Opening rack quiz: EEIORRU

What would you do? 

This is a case where knowing your vowel-heavy words really helps. Two options are EURO and OURIE. One leaves EIR and the other ER. One scores 6, the other twelve. And one can be placed so that there are no vowels under a DWS space, and the other can't. 

So, the more defensive play is likely EURO, while OURIE is more on the offensive side. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments if you'd like. 

Why you should take an extra few seconds to look for a better play

I am often quick to play a bingo, especially when it's an exciting word- but had I spent 5 seconds more, I'd likely have realized it would for one row over- and for a whopping 49 more points. That's a lot. 

Why you should take an extra few seconds to look for a better play

I am often quick to play a bingo, especially when it's an exciting word- but had I spent 5 seconds more, I'd likely have realized it would for one row over- and for a whopping 49 more points. That's a lot. 

1-0 Club night

I know, it's kind of lame that I only play one game at my local club, but until my bosses figure out how to let me work less than twelve hours on a Monday, one game is all that's happening. And unfortunately, it's a rushed game, because I'm doing it on a late evening 'lunch break'.
Here are the things I missed that I should still have spotted if I was in a rush:
1. from a rack of AEILNRZ, playing things like ZEIN or ZE(B)RA for 50+ points, rather than L(E)Z for 32.
2. remembering the anagrams of RATANIES that have the R near the end. I rattled them off once I was home, but blanked during the game.
3. NOVENaE is good, NONEVEn* isn't. And if you aren't 100% sure, you should just play something for less points that's enough to still win the game.
I did luck out though, in that my opponent didn't see their out play, plus they tried to put an S on SIERRAN, which I challenged off. Though I deserved to lose the game given my ending phony bingo play.

Find the play...

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=9034#3Playing Words With Friends with Jsj1999 (sorry, I forget who is who according to their handle), and they spotted this amazing play:

http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=9035#3
Note: the board in this is actually set up as a scrabble board, not a WWF board, but the principle is the same...

Pathetic rack sequences

Just two examples of some poor playing/ bad luck I've had recently...

 

1. ?JNNRTX  exchange JNNR (guess I didn't think keeping ?TX could go badly... and no, there wasn't an I to play thru)

2. ?DTTUVX play TUX for 16

3. ?DGRTYV play GR(A)VY for 24

4. ?DEFMOT play FEM for 20 (no place for the 8s and I probably would've missed them anyways)

opponent bingos

5. ?ABDEOT play BOrATED for 75 and I'm still down by 35 points. I thought getting a blank on the first turn was good?

-------------------------------------

1. ?DHJLOS play JO for 18

2. ?DFHLNS play F(O)HN for 27

3. ?ADLSST don't know SANDLOTS, play LAS for 20

4. ??DDEST baDDEST for 75. baddest, indeed.

 

5 Things I learned from club this week

OK, 'from club' rather than 'at club', since most of the things I don't find out until I go home and go over my games. except this first one:

1. Always, always take a minute to look for a better play! ZA is on the board, 6 spaces away from the TWS. I hold G for, like, 6 turns trying to come up with     a word (chicken out on GURNET). On (what should have been mine and their) last turn, I have EEGINRV and immediately plop down GRIEVE for 46.         Smack the time clock, smack forehead. There was a lane starting with S on the board. Luckily I was already way ahead.

2. ZEBRAS takes an S! Neat. I didn't actually have the opportunity to play this, but was looking up extensions of ZEBRA since it was on the board. Winners     are ZEBRAFISH and ZEBRAWOOD.

3. RICING takes a front hook of T(and P)! Luckily my opponent didn't know either, it would've cost me the game.

4. I'm learning the value of playing phonies a bit more, especially against lower rated players. Played OVERLINE* and FULMATED* even though I was           pretty sure both weren't good. In both games, they were my only bingos and definitely helped me win in one. 

5. On the other hand, I need to take a little more time to block potential bingos after an opponent plays a phony and I challenge it off. Got rid of BLARIER*     and BRAILER*, but left an E open and opened a lane with an M in it- both not terribly difficult words to find. Whoops.

