzE (68), then played dENOTIVE (83) in his second turn. Thus after two plays each the score was 151-48. Max also got down a late ENGRAMS (72). I managed to fight back, playing DECALOGS (78), ENTIRETY (86) and got 63 for EJIDO.
08 494-312 Brian McCarthy. I played WREATHE (85) such that its placement would benefit both of us. Both of its anagrams also fit in the same spot (WEATHER and WHEREAT) yet either of those words would benefit only Brian as a lucrative counterplay along the right TWS row. By playing WREATHE instead, I opened up not only the right TWS row but also the bottom TWS row, so each of us could possibly score big. Brian played along the right TWS row on his next turn. My replacement pick was DOSYZ?? which makes only one 7LW, ZYDecOS, which I played along the bottom, also making WREATHES, for 118. Out of the 25473 7LW, ZYDECOS occurs in position 20865. The only 8LW in that rack is DiZYgOuS. I also got 74 for ONANIST. One of my racks was ALNPTXY and I saw the Collins-only weirdie PLANXTY £ immediately. Even if it was good in NWL, there was noplace for it.
I won a prize of a new basic folding-board Scrabble game for highest turn on day one. ZYDecOS was really the second-highest-scoring word, as Mark got 140 for vALIDATE, but he had already won a prize for playing the best Canadian word (FLURRIES) so the prize for highest turn went to me, the runner-up.
Mark had the highest turn of the entire tournament, scoring 140 for vALIDATE against Lilla Sinanan in Round #8. We won Scrabble games for our high scores or theme words:
09 489-311 Lisa Kessler. I opened with VUM (16). Lisa then used her blank for the only possible front hook and played SToRAGE / oVUM (69). I got down three bingos, LENTISK (81), QUARTILE (81) and I bingoed out with ASTOUNd (64). One of my racks was the clunky CEINOXY which builds through only a G to make OXYGENIC.
A shot of Lisa and me before round #9 began at the start of Sunday’s play. Mark is in yellow in the background:
10 372-396 Deen Hergott. Deen opened the game with REUnION (64) and also played SEMIOTIC (89). I played GRATINeS (77)* and ANISEED (71). With AGINRT? I had sixteen legitimate bingos that played to the -S, yet selected a phony and Deen never even held me on it.
11 312-466 Peter Schwartzman. Peter played all the bingos: DEPOSED (73), UPSILON (80), VARROAS (73) and also got 64 for WYcH. My low score showed how horribly I picked during this game. I played first, opening with BIOTA (20), then drew AQUUU. I decided to exchange all seven on my next turn, and the first tile I drew out of the bag was another U. I could have played at least one bingo if I didn’t chicken out of INFLExED (86), from the centre right I to the lower right TWS. I should have gone for it as the word did seem familiar.
12 469-329 Peter Schwartzman. I played DOLLYING (67). CAMeOED (86) and SeRDABS (74). Peter got 69 for ATAXY.
13 360-437 Deen Hergott. I played FrOTHING (69) and BEAnIES (72). Deen played CLOQUES (102) and got 63 for AXIAL.
14 387-394 Brian McCarthy. Brian got 62 for UnJUST. I played the only bingo, very late in the game, ENACTOR (65). Prior to my bingo, the score was 318-300 in Brian’s favour. He had just played VAU (14), blocking the only open U. If he had a Q and an A then certainly he would have played there to make QUA. Since he blocked the U instead, that signalled to me that he didn’t have the Q, but other tiles that would work with that letter, such as the blank and an I. I was keeping AT all this time in case I drew the Q. With five tiles left in the bag, there was a 40% chance that Brian would pick it when he played VA. With me down by 18 and the blank still out, I could not see myself forgoing a bingo, so played ENACTOR for 65, taking my score to 365. I emptied the bag: NPQ. For a moment I felt that the game was lost, then thought I could survive the twenty-point crunch, but Brian played the endgame well and eked out a win by 7. I am sure he was conscious of his I plays as his final rack was AEIILR? and he wouldn’t want to give me an easy QI out. I was surprised that he didn’t bingo out, as there was one other bingo lane open, provided he hooked SIP with -E or a blank -s. He could easily have made AIRLInE / SIPE. Two other words that end in E would have fit: AIRLIkE and RAmILIE. Maybe Brian didn’t see the lane, didn’t know SIPE, or couldn’t find any of the bingos in his rack. He would have scored more for a bingo than in nickel-and-diming me over a series of scoreless passes.
Tournament players on day one. Mark is on the far left.