Not Everything... But the Girl






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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Unlike most tournaments trips, on which I start out with at least a theoretical possibility of getting enough asleep and arriving on time, my itinerary to Westford was impossible from the start. The reason? Not Starbucks, as you might expect, but rather the return, after five weeks of eager anticipating, of Lost. The show's new later start-time of 10:00 PM meant that I could not realistically wait until the episode ended at 11:00 to start the 330-mile drive.

Fortunately for my schedule, David Koenig answered the call I put out for a place to watch the show. Several others were also willing, but David's house was as far from Princeton that I could realistically expect to get by 10:00 PM. Not that driving from Princeton to Tenafly in one hour was realistic in the first place. Had Bonnie not been able to make my massage appointment earlier than 8:00, I would have missed the show. As it turned out, I left Princeton right around 7:34, and I drove into David's driveway with not even a minute to spare. In fact, the only reason I did not miss the start of Lost was because Grey's Anatomy tends to run longer and 60 minutes, about 61 or 62.

My love for HDTV was so deep that I had considered taking my small HD set to hook up at David's. But there was no need. Instead of the small analog television I had been envisioned, David offered me the works, a large flat-panel Sony television with an HD signal! I was thrilled!!! A comparable feeling would be if you arranged to share a room with a woman expecting to sleep in a separate bed, or on your side of the bed, and then when you crawled in she lunged at you passionately. But that was not the only way in which the night exceeded expectations. The episode itself, "The Shape of Things to Come", was one of the best of the season, a genuine thrill-ride. After a five-week wait, I had expected the episode to be good, but not that good. It was as if you not only got some sugar from that selfsame female, but you got her naked as well. Talk about exceeding expectations.

When the episode ended I left as soon as politeness would permitt, and I rushed off to see how far into Connecticut I could get. I stopped into the first service area only to see signs I had forgotten about--"2 HOUR MAX PARKING". Nuts. I drove on to the next service area and saw te same signs, but I was so tired that just ignored them. I parked next to two other vehicles and took my chances.



Friday, April 25, 2008

Because of the generally small nature of the service area, and my more-exposed parking space, when I awoke at 6:06 I had to walk into the building to kiwi. As often happens, walking even a short distance made it hard for me to resume sleep, and I gave up at 6:36 and sped off.

I soon reached the Groton store, washed my face, bought a coffee, and proceeded to experience a bit of a shock. No battery in my camera! Yoicks!!! I had left it back at work!!! I was saved from a waste visit, though, by the Sony camera that I had found in a rental car years earlier (tried to contact the previous renter, but Enterprise would not cooperate). I would not have had it with me had I not moved out of my room and had all my possessions in the car, so I guess being homeless worked out well in that regard.

One more stop, North Kingston, and I was able to reach Westford with plenty of time to stop at the Starbucks and get online. When I finally went to the Regency, Paul Avrin commented that I was "early", since it wasn't yet 11:00. I would have preferred to cut it closer and get more downloading done, but I live in fear of receiving Sherrie's "icy stare of death" and then being called out during announcements.

As we waited for the pairings, I spotted John Luebkemann shifting around in what appeared to be scheming and skulking mode. His response, that he was manufacturing phonies in his head. I then realized that the NAST early bird would be an open, and that my goal for the first round would have to be to get down more phonies than Looby. Unfortunately, my first opponent was not some lowly scrub but instead Paul Avrin. Yes, I've gotten phonies past him, but he's been playing too long for me to just throw anything down. Besides, in order to phony successfully I needed racks that were at least halfway-balanced. I did not get them, and my final score of 295 should be fair indication of how badly I was outdrawn.

In the bathroom, I was standing at at the urinal next to a stall when somebody entered it. He was standing, I could see his hair sticking up above the stall divider. "Wow, that is one tall dude, I thought," and I had the urge to reach over the divider and rub his head and comment on how tall he was. I quickly decided that rubbing a man's head while he is urinating is probably considered inappropriate.

