The Elusive QUETZAL

4th Place

With a record of 7-4 I placed 4th in the Scrabble Tournament, just a half game out of the money. I won two Scrabble books and a cute calendar of cats and kittens.

I started out 0-2, but ended up 3-3 by the end of the first day. The next day, I won 4 in a row before losing my final game.

In my first game, my opponent opened with HAZES (42 pts), then bingoed with CRANKERS (86 pts) which was immediately followed by MIXTURES (71 pts). So at the end of three turns I was down 199 to 61. It was a demoralizing introduction to the world of competitive Scrabble. But I finished strong and lost by a respectable 59 points. Score 385-326.

I also lost my second game. I started to think that I was a lamb among lions. Later I found out I had just lost to two pretty good players, the eventual 2nd and 3rd place winners.

My third game I bingoed thrice and won big time. I was so excited I took a picture of the board.

I opened with OUTDEAL*, which I later found out was not acceptable. Then I tried to play PANTIES off of YO to form YOS*. He challenged it and, of course, YOS* is unacceptable so I had to take it off the board and lost a turn in the process. But then he played ZED so I could then play PANTIES on ZED to make ZEDS. Later I had an eight letter bingo with CORNIEST. I won 465-241, a spread of 224.

At one point I played JIAO, which he challenged and lost. He was thinking that the A was before the I. Later in the tournament against another player I played it again. My opponent later played an S on it to make JIAOS* which I almost challenged, but didn't. I later found out was unacceptable. Thus I learned a lesson:

JIAO n pl. JIAO chiao

CHIAO n pl. CHIAO a monetary unit of China

CIAO interj--used as an exression of greeting and farewell

About half of the bingoes I played I later found out weren't good, but they went unchallenged. I played UNSPELT* (SPELT is good) and MASTADON* (MASTODON is good). I played INDENTS off of UM to make UMS*.

But I did make some good plays that were legal. After nearly giving myself a hernia I finally remembered the one word among the RETINA+L list that began with a T so I could play a T off of TAR to form TART while bingoing with TRENAIL. My opponent challenged and when it came up good he asked, "What is it?" and I said, "I don't know. It's a word on a list."

TRENAIL n pl. -S treenail

TREENAIL n pl. -S a wooden peg used for fastening timbers

Other fun words I played were BLISSES, EXURB, AZOLE, EQUID, CHINOS, QAID, ZEIN, QUINOA, and XENON.

Everyone I played was very nice and Rhonda Roederer did an excellent job of organizing it. My next tournament will be right here in Baton Rouge on the first weekend in December.

Scrabble Tourney Today

Today begins my first Scrabble tournament. I will venture forth to the sprawling metropolis of Carencro, Louisiana and when I get there I will ask where the biggest building in town is.

I play 6 games today and 5 tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

Word of the day:

KAISERIN n pl. -S a kaiser's wife

The Rocky Balboa of Scrabble

My wife could say that I have been a bit obsessive about Scrabble lately. Am I obsessed because I curled up with my OSPD last night in order to memorize all the words that begin with X (there's only 42 entries. 16 of which start XY-. Some good ones are XEBEC, XENIA, XYLAN, and XERUS. I should remember XERUS because the animal in the Sweet Pickles books that began with X was X-rated Xerus). Am I obsessed because in my pocket I carry a stack of neon-colored flash cards that have bingo stems on them (RETINA + M = MINARET, RAIMENT).

I think obsession has such a negative connotation. I mean, do people say that Mike Phelps is obsessive about swimming, or Mia Hamm is obsessive about soccer or so and so is obsessed with Greco-Roman wrestling? These people train constantly to compete in an event that only happens once every four years. And think of all the people who put in all the effort and don't even make it to the games.

So now that I found out that there is a Scrabble tournament in Lafayette this month, I know I'm not obsessed. I'm training!

So put on the Rocky music.

There I am, running up the stairs of the state capitol. I pull out a bright yellow card from my pocket. It reads: TISANE + Z. I cry out, "ZANIEST! ZEATINS!" I pump my arms into the air.

There I am at my computer putting in long hours on the Internet Scrabble Club. My eyes are half-closed; I'm slumped over, resting my head on my hand. My elbow slips off the desk, and I wake up. I look at the screen. I've been asleep for five minutes. I'm about to lose on time. I look at my rack. HUUSOEN. Then I lay down UNHOUSE to win the game. I pump my arms into the air.

There I am taking a steaming bubble bath. I have a printout of three-letter words. Next to a list of words that begin KA-, I write BEEF STY. With sweat dripping off my nose, I close my eyes and recite the list, "KAB, KAE, KAF, KAS, KAT, KAY." I pump my arms into the air.

There I am at a darkened front porch with a newly purchased Deluxe Scrabble board tucked under my arms. I check the address on a scrap of paper I have.

Thursday: Scrabble Club, 7 p.m., at 15045 Old Hammond Highway. Bring Scrabble board, chess clock is optional.

I tentatively knock on the door. A tall serious looking man opens the door. "Is this where the Scrabble Club meets?" I ask sheepishly. He repies, "Why, but of course." I pump my arms into the air.

The Unbelievable ZLOTYS

I apologize for once again blogging about Scrabble. However, if I am to blog about what I've doing lately, then I must blog about Scrabble.

The strangest coincidence happened yesterday. I was watching a game being played by two of the top rated players. One of the words played was ZLOTES. I figured LOTES are common letters that may appear with Z once in a while, so it would probably be a good word to know. So I looked it up in the OSPD, and voila: ZLOTY a monetary unit of Poland. ZLOTYS, ZLOTE, ZLOTIES, or ZLOTYCH are also playable. But ZLOTES is not. I can understand a top player not knowing this little exception, since it defies common sense that ZLOTYS and ZLOTIES are playable, as well as ZLOTE, but not ZLOTES. So with my lesson learned, I decided to play a game. Here is the first rack. The other player with the blue tiles went first and put down DINER.

I felt like I had been struck by lightning. To get this rack after just learning the word five minutes before...the odds are astronomical. I took a minute to look for other plays before I put it down.

In fact, it's probably unbelievable. I had told the other player something like "You don't know how long I've waited to play that word." I was going to tell him/her