How to lose a four game LCT, by me:

(LCT = local club tournament, it's a short four game round played on the night of scrabble club)

1. Go 2-1 +197, taking the lead (2 out of the 3 others were also 2-1)

2. Play the better of the 2 other players in the final round, and lose, thereby going from 1st to 3rd place. 

Here's the final game if you'd like to give me some advice (other than 'learn AEGOSTW') 

Found Extension of the Day

True story: I'm currently on vacation in Virginia, so of course I ordered a soft shell crab sandwich for lunch today. (It didn't come with the bite taken out of it; I just forgot to snap a shot first.) Later today, while waiting for my wife to run into a store for something, I whip out a scrabble game I'm playing on my cell phone vs. the bot. I had opened with BEATERS at the usual position, earlier in the week. Guess what three letter extension the bot played against me? It's not EGGBEATERS.

Not sure how I managed this, but...

I just scored 671 points (686 with tourney rules) in a Facebook game, without a triple-triple.

I know, it doesn't really count since it was played online,  over a number of weeks, but still pretty cool.

Not shown in the screen grab are YAUPERS for 110 and SPARiNG for 83.

Ironically I almost tried MITTING* before realizing there was an O left sitting on my rack...

on Facebook!

Since I haven't mentioned on here, in a while: you can always find WORD UP on Facebook, where I post a bit more frequently- for example, today's 'flashcard of the day', shown here.

8 Things I learned from club this week

1. DEINRSS thru a U: two bingos.

2. It sucks when you play what, strategically, is the right move:O(G)EE, to balance your rack- and your opponent holds CDKNORU, looking for an E.

3. BOUGHT takes a front hook of A. (duh, past tense of ABY! maybe if it were spelled ABUY* I'd remember?) It also extends to BOUGHTEN.

4. Balked on REGAVE. I figured you couldn't give something again once you've given it, but hey, what do I know? Well, I now know that GREAVE is also         good, and it takes a D or S.

5. MUNCHY* isn't good. Neither is MUNCHIE*, for that matter- only MUNCHIES. I hooked MUNCH with PROGENY- it was either that, or PYROGENE*, which I     thought I was totally making up, but the anagram of PROGENY is PYROGEN- no E hook on that one, though. Thankfully it stayed on.

6. There are three 8's you can make from AEEIQSU?, but the one I didn't know was through the T on the board. 

7. SPERMS takes OO as a front extension, which then in turn takes a Z front hook. 

8. ENTANGLE takes a D,P,R, and S. Oh, well one is a front hook, the others are back.

 

 

Found word of the day: AAMNSP

SAMPAN a flat-bottomed Chinese skiff

 

Reading a kid's encyclopedia with my son at bedtime. See, even I learned something. 

Bonus quiz: SAMPAN + A, L, and T

X words train of thought, because I'm bored.

OXO containing oxygen; doesn't take any hooks.
OXY same definition, takes a B,D,F, and P in front only.

DOXY a doctrine, plural is DOXIES. DOXIE is also good.
DEXY another way to spell DEXIE, a tablet of dex. DEXIES is also good.

REDOX a type of chemical reaction. plural: REDOXES.
REDUX adjective meaning brought back. REDUXES* isn't good.

Bummer...

Opponent opens with 8G ZEE. 

I play the only playable bingo with AACEIV?, which puts an E in the triple lane.

Opponent triple-triples thru E with DEOPSTU.

Adding insult to injury, there is now a U on the board and my rack is EKMNOSX! 

Pretty sure this is as close as I'll ever get to playing this 8 as a natural.

Found word of the day: AAADGMLY

Found while looking at a WSJ article on crying, (definition is 'an anatomical almond-shaped part').
Takes an E, but not an S. And the article is interesting, too.

6 things I learned from club tonight

Only had time to play one game- I made a few bad mistakes and missed some bingos, but was able to hang on for a win thanks to opponent exchanging, challenging incorrectly, and some luck.
1. AVA is an adverb meaning 'at all'! It doesn't take an S! I should know this by now.
2. ENTREAT + A = ANTEATER. Opponent took my spot (with AVA), it was the only playable bingo after that.
3. ENACTOR + C = ACCENTOR. Didn't know it. (actually is defined as 'a songbird', interesting.)
4. If you're playing a five letter word and there's a letter hanging one over and five up from the TLS, see if it'll fit there. (I played NARCO/NAN/MEGA for 19 when it would've been 26. The only unforeseen benefit was that it drew a challenge in this position.)
5. DEIKNSW has a good anagram. I think I even made it up in my head, but it was totally as a joke. (means 'to toil'.)
6. Don't open up the triple lane when it's probably the only way you can lose. (This is where the luck came in, opponent wasn't sure of FEAL for 50, but also had the S, which could have made a spot for a bingo.)

Found word of the day: ADGIILLO

Spring planting is a good time to pick up some new garden related words... my wife bought some ASTILBE along with this, but I recently learned the correct 7 anagrams to LIBATES*, thus disqualifying it. I didn't know the plural of this one was good, though.