Game 2 was an excellent example of the worst of Scrabble. I got my scrub, but she happens to be be one of those lowly players who challenges everything she doesn't recognize, including the perfectly plausible SOF(A)LIKE*. Despite losing two challenges of her own, Marilyn proceeded to get extremely lucky and draw both blanks while I suffered from disastrous tiles in the endgame to lose by 17. Granted, I did not play a good game. In fact, I played a crappy game. But I shouldn't have had to play well!!! Against a player of her ilk, I should have been able to drop hundreds of equity points and still win.

After the game I waited quite a while for my next opponent, Jeffrey Nelson, to finish. While waiting it occurred to me that, after two weeks, I really needed to change my shirt--it was bringing me awful luck. As I headed out to the car I caught a glimpse of Jeffrey heading to the bathroom. Thus, he could not have been waiting for me "a long time", as Sherrie put it when she scolded me for leaving "during a game". John Chew, meanwhile, had started my clock. I didn't care about a stupid minute off my clock, but I was sure that John could not have waited long after Jeffrey sat down before he started it. I was miffed.

My two losses had me timid, and as a result I gave up a shitload of equity against Steve Polatnick, first by not hooking NERVOUS/UNROVES* to THWACK, and two turns later by by passing on the double-double SOFTISh for 98, taking instead FO(O)SIeS for 92. Had I lost, I would have been devasted that I had passed on the better plays.

Upon seeing that my rating had dropped 31 after three rounds, I had doubts that I would be able to avoid an overall drop even if I won the rest of my games (which didn't exactly seem likely given my poor start). I was thus glad to see 1812-rated Chris Guilbert thrown into my field, and gladder still to open with a bingo. It's a good thing I went on to draw extremely well, because that opening play itself was rather poorly executed. First mistake, playing REpORTS instead of making the blank an E, R, or T in order to give Chris fewer tiles to bingo through. But even worse, I burned some 3 1/2 minutes on that play. NO WAY should I have spent so much time on that rack--I was very lucky I did not end up needing that time for the endgame.

Final round, Emily Weissman, who seems to spend an awful lot of time on the East Coast for a Californian. She must have a lot of frequent flyer miles or something. Anyway, I made my second of only two really good plays of the Early Bird, (C)RUZADO (the other was rACEWAY against Nelson), but Emily came back a couple of turns later with PENSEES to take the lead. Speaking of PENSEES, I found myself grateful that I had recently reviewed my list of all 3-E sevens and thus was not faced with losing a challenge. A turn later I came back with (R)ACEmoID, but Emily bingoed right back, LITTER(E)D. I was very worried at that point, and the game could have easily gone her way had I not been able to score consistently through the end.

I imagine everyone reading this already knows that John Chew was extremely efficient with the standings and ratings changes, and even more so once the electronic wall-charts were up and running. Still, I did not stick around to see what the damage was. I wasn't sure if my room would have wi-fi (though I supposed I could have asked), so I went over to the Starbucks to get as much downloading done before Rebecca arrived. When she finally called to say they were the MBAT to Littleton I quickly packed up and headed towards the train station. I was very much eager to see Rebecca as soon as possible, so badly had I been missing her for those two weeks since Poughkeepsie.

I did not quite reach the train station before Rebecca called to say they had arrived and were taking a taxi, so I just turned around and went back to the hotel to wait. When the strange-looking taxi arrived and Rebecca climbed out, I wasted no time in keeping my promise to embarrass her with a Blackberry.

I had waited to check into the hotel until Brian arrived so we could try and get a room next to him and Bihlmeyer in case we four got in the mood for late-night hijinks. Unfortunately, there were no rooms available near Brian's, so Rebecca and I took a room elsewhere and left B & B to have fun on their own.