F is for FISHING

It's time again for the ABC Wednesday entry, where I try and cover some of the basics of competitive scrabble, while somehow trying to relate it to the current letter of the week. Up this week: F!

Fishing, in scrabble, is the (usually erroneous) practice of playing only 1 or 2 tiles for very few points in the hopes of 'fishing' out the tiles from the bag that will give you what you're looking for on your next turn.

This often results in NOT getting exactly what you were looking for, in which case, the temptation is often to 'fish' again, and before you know it, you have a string of turns in which you've racked up single digit scores and your opponent has racked up a double digit lead.

So for the most part, if you are making a two tile play, make sure it's one that scores decently! (i.e. 20 points or more) You'll have to use a parallel play and one of the premium tile squares for this to happen, usually. 

There are a few instances, however, when fishing is acceptable or even the best play. Here are just a few examples:

1. You have a rack such as AEINQST, (and there's no U to play through- can you find the word?), and there are no places to play the Q for a lot of points. You're still usually better off just playing Q(I) somewhere (yes, even for only 11 points) and keeping the rest of the letters. In this case, your chances of 'bingoing' on your next turn are very high.

2. You are losing by 50 or more points, and there are very few tiles left in the bag. You realize that the only way for you to win the game at this point is to figure out what tiles might be in the bag, and play off the right tiles on you rack in order to bingo. With just the right luck (and skill at setting up spots to bingo on the board), you can come back and win the game.

3. You have a dream word, say 'QUIXOTRY' that you've always wanted to play, and you have IOQUX already on your rack, so you play off the other two tiles in the hopes ofgetting a T and Y and playing through an R on the board.

Ok, actually example number 3 is pretty silly, but it actually happened during one of the highest scoring scrabble games on record. 

There are other times when fishing is acceptable, but the general rule is: don't do it.

I will leave you with a poster of all the 7 and 8 letter '-FISH' words that are currently acceptable in scrabble. It's actually for sale on cafepress and was done by a very talented scrabble player/ artist. Thanks for reading!

B is for BINGO!

It's time again for the ABC Wednesday entry, where I try and cover some of the basics of competitive scrabble, while somehow trying to relate it to the current letter of the week...actually it's Thursday eve as I post this! Where does the week go?



When I say 'bingo', I'm not talking about the popular game of chance often found in church meeting halls. A bingo, in scrabble, is when a player is able to use all of their tiles in one turn, for which they are awarded an additional 50 points. It may not surprise you to know that in most cases, the player who is able to 'bingo' the most in a game is the player who will win. Better players are able to bingo an average of 2 or more times per game. In a recent record-breaking game, a player actually played all his tiles in 8 out of 9 of his turns! 


For most casual players, though, the idea of playing all of one's tiles seems like an unreachable goal. Fear not, though, it's not as difficult as you might think! Here's a few tips for getting there:


1. Start out with the assumption that there may actually be a word contained on your rack. The first hurdle to get over is to even look for longer words- there are plenty of ordinary words that you may not ever see, simply because you didn't try. Add to that the open letters on the board with which to play through, and there are unlimited possibilities. 


2. Look for common letter combinations. The most obvious of these is if you have ING on your rack. There are 3,628 ING words alone (made of 7 or 8 letters, and good in scrabble), so chances are you may be able to spot one. There are plenty other common 2 and 3 letter combos, which I'm sure you can figure out.


3. Balance your rack.  Balancing your rack means keeping a good blend of consonants and vowels, and not keeping too many high point tiles at once. The better you get at doing this, the more often you'll be able to bingo. I'll talk more about this in a future post.


4. Study words! Ok, most people may not be at the point where they're actually going to learn new words for the sake of playing scrabble. If you aren't there, you may just find it fun to write down all the letters from each turn and then after you play, use an anagram generator (a website that will find words for you) to look and see if you missed anything. If you are ready to study words for the sake of scrabble, you can do a search for 'high probability bingos' and find dozens of lists to start learning. The top of most of these lists will feature words that can be formed from the letters AEISNT or AEIRST.  
       


I'm going to close out with a few examples of bingos- click on the links below and see if you can find the answers before hitting the 'Forward' button.


Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

A is for AA

It's time again for the ABC Wednesday entry, where I try and cover some of the basics of competitive scrabble, while somehow trying to relate it to the current letter of the week...

AA may look like a typing error, but it is actually a word. Pronounced 'ah-ah', it is a type of lava.
This brings up two important topics related to crossing over from becoming a 'living room' player to a competitive scrabble player:
1. Getting past the "that can't be a word because I've never seen it before" syndrome.
This is the most commonly heard sentiment from people who are just starting to play with higher level players. While there are many archaic, scientific, and otherwise unheard-in-normal-conversation words, the basis of their inclusion in the Scrabble dictionary is that they were found in one of the major dictionaries that exist. In fact, there's even a 'dictionary committee' if you'd like to take up a complaint. So just because you've never seen AA (or heard it, for that matter) doesn't mean it isn't a word. Instead of complaining about it, learn it and use it against your next opponent. When your family members decide to stop playing you, you can find plenty of places online that will give you competition.

2. Learning the 2 letter words is the first step to becoming a better scrabble player.

I did a quick search, and this site, while slightly dated, gives a pretty good overview of the 101 'twos'. I've read that learning the twos can actually raise your score by an average of 100 points. Who knows if this is accurate, but you'll definitely be able to play more overlapping words, which is one of the key ways to score more per turn. For example, if your opponent opens up with RETAINS, and you have AAEIMNT on your rack, you could play AMENTIA above it, creating 7 two letter words. Assuming you know the word AMENTIA, that is. Of course, more often it will be finding a spot to hook that last letter in your cool word so that it has a place to go on the board.
OK, here's a few more interesting A words:
lowest probability (7 letters): ASPHYXY asphyxia (unconsciousness caused by lack of oxygen)
longest scrabble word to contain 5 As: ANAGRAMMATICAL (ironically)
other interesting AA words:
BAA (to bleat) and AAL (an east Indian shrub) (good to know after you play AA and want to 'hook' another word to the front or end of it)
AALII a tropical tree
AAHING to exclaim in amazement, joy, or surprise
AARRGHH interjection used to express disgust (also AARGH and AARRGH) These ones come in handy for other reasons, also.

Things (re)learned at club last night

I should have gone 5-0, but ended up 3-2 due to the following errors:
1. Didn't challenge JOISTERS*
2. In the same game, when it came down to the endgame, I held both of the last U's and I's. Opponent has Q and Z on rack. He plays (FA)KIR down to the TWS row. I proceed to play NOI(R), WITH THE TRIPLE LETTER SCORE SPACE BETWEEN TWO I'S!!! I think I still had a chance to Z-stick him after that, but I was so mad at myself, I blew that too.
3. In another game, I saw a spot for my out play of GEE/ET, then proceeded to miss it on the very next turn (he blocked another spot which made me think it was the only one). My only defense on this one is that I was playing two games at once, hadn't tracked and was not 100% focused. But annoying nonetheless.
4. There is a good word in DOORMANS*.
That is all.

Double Blank Quiz

My opening rack is AEPPX??, and FIB is on the board.

Can you find the bingo? What if the opening play was FOB?

What I learned at club this week

-There is no 4 letter front extension to THOLE. (lots of 3 letter ones, though, and BUT isn't one of them, sadly.)

-SPREE is not a verb. (would have tried it if I got ING, and my opponent wasn't sure if they'd challenge.)

-when you don't see AEINRRS in your flashcards for a while, you may end up ripping out your hair over the fact that you know it forms a word while the little Samtimer clock laughs at you and keeps counting down.

-LORrAINE* is a phony, and if you take a few more seconds, you'll find that there are a dozen other playable bingos on the board.

-AAINOV? has another bingo in it besides OVARIAN. (I needed it to play to an S.)

-OVOLI is the plural of OVOLO (how did I know the first one and not the second?)

One thing I learned at club tonight

1. If you get to the end of the game, and you've tracked correctly, and your opponent has DEERST? on their rack, BLOCK THE ONE POSSIBLE SPOT ON THE BOARD FOR THEM TO BINGO! Don't sit there and try and figure out what the 9's are through TA or IT. Just play something there in case they've already figured out a 9, (which you should have suspected since they weren't shuffling their tiles around at all, just waiting for you), RES(TA)rTED, for example.

