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#character-encoding UTF-8
#player1 Chris_Tallman Chris Tallman
#player2 Cicely_Bruce Cicely Bruce
>Chris_Tallman: AHOSTYZ 8C AZOTHS +56 56
#note Whangarei Round 30
HAZY (38) holds OST, but I decided the 18 extra points for AZOTHS were worth it, despite it also slotting the S in the centre triple lane.
>Cicely_Bruce: AQ F6 QA. +32 32
>Chris_Tallman: BEFINRY D4 FREN.Y +42 98
>Cicely_Bruce: EJU C3 JEU +27 59
>Chris_Tallman: ABIMORY 9G MOBY +29 127
#note I saw the possibility of BOYARISM, but rejected it as I thought that I'd seen before that BOYAR wasn't good and that I'd recognized it from the game Age of Empires and not Scrabble. I also missed AMBARY from the A in AZOTHS (42), but I really liked how MOBY took out the S in the centre and restricted the board with my bingo-sized lead, and the sim has it neck and neck with AMBARY anyways.
>Cicely_Bruce: EEE -3 +0 59
#note I was happy to see the short exchange on a board which seems tough to bingo on.
>Chris_Tallman: AIINORT 8J AROINT +26 153
#note After just shutting the board down and Cecily changing 3, I'm left with this rack. I don't see a way to score and not open something up. I could fish with a play like QI or even exchange an I, but I didn't think RATION as a leave was strong enough for that and I wanted to keep scoring so that I'd still be ahead against a bingo next turn. Really tough move.
>Cicely_Bruce: ?ADEEHU N7 U.HEAtED +76 135
#note Cecily seems to be a bingo-oriented player and will rarely miss available ones; perhaps I should have exchanged last turn? Though now I am still ahead due to my choice to score...
>Chris_Tallman: GINRRWX 13I WRING.R +30 183
#note I was pretty happy to spot WRINGER to hold the X (for the XU/XI spot atop AROINT), but I had no idea FRENZY takes ING! (50 points!). XRAY on the J column (30) is an option too, but I felt the X leave was more flexible than WRING which could turn ugly with more consonants despite bingoing sometimes.
>Cicely_Bruce: DEIM O11 MI.ED +36 171
>Chris_Tallman: EGILPRX M5 PIX.E +46 229
#note I don't mind keeping 3 consonants with the pool decently vowel-heavy. LEXIGRAM (36) is a cool option (didn't know the word) as it shuts down the lane on top of WRINGER and forces bingoes to go underneath which would give me triple-line counterplay.
>Cicely_Bruce: V H8 ..V +6 177
#note Scary play as a subsequent bingo puts Cicely in the lead, given my rack isn't great.
>Chris_Tallman: AEGLRRU 12E ARGUE +12 241
#note I was looking for a play that took out any S hooks, as SOV strongly signals an S. Nothing scores more than 21 here, so score isn't a big factor. I looked for a 6 that reaches the double atop WRINGER in vain - REGULA was the play I was looking for, but I didn't know the word (Collins only 6). So I decided to play ARGUE for only 12. I considered RUGA for 14 keeping ELR instead of LR, but that still allowed bingoes to fit under (and especially) overtop it.
>Cicely_Bruce: BLO L4 LOB +18 195
#note Cicely needed to open something else - nice play.
>Chris_Tallman: CEILORT 14C CORTILE +67 308
#note I'd seen someone go up to the challenge computer and check COLTIER* earlier in the tourney - luckily CORTILE was one of the bingoes I'd recently studied :)
>Cicely_Bruce: ADEINSW 3F DEWANIS +69 264
>Chris_Tallman: ?CILOPU K5 COU. +31 339
#note Really happy to see the blank after our bingo exchange - I feel now like the tournament is won as long as I don't mess up. I could play COWP for 42 but I don't want to float the C up there, just in case.
>Cicely_Bruce: AATT -4 +0 264
#note I feel really good now.
>Chris_Tallman: ?AILPSV 15H ASP +28 367
#note I identified a play underneath CORTILE on the triple as the biggest threat, even though I double-counted the R's to make sure there wasn't any left for the EWER hook (still one S for EWES).
>Cicely_Bruce: FGI 11C GIF +24 288
>Chris_Tallman: ?AILLSV 10K VIS. +22 389
>Cicely_Bruce: DEOT H1 TO.ED +30 318
>Chris_Tallman: ?AALLNT 1H .ALL +4 393
#note I considered (the phoney) TALLANTS for a second, as TALANT and TALAUNT are good, but there was no way I was jeopardizing the tournament with a risk like that. Just in case I tracked incorrectly, I blocked the T, with a play that both Cecily and I thought was fitting for me :)
>Cicely_Bruce: EEIKNOT N2 TIKE +24 342
>Chris_Tallman: ?ANT 2E bAT.N +16 409
#note So concludes my January 2024 Whangarei Giant Round Robin annotations. I hope you enjoyed!
>Chris_Tallman: (ENO) +6 415
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