The down side of entering into an "unspecificied relationship" is that you have to make compromises. I was already compromising on sleeping in a room instead of my car, and I had to compromise further regarding food. In Poughkeepsie it was Indian food, and at BAT it was Chinese food. I tried to make the best of the situation by trying something new, the Mongolian lamb, but it was so not worth the price. Oh, well, there are things in human experience that are better than food.

My first game, against poor Steve Saul, was a dream. SIMIlIE* to open followed by QI(S) for 32 and T(U)FTY for 32 to go up 124 points in three turns. That lead allowed me to play around, and I threw down (IT)APKA* without hestation. Scrabblewise, that play was the highlight of my tournament! Saul didn't even blink. MOX(A) for 53, EDS for 35, and WIDE for 36 before I finally had to slow down and take a meager 27 for SNOOL. Another sluff, BUOY for 19, and then it was back to scoring with FURZ(Y) for 40 and RENAT(U)R(E)d, my second-ever nine through disconnected tiles. The only disappointment in the game was that I didn't play cRENAT(U)R(E) instead--I like that word.

The following evening, I stopped in the lobby to chat with some of the grown-up players, and (IT)APKA* came up. Opinions were varied. Joel Wapnick though the phony was not a good play and seemed incredulous that it even stayed on the board. Luebkemann just laughed and laughed and recounted a story about when he played five phonies against another player. Chris Cree's position was to ask, "Did it work?", and then high-five me. As for Robin Pollock Daniel, I couldn't really read her reaction--she was more into the Philly/Montreal hockey game anyway. Surprising--I didn't think anybody really cared about that hockey thing.

Against Richard Buck I found AMBrIES early and went on to build a solid lead and dream of a 3-0 night. Even after Richard got down S(A)NDIEST and three turns later, (O)RTOLANs, I still had a 50-point lead and expected to win as long as I kept rack balance and scoring. What I did not expect was for Richard to pull AZOTISE(S) right out of the bag for 101--ouch!

I took an early lead against Steve Polatnick when his MONaST(I)C slotted the A in just the right square for my EHRRUY? to double-double. I managed to keep the lead despite his RESALU(T)E, and continued scoring on my part doubtlessly prompted him to try and punk me with (S)AGITTAE*. I had to think a while on that one, and I finally decided I had gone deep enough into the eights to have seen the AGITATES rack. With the extra turn, I was able to assert dominance for the rest of the game.

Another 2-1 start, but I didn't mind so much. Getting to see Rebecca again meant that there was little or no chance my evening could be ruined. Unless she changed her mind and decided to spend the night at the nearby B & B instead. Before heading back to the room we stopped at the bar to see what was going on, but there wasn't much in the way of a party. It was late, and we guessed most people had gone off to bed, so we did too.

If you are a fan of math, then you might also be a fan of sequences. Sequences are attractive, in part, because of their predictable nature. One you have identified that you are part of, say a Fibonacci sequence, you can feel confident about where you are going next. There is something rather satisfying about knowing that you are part of sequence, that you are moving forward, rather than being stuck in the same place or bouncing forwards and backwards with no idea of whether you are making progress.



Sequences are cool, but the mathematical entity that I like the best would have to be pi. I like pi so much that when I was in college I organized a pi-reciting contest within our dorm. Only a few residents signed up, and I myself did not participate since I was the judge, but I still managed to memorize between 50 and 100 digits. I thought that was the coolest thing back then. I still admire those MIT people who have their own pi-day celebrations on March 14th, and those who can memorize thousands of digits. One problem with pi, though, is that it has no end point. As such, during a recitation it is not really possible to determine when you are reaching any type of climax. I can certainly see why most people would prefer to listen to a story than listen to pi.



Saturday, April 26, 2008

We got up in time to join Tim and Kate for breakfast at Paul's Diner, where I was served the worst orange juice ever. Had I been by myself, I would have ordered to-go and gotten Naked Juice from Starbucks, but as part of a "couple" I was forced to make sacrifices. I don't know though... I might have to rethink this whole relationship thing if it's going to mean a lifetime of bad juice.

