Scrabble Adventures

I was able to make it out to the club last night, but fell victim to my own inconsistency.  At times I play well, while at other times I lose my brain and make bone-headed plays/mistakes.  I suppose this is all part of the process of becoming a better player (I hope).  Maybe I was mentally more tired than I had anticipated.  I think that’s something that I’ll need to watch for with the upcoming nationals in July.

Game #1 vs. Brenda S
My opening rack was a bit of a conundrum as I wasn’t sure what to play:  ACDEIPT.  For a moment, I thought about trying to play a phoney bingo because I didn’t see a bingo (there are no 7s), hoping that either Brenda would let the play stand or challenge it off and give me a letter I needed to make a bingo – I immediately saw IMPACTED and PEDANTIC, but thought there might be one or two more.  Brenda played a good game and found a great spot to play PERSONA by hooking RAG and ER with the S and A respectively.  I did manage to challenge off OUTBORE*.
FINAL SCORE:  373 – 310 (LOSS)
BINGOS:  ME – SCaTTER; Brenda – SMARTEN, PERSONA

Game #2 vs. Priya F
This is a game that I wish I could take back as I gave this one away.  Priya opened with WRITE and I responded with DEVOT(I)NG.  I almost gave-up on that rack because it didn’t look too promising at first glance.  I’m glad that I’m starting to be more patient and think through my options.  A few turns later, I played another bingo and managed to pull ahead 268 – 127.  Unfortunately, I then started playing like an idiot – playing AYA* (what was I thinking?!!) and allowing HOARIES* to stay on the board.  After that little series of plays, I then challenged JOSS which really irked me because it’s a J word.  A few turns after that, I tried PRE(B)LINd* thinking it was related to statistics/science.  The worst thing is that I could have won this game at the end with a bingo.  There was a free B available at D11 and I had EEELNM?.  Do you see the bingo?  See the end of this post for the answer.  I completely missed it and tried EMENa(B)LE*.  The only positive I can draw from this game is that I still had a chance to win, even with all of my blunders.
FINAL SCORE:  403 – 361 (LOSS)
BINGOS:  ME – DEVOT(I)NG, RESTOrE; Priya – HOARIES*

Game #3 vs. Kaveri R
Kaveri opened with a bingo and put me on the defensive right away.  I was struggling to balance my tiles for much of the game as I seemed to be get quite a few vowels early on.  I also had to work to keep the board open because Kaveri likes to (and was trying to) shut the board down.  She likes to play small two and three letter words that over-lap because she says it takes "more thinking" to play such a game.  Even though I was behind for most of the game, I was able to string together a few high scoring plays to pull ahead late in the game:  FROW (44), QANATS (32), QIS (24), and CRIED (32).  By then, scoring opportunities were scarce as Kaveri had been working to shut the board down.  Fortunately for me, I was able to plan my final two turns to win the game.
FINAL SCORE:  323 – 306 (WIN)
BINGOS:  ME – none; Kaveri – EASIEST

Overall, my play at the club was inconsistent.  I made some good plays and was able to anticipate some potential plays developing.  On the other head, I also played like an idiot.  I’ll need to focus more on eliminating my mistakes during games.  I also think I’ll need to start a process of reviewing the words I’ve learned, as I’m not sure that I’ll have much time to learn new ones before the tournament.  My new work schedule is just brutal and it’s not leaving me much time to do anything. Oh well, I guess that’s the trade-off for a pay-cheque.

ANSWER:  ENsEM(B)LE is the only one that fits.

Powered by Qumana