In my defense, I stopped in for a quick game (sometimes on mondays I skip my lunch and try and squeeze a game in before I clock out of work), and just didn't have the patience to really figure out what bingos might have been possible. And at second glance, there was actually one other spot to bingo out. But I'm not sure she would have seen it.

7 things I learned at club this week

1. don't play a phony in a desperate attempt to win an unwinnable end game without seeing if it opens up an easy out-bingo for your opponent. (In this case, I had DDNNRU? and tried UNDeR(WET)* for 33, leaving me with an out play of D(O)N. Unfortunately, I didn't take the .5 seconds to see that I set him up for RELATIO(N)).

2. There are 4 bingos in LORSTY?.

3. There is 1 bingo in DELMNRY?.

4. There is an even awesomer* bingo in ADIRRWY?

5. GASSINGS is not a phony.

6. It's possible for me to make mistakes 2 thru 5 and still win a game.

7. I need to look harder for parallel plays when I don't have other ways to score decently.

Seven things I learned at club this week.

hook1. If you're fishing off two tiles to get a bingo-prone rack, and the board is closed, put them somewhere that opens it up. (even if it's a few less points)

2. DULA* is not an alternate spelling of DOULA. (didn't challenge it, but mainly because it took the TWS for a low score, and I couldn't put anything there anyways.)

3. KAFTANS is good. (spotted on another board.)

4. AMI-, CAS-, EDU-, EVO-, PEC- and PLA- are all ways to extend an opening move of CABLE.

5. ALCADES is good. (anagram is eSCALADE; it's an alternate spelling of ALCALDES.  Interestingly, I knew ALCAIDE, which is a slightly different word, and convinced myself I was imagining it without the I.)

6. RELAYERS* is not good!!!! Best phony I've seen in a while.

7. EDGIER takes front hooks H, L, S, W. (couldn't remember them from a month ago, when someone played EDGY on me.)

Albany

Got to visit the Albany club while up here on vacation... it took me about an hour and fifteen minutes of driving on mostly small county roads, but I was able to make it for games 2 through 4, thanks to our GPS. I almost panicked when I got back into the van for the return trip, because the power outlet didn't work at first. I'm pretty sure that I would have been totally screwed, even if I had a map.

Anyway,  I went 1-2, which was a bit frustrating; I felt like I was the better player in most of the matchups, at least as far as word knowledge, but I'm still trying to learn the strategies of opening and closing lanes. I drew both blanks in the winning game, though the second blank was late in the game and not really a factor. In the two games I lost, I didn't draw either blank but was in contention for most of the game. Both times, I could sense that my opponent had one (or two) of the blanks and was close to bingoing, but couldn't find a way to close the board. I think the last game may have been winnable if I played my endgame right, but it was close to 10 o'clock, and I thought I had mistracked. (In reality, I just didn't see the Y that wasn't crossed off- maybe because the tracking sheets were new to me.)

I plan on posting the second two games, so please feel free to check them out and leave a comment if you have any advice. I'm also going to count tiles to come up with a tile turnover/ blanks acquired stat. I was thinking after the game about how the common 'I got horrible tiles' complaint is similar to the 'They got both blanks' complaint; in both cases, of course, the error often lies with the complainer. The first is often due to bad rack management, and the second due to smaller tile turnover. So I figure if I play through, say, more than 60% of the tiles in a game and still don't draw a blank, then maybe I have a right to complain. Am I off base here?

And lastly, kudos to the Albany club for running a great club- they have score cards that are tallied as the night goes on, with wins, losses, and cumulative score recorded, which they use to determine matchings as the night goes on; as well as the overall winner for the evening.  Maybe my home club is more relaxed in this respect, but I think it would be fun to do. They also keep track of a 'club rating', which I've seen in other clubs and wouldn't mind instilling in ours. There was a fun contest for best baseball-related word played (in honor of Steinbrenner). Hopefully I'll make it again next time I'm in town.