AARRGHH!!! I really thought I had Alyssa this time. After we traded bingos early, I managed to stay close enough to her and push her clock that I was confident that I could win it as long as she didn't bingo again. With the board tight, when I drew the second blank I was extremely hopeful. But I couldn't get a bingo down for several turns, during which Alyssa extended her lead. When I finally played ARIDESt, I had open the triple column and got zinged for 45 by AG(A)ZE. Given Alyssa's time trouble, I probably could have won the endgame... but I didn't.

Later I would see that I had missed DENTILS, and I knew the exact reason why. All that anagramming of sevens and eights deeper and deeper into the probability list was causing the higher-probability bingos to slip my mind. Worst of all, now I can't even accuse her of luckbagging me--I have to accept full blame for my loss.

Whitmarsh had me on the ropes for the entire game, until, at the last minute, I missed EqUATI(O)N and instead played off E(C)U for 5 points to set up a second line. Funny thing is, had I played EqUATI(O)N for 68 points instead of E(C)U and then ZOnATI(O)N for 104, I probably would have lost!!! Scrabble is weird that way. Seriously, had I seen EqUATI(O)N and determined that I would probably lose if I drew dreck from the bag, would I have been correct to pass on it?

After a 19-point loss to Rose "lets-hold-PRION-and-SERRANID" Kreiswirth, the tournament was looking like Poughkeepsie all over again, with many of my wins being blowouts and many of my losses being close.

I finally got blown out, by Rau, against whom I drew a complete blank on GALETTE. Later I would see that it's in the top 5000, which means I've anagrammed it several times already. Yet I did not recognize it at all, and Stefan went on to bingo twice more. I got down TACRINE and drew the J, Z, and other blank later, but I still could not keep the spread under 100. Later I would find out that the DERELIC(T) I had seen had indeed been correct! I stupidly convinced myself it was DERILICT*!!! A few weeks later, I would pop into a cafe in Dublin and see galettes on the menu. Ugh, talk about an unpleasant reminder.

As if weird hair-touching fantasies weren't enough bathroom weirdness for one tournament, the bathroom got even weirder during one of my breaks on Saturday. Sometimes the stream comes easy, and sometimes it doesn't. This incident was triggered by the latter condition. I guess I was standing at the urinal for some 30 or more seconds when a certain other Scrabbler entered the bathroom and chose the urinal next to mine (instead of one of the two stalls). I already knew that the stream was going to take a long time to arrive, and that I would thus seem to be standing at the urinal an unusually long time. I did not want to give this particular Scrabbler any funny ideas, so I made it plainly obvious that I was keeping my gaze undeviatingly forward and up. I could not make the stream come any faster, though, and as time passed, I realized that the player was having his own trouble getting going. After a while, he uttered a soft chuckle, or maybe a chortle, maybe half trying to stifle it, maybe not. A couple more ensued, and this triggered in me my own urge to laugh, which I stifled as best as I could. I finally got some kind of weak little stream going, and I tried to aim it in a fashion so as to make as much noise as possible, to make it clear that I was indeed standing there to urinate and not for some other purpose. Verily, greatly relieved was I to finally finish and depart the weird situation.

For lunch I was forced to join the group going to Cafe Goa, where I was served the worst Coke (or what they called coke) ever. Crappy fountain drinks and worthless orange juice are a large part of the reason I generally take my food to-go (avoiding tipping is another good reason). Why do these large Scrabble meal groups like to choose Asian food so much???

