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#player1 Dave_Koenig Dave Koenig
#player2 Joel_Wapnick Joel Wapnick
>Dave_Koenig: AABBLOR 8F ABB +14 14
#note There is a beautiful bingo here, BARBOLA#. I did not know the word, but I actually put the letters on my rack in that exact order and said in my head, "if there is a word here, that is what it is." But I definitely was not going to just try it against Joel Wapnick in 5-point challenge. My play was pretty lame. Although I didn't like something like BORAL keeping one of the B's (though it sets up the useful ABORAL hook), I would have gladly played a longer word that used both Bs. But I failed to find BALBOA, which I would have been sure of, and I wasn't sure enough of BARBAL. So I stuck with this short play, which I preferred slightly over BOBA# because of vowel-consonant balance.
>Joel_Wapnick: OPQU 7C QUOP +29 29
>Dave_Koenig: ADKLMOR 9C KORMA +29 43
#note I did not think of DROUK, which looks a bit better than my play, both because it scores an extra point and because of the more balanced leave. But KORMA is a pretty good play too.
>Joel_Wapnick: INXY 10G NIXY +27 56
>Dave_Koenig: ADGLMTZ E3 MATZ. +32 75
#note No real choice here. The only play that scores in the 30s and turns over three consonants.
>Joel_Wapnick: EGIINTT 3D E.ITTING +63 119
#note This was a really interesting moment. I have just gone down by a bingo and with a dreadful all-consonant rack, I am about to fall behind further. The D and R front hooks for EMITTING loom large. What would you do here?
>Dave_Koenig: CDGLNNV I1 CL.NG +8 83
#note Playing the D alone for DEMITTING and keeping a terrible leave for the next turn is not a good option. CLAD 4C partially blocks the spot but still leaves an unhappy GNNV. Since I know I'm going to be chasing him, I need to clear out this rack as fast as possible and ratchet up the volatility. CLING does that by opening up a new front which might allow me to hit DEMITTING before he does or to hit the triple line while he is taking it.
>Joel_Wapnick: AEINO 1D AEONI. +27 146
>Dave_Koenig: ADEEINV H10 .NVADE +42 125
#note This is an example of playing the board and the score difference rather than just raw equity. On the surface a play like DEV or DAE# hooking DEMITTING makes sense, as it scores well and takes out a big spot for him. However, if I play there, I have to make the unhappy choice between holding a vowel heavy leave or keeping the V, and either way I don't have a good board for comebacks. My play scores a little bit more, though it also keeps a vowel heavy leave and leaves the big hook for him. However, it has two major advantages: it turns over more tiles with both blanks unseen and it opens the board significantly to increase the chance of me getting bingos down.
>Joel_Wapnick: EEPR C1 PERE +47 193
>Dave_Koenig: DEEIILU 5I .UILE +12 137
#note Again, I need to play for volatility. I chose this over GUIDE, for example, because I am already holding the back D hook for GUILED.
>Joel_Wapnick: AHOY 4L AHOY +37 230
>Dave_Koenig: DDEILRW 13G W.DDLIER +88 225
>Dave_Koenig: AFOOSUW (challenge) +5 230
#note WADDLIER#. WADDLY does not compare in TWL. I was not totally sure I was remembering this right, but considering how far behind I was, I did not think WILDERED was going to be enough to get me back in the fight. When Joel challenged it, I was afraid I had been too optimistic, but I was elated when it was ruled acceptable. "Tie game!" I announced as we confirmed the score.
>Joel_Wapnick: ?ACEIRS 15A InCREAS. +80 310
#note Joel burned a lot of time on this play looking for words through the Y. Incredibly, there is not a single bingo with the Y, in any position.
>Dave_Koenig: AFOOSUW 14F FA.O +38 268
#note While Joel was burning through his clock on the previous play, I spent a lot of time thinking of how I would handle this situation. I thought of plays like OOFY O1 and WAURS# N10, which scored well but still left me with one of the awkward consonants and not very good bingo chances. Even before he played INCREASE, I realized with both blanks out there and he having had a few turns to groom his rack, I was going to need to bingo again to stay in this game. So I was intending to sacrifice some points and play WOOF 10A, to break open the board more and give myself maximum chance of drawing into a bingo rack while there were still some openings. However, after his play, I decided FADO was too many points to pass up. In retrospect, since I have the A and the U and there are only one each of them remaining, there is a case to be made for playing WOOF here anyway, since a J draw might give me JUD, JUDO, or JADE 14F. (More likely JUD, but the dearth of A's and U's means that it is less likely for him to have one of the big plays there if he happens to beat me to the J.)
>Joel_Wapnick: EHIOSTU N8 OUTHI.ES +76 386
>Dave_Koenig: AJOSTUW O6 JOW +54 322
#note Necessary. I cannot take the extra three points for JUST 15L, because I need to shed the W and I need to keep open the L column for bingos as long as possible.
>Joel_Wapnick: ETV 15L VE.T +33 419
#note Now this situation is looking close to helpless. I am not sure whether there is a legit shot to win, and I ran myself down to less than a minute on the clock here. What I did may not have been best, but it at least gave me some practical chances for him to make a mistake.
>Dave_Koenig: ?AFISTU 2A FA. +12 334
#note My though process, roughly: FAUSTIAN# doesn't fit because of BANA*, but if I fish off the I and draw one of the E's I can hit UNFASTEN 11A. But he will surely block unless I can create a new lane on the A column, and I can't see any way to use the I to do that. Maybe I have to create a hook he cannot use with something like TE# 2B creating the ATE hook, but that looks too easy for him to block with TEG or TEL, or even a dinky play at B4, and it does not look like I can draw anything that will hit down below. Wait a minute, FUSTIAN almost fits at 6G, except for II*. That is the spot I need to aim for, if I draw something that hits there, he will almost assuredly be looking to block the other spots. But what can I possibly draw into that will hit in that spot? The only thing I can see is MISSOUT, so I need to play off the F and A. I do not know if I will have anything else that can hit that spot or row 11, but I am down to about a minute, so I better make a play quickly so I have some time to work it out. What's the best way to create a new lane with FA? FAE at 2A rather than 4A, because at 4A it is easier for make a longer play that could take out the 11A spot. Also F in second position is awkward, so he might have trouble making a play to one of the triples there.
>Joel_Wapnick: DEGLORS A2 .OLDERS +36 455
#note Joel told me the N was the last tile in the bag, so from his point of view, I could have had the triple-triple AFTERSUN#. That made it his priority to block the A column over everything else.
>Dave_Koenig: ?EIRSTU 11D ReTI.UES +98 432
#note I found my big play with about 40 seconds left, but it was not quite enough to catch up. However, I was happy with how I had found creative ways to make a fight out of it.
>Dave_Koenig: (GN) +6 438
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