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.

Alternate spellings to 'common' bingos, Part Three

It's really amusing to me that after playing this game for about 3 years, I can see a word (in this case, TRENAILS) played dozens of times, and not know that it has two alternate spellings. Ok, I already knew TREENAILS, but I didn't know TRUNNELS. Don't tell anyone, but it's going to be the 'missed 3x3' quiz in the next podcast. Luckily, I was able to play VENTAI(L)S for 149 in the same spot on my next turn. And later, ZOA/A(VENTAILS)! The downside is that I was playing someone who was at club for the first time. Hopefully I didn't scare her off.

Episode 58 notes

Wait, you haven't heard it yet!? Well download it here!


RACOON (CORONAels), RACCOON


common bingo, uncommon definition
ANESTRI plural of ANESTRUS a period of sexual dormancy SAUNTERS

OVERGROWns
OUTGROW

extensions
SATIRE + P
ANTIPARTIES, NONPARTIES
ASPIRATES ,BIOPIRATES

snapbacks:
BEN DIA FAN OXA ZINES
better to play ZEINS


DIQUAT- dahy-kwot herb/pesti/insecticide of the month
past features: DIELDRIN, NALED, ZINEB

$ of the month KROON(S/I)  former monetary unit of estonia

ENDEXINE an inner layer of the exine

SIDESLIP to slip to one side
SLIPCASEds a protective box for a book (SPECIALS)
cOVERSLIPst to leave out/ SLIPOVER a pullover
SLIPWARE a type of pottery

STAITHE a wharf equipped for transporting coal from railroad cars into ships

Sweet Front Extension

I've been playing a guy on Facebook Scrabble who has the last name of Axelrod- often when I find someone whom I have a fun (usually close) game with, I'll end up playing several games in a row with them.

Another thing I do with people I repeatedly play on Facebook is title the games with interesting 'scrabble' words...  So in this case, I was looking for a longer word that contained AXEL in it.. and apparently, the only one is


PACLITAXEL n. An anticancer drug derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree and used in the treatment of ovarian and breast cancer that has not responded to prior therapy.

How cool is that!? I guess this is actually the full name for another 'scrabble' word, TAXOL. Oh, and ANTICANCER is good, too, in case you were wondering. Now I just have to remember to check for ACILPT on my rack next time someone plays AXEL next door to a TWS or DWS.

Oh, and if you're interested in playing me on Facebook, (and if you're relatively indiscriminate about who you 'friend' there, like me), feel free to email me.

Today's Link

In the most recent podcast, I mentioned a blog that often lists interesting groups of words, most currently WEED words. Find it here.

Found Word of the Day

This week's word is brought to you courtesy of the break room at my office. One never knows what treasures will be found there: doughnuts or last night's pizza brought in by a coworker, some trashy paperback novels, or DULSE with garlic.

DULSE has 4 anagrams:
DUELS, LEUDS, LUDES, and SLUED.

DULSE is apparently an edible seaweed.. there was another delicious sounding container of stuff in which the main ingredient was KELP.... which for your information, takes an S front hook, as well as a Y back hook.

Episode 57 notes

MAY- to gather flowers in the spring

cool MAY extensions:
MAYHAPPEN MAYORALTY MAYWEED

alt spelling KEF KIF KAIF KEEF KIEF

SATIRE + L

ANTIREALIST(S)
HYPERREALIST(IC) (NO S)
NEOREALIST(S)(IC)
SURREALIST(S)(IC)
ULTRAREALIST(S)(IC)

REALISTIC(ALLY)
(UN)REALISTIC(ALLY)

CURTAILERS
DETAILERS
ENTAILERS
RETAILERS

over and out: OVERFAST adj OUTFAST v

jqxz word
JARRAH an evergreen tree
MANQUE frustrated in the fulfillment of one's aspirations (adj)
UNAXED (adj)
OZALID a process of printing positive images from film

-IING words you may not know (SKIING, TAXIING)
ALIBIING
HONGIING to greet another by pressing noses together
PIING (PIEING)to jumble or disorder

LINURON a herbicide