Despite the restaurant's being empty, lunch took a bit of time to be served, so as soon as the check was delivered I, accompanied by Kevin Turner, hurried across the street to the Starbucks. I had asked David to pick us up there, but when I headed back out towards the street I saw him make a right out of the parking lot and head towards the intersection. Yoicks!!! He was trying to pull a fast one! Rebecca must have finally changed her mind about me and convinced him to ditch me! I wasn't worried, since I could reach the hotel in less than 10 minutes, but it was more fun to sprint after David's car. Sure, had he been able to keep driving I wouldn't have had a chance no matter how much running I'd been doing, but the car had to stop at the light, and I was able to hop in. By way of revenge, I proceeded to spray everybody in the car with my sweat. Hah!

Hey, let it never be said that I fail to give credit when credit is due, nor that I fail to offer rebuke when merited. In that spirit, I confess that I made the stupidest play of the entire tournament in my game against Joe Bihlmeyer. After opening with YINCE (and hoping Billy would hook an S), I bingoed with UNEAR(N)ED and then drew AABCIRN. Joe, meanwhile, played INSOmNI(A), opening the 3x3, and I proceeded to play BRANIAC*!!! BRANIAC*!!! When I was thinking BRAINIAC and had the I in the right spot. I swear there should be a prize for stupidest play--in Division A at least, mine would win hands-down. No doubt this is the kind of play that when Terry reads about it, she will call for me to be banned from Scrabble for the blunder.

Another killer draw, against Steve Oliger, and by the time the dust settled I was looking at a 605 spread. If I could just win more games, I'd be in a strong position to win the event.

I started pushing Brian Bailey's clock early in the game, and that strategy paid off big time. I was able to survive being double-blanked and outbingoed, two to none, by having about 13 minutes going into the endgame to find my best play, and because Brian played (M)EN for 15 instead of O(M)EN for 21. That would have been an eight-point difference total (two fewer for me when I went out), and I would have lost.

After having drawn the bag against #4 Chris Guilbert in the Early Bird, I was full expecting to be blown out in our Main Event match. But amazingly, I was the benficiary of the early blank bingo again, AsEPTIC, and then another gimme, INLAYER. I did feel kind of bad for Chris, but I have no doubt that he'll wallop me some day.

During that game a bit of weirdness ensued... twice. First, while drawing tiles for my first rack, an I tile became stuck in the bag's aperture so that I could see it. Without thinking, I jostled it back into the back and continued drawing one at a time. It then occurred to me that, had someone seen me do this, the action could have been interpreted as Hodgesque. I immediately called for a director. When John came over, I explained the situation to him. I think the key to his decision was that I had not intended to pick that I, so he ruled that I did not have to keep it.

A few turns later, during an exchange, I knocked one of the old tiles off the table. I could not see it on the floor, though, and I quickly realized it must have fallen into my backpack. After the earlier incident, combined with the fact that I was outdrawing Chris, I did not want to risk arousing his suspicion, so I made my actions as visible as possible. I put my backpack on the chair and looked through it. When I still did not find the tile, I began taking items out one by one and putting them in the aisle where Chris could see them, prompting Robin to ask if I was okay. I knew I was being a bit disruptive, but I needed to find that tile.

After the game I stuck around long enough to see that I was in 7th place, and then I went upstairs to find Rebecca for dinner. Afterwards we went across the hall to the "town hall" meeting, where the discussion got a bit heated a times. We Scrabblers do take things so seriously, don't we?

Rebecca hung out with some other folk while I returned to the room, after stopping to chat with some of the grownups in the lobby. After checking my mail and showering, I proceeded to drift in and out of sleep while wondering why it was taking Rebecca so long to return. I need not have worried, because when she finally did return and finished with her ridiculously long shower, she proved that she had not expended all her energy playing speed and doubles games.

Many times during that night, and the previous as well, I felt a sense of immense satisfaction as I thought to myself how comforting it is to have somebody's head on your chest while you sleep, somebody's arms wrapped around you while you sleep. What else really compares? Yes, I also find comfort in sleeping in a snow-covered car under four blankets while the temperature outside is sub-freezing, but if I had to choose I would much rather have the exceptionally warm body of a person who cares for me (or at least pretends to).



Sunday, April 27, 2008

Unable to sleep, and with time still before the alarm went off, I pulled a Bihlmeyer and did several sets up pushups while waiting for Ms. Sleepyhead to get up. I finally had to "nudge" her out of bed, so to speak, and we rushed over to the diner where I had Rebecca order to-go while I went over to the Starbucks. Besides coffee and juice for myself, I picked up a Tazo tea beverage for Robin. I hoped that I would engender the type of good karam that would allow me to finall beat her, and I could hardly have asked for better than to open with eQU(A)TING. Or so I thought at the moment. In actuality, I could have asked for her not to score so well and then bingo just as the board was tightening up. I could have asked for my ELRT, ERT, ERT, AEERT, and EORT to yield a playable bingo. And I could have asked for one of the final three esses. Any one of these might have won me the game. Instead, I walked away with yet another loss, and only the satisfaction of knowing that Robin would never ever figure out exactly what I had done with that bottle of tea before giving it to her.

I fared much better against Seth, and I managed not to blow my good tiles like in Saratoga Springs. I fared equally well against Kate Fukawa-Connelly despite starting off with the stupid FANNAGE*. I should have known that Kate wasn't going to roll over for my phonies. I felt a little bad that I outdrew her despite the phony... but not that bad.

Before the game Kate expressed some puzzlement--she said she could not figure out why I was spending money on a hotel room. Given that Rebecca and I had been in close proximity throughout most of the weekend, I found this an odd question--the answer seemed obvious to me. I guessed that since Kate had been married for several years and reached the part where it's just a hassle, she had long since forgotten that there are fun things couples can do in a hotel room that are more difficult to do in the back of a car parked on a street somewhere.

Final round, my first game against The Other Jesse. 4th place was looking pretty good when I broke ahead with 86 points for SQUAW and then 48 for (H)AZE. Unfortunately, I missed a critical play, EPI(Z)OA, and suffered serious ramifications. The play would have cleaned up my rack and given me a better chance at a decent comeback to Jesse's (W)HITENEd. With a lead, I could have closed that last bingo line, where Jesse played MUSTER(E)D, and it would have been a whole different game. So I guess the moral of the story is that I really didn't deserve 4th place, but gosh darn it wouldn't it have been nice to win anyway!

With my departure imminent, Rebecca put aside her dislike of Blackberries as we said our goodbyes. I would have liked to spend more time with her, but I still had two Starbucks to visit, and then a long, long drive back to PA. Since it would be my last week at work, it made sense for me to arrive on time Monday and try to put in as many hours that week. Frankly, my liasons with Rebecca were proving expensive, and I needed to bank that dough.



Monday, April 28, 2008

After some discussion, it was agreed that the B and G words were now in play, so to speak.



Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Was surprised to learn that 8th place had earned me a $100 prize--cool!!! Even better, my rating came in at 1764, 1 point higher than the TSH estimate. Probably feedback from Marylin in the Early Bird.



Thursday, May 1, 2008

Holy monkey spittle!!! Finally got around to simming the Steve Saul game, the one in which I took such glee in (IT)APKA*. Well, it turned out that my opening SIMIlIE* was totally phony!!! Dang, as much as METAPHOR had been in my mind of late, I can't believe I didn't know how to spell SIMILE!!!



Analysis



#1 - Saul    
---------    
0 SIMIlIE*  
0 QI(S)  
0 T(U)FTY  
0 (IT)APKA*  
0 MOX(A)  
9.4 EDS SLEWED
0 WIDE  
7.3 SNOOL SOLON
0 BUOY  
0 FURZ(Y)  
2* RENAT(U)R(E)d ENRApT(U)R(E)
13.6 V(E)G  
29 T(Z)A(R)  
4 DH(A)L  
0 ES  
     
     
#2 - Buck    
---------    
0 QI  
1.3 AMBrIES ABlEISM (next to the DWS???--no way!)
0 (J)UROR  
0 LEAV(E)  
10.4 PRIORY (A)PIARY
0.7 PREXY PYREX
13.2 FOAM wrong spot
0 WEE  
1.8* OVA  
0 AA  
0 BAL  
     
     
#3 - Polatnick    
--------------    
0 (T)AJ  
0 HURR(a)YEd  
4.6 OILY LO(O)EY
19.6 DEFI SE(M)IDEAF
4 Q(I)  
0 (L)OAD  
12 KNEES KEN (afraid of leaving that S hook open)
2.6 IND(EX) V(E)X (leave DDINR???)
12.8 BARED defense
8.7 UP  
5.5 ZOA  
16.9 SLIP avoid creating opening
0* VOE (N)OVENA
0 A(PER)  
10 RE(V)  
0 (DO)C  
     
     
#4 - Faria    
----------    
35.2 -LD DENTILS
0 US  
3.6 INANEST unsure of (CHORE)A hook
0 FIX  
0 BEE(T)  
19.8 POI (K)OJI
12.7 (E)RVIL  
0 JU(T)  
0* (W)AB BASI(L)ARy,BARI(L)iAS,ARBA(L)ISt,BA(L)ISAuR
2.9 AR AD
0 ARIDESt  
4.4 AMI  
24 N(A)  
0 WED  
     
     
#5 - Whitmarsh    
--------------    
8.8 AJEE  
0 TUI  
1.3 T(R)IM V(E)E/(ANYON)E
5.2 FR(A)ME  
0.3 EF  
0 VOX  
10.5 -CHKNRW (S)  
20.6 GI(T)E GyPSIED,GIPSiED
0 ReSPOND  
2.1 BICE (V)INCIBlE
14.1 E(C)U EqUATI(O)N
0 ZOnATI(O)N  
0 (QI)S  
     
     
#6 - Kreiswirth    
---------------    
4.8 -FNNNRRV  
34.7 PRI(O)N REPLI(C)ON
3.3 PLEB  
0 (I)X(I)A  
5.1 SCOW  
3 (R)INK (U)NAKIN,(L)A(R)RIKIN
0 SERRANI(D)  
0 OBOE  
3.2 AMU  
17.2 V(i)G  
0* OI  
0.4 HURlIES  
0 T(OPE)  
     
     
#7 - Rau    
--------    
49.3 lose challenge (GALETTE) DERELIC(T) (thought it was DERILICT*)
53.8 CIDER ditto
1.9 GLOW  
13.2 F(E)EB  
0 HULA  
0.3* OQ  
15.6 E(K)ING  
0 ED(G)Y  
8.7 (Q)I REIN (don't want to give up E)
0 Y(O)  
0 TACRINE  
8.3 TAXI TAJ (hoping to hit both TAXI and RAJ)
0 Z(A) kOJI
14 JIV(E)  
     
     
#8 - Bihlmeyer    
--------------    
0.3 YINCE  
2 UNEAR(N)ED  
98 lose turn (BRANIAC*) BRA(I)NIAC (3x3 AARRGHH!!!)
0 CAB  
0 FIR  
33 MANITOS (W)OMANIST (unsure),SAINT(D)OM
0 LATI  
0 ADIEU  
0 ENSLAVE  
1.8 D(I)M  
0 (E)QUAL  
5.5 J(O)Y  
31 DE  
9 PR(EX)  
0 JO(E)  
0 (G)ITS  
0 (B)I  
     
     
#9 - Oliger    
-----------    
3.8 DRIP  
0.1 JOBbERS  
0 (J)OKE  
0 D(O)PA  
11.3 F(I)AT  
8 B(E)G(E)T GL(E)B(E) (ORST better leave)
2.3 LOX  
0* ZA  
0 ARHATS  
2.2 EN (WEEVIL)E(D)
0 Q(I)  
0* A(M)EN  
6* NOS  
3.8 CRY (WEEVIL)E(D)
36.5* (N)EW blank unseen--why leave line open???
16.5 TUI  
0 LUES  
     
     
#10 - Bailey    
------------    
0 FEH  
2.5 HAUL  
0 IXIA  
14.1 YE  
0 VOMIT(e)D  
0 JUPES  
12.2 BAROQ(U)E B(U)RQA
6.7 FOCI  
1.7 CLA(G)  
0* DOW  
6 TRI(P)S ENGIRT
0 GEN  
     
     
#11 - Guilbert    
--------------    
2.2 -EI (ACET?)  
0 AsEPTIC  
4 (C)HIVE  
4.8 -ILNNRRR  
3.8 BIOG  
3.1 (LO)UR  
0 INLAYER  
0.4 OW  
14.4 (CHIVE)Y* M(U)SKY/(BI)M(A)/(AG)S
5.2* M(I) M(U)SK (disregard board-opening plays)
64.9 KAPAS PADAUKS
27 D(AG) (V)ODUN (not willing to open board)
0 NUN  
11.4 UN(C)O defense
22.2 OI(L) defense
44 O(F) trying to block nonexistent bingo
5 OW  
23 R(E)G low on time choked on finding out play
     
     
     
#12 - Daniel    
------------    
2 eQU(A)TING QU(A)NTInG,QUoTING/(CACA)O
3.4 MIN(G)LE  
2.6 (P)UNK LINKU(P)
34.6 NITRO NIRTOLI(C)
7.8 JI(G)S  
0.1 DIM  
0 EGAL  
0 BIR(DE)R  
5.2 (KI)TE  
0 (H)A(L)VE  
2.8 (B)EVOR  
26 lose challenge ((BEVOR)S)  
0 WE(A)L  
     
     
#13 - Lipkin    
------------    
6.1 OURIE  
17 MANIHOT H(I)MATION
0* TOKED  
4.2 (J)APER (J)APE (hate to leave the D,R,S hooks hanging out there)
0 ZA(R)F  
0 OVErLIE  
0 ABUSE  
3.7* (E)DDY DIDDL(E)Y
--- TIL(E)D  
0 CULTI  
0 CARGO  
2 BR(I)NES  
     
     
#14 - Fukawa-Connelly    
---------------------    
37.9 lose turn (FANNAGE*)  
0 (D)EFANG  
1.2 INCREA(T)E  
3.9 QIS  
0 OOH  
6 PORTLIE(R) LEPROTI(C),PETROLI(C)
0 AID  
0 ANOA  
4.3 (C)UTESY  
5.6 KA(B) EEK (loathe to give up last E!!!)
26 (S)AC block since I have guaranteed X play next turn
0* GAZE  
0 EX  
     
     
#15 - Matthews    
--------------    
1.6 SKEG TSK
0 NOWT  
8.8 DURR  
0 SQUAW  
0 (H)AZE  
0 (F)IE  
7 (Z)IP EPI(Z)OA
3.1 LEA  
3.5 PE  
19.2 JOG(S) JETSO(M)
0 L(O)FT  
0 DEV  
12.9 O(F)  
27.8 C(U)B  
0 (G)UV  
1 (EL)S  


1 - W - 4.4 (65.3)
2 - L - 2.5
3 - W - 6.0 (96.7)
4 - L - 7.3 (102.6)
5 - W - 5.2 (62.9)
6 - L - 5.5 (71.7)
7 - L - 11.8 (165.1)
8 - W - 10.6 (180.6)
9 - W - 4.7 (80.5)
10 - W - 3.6 (43.1)
11 - W - 13 (235.4)
12 - L - 6.5 (84.5)
13 - W - 3.0
14 - W - 6.5 (84.9)
15 - L - 5.3 (84.9)


Avg: 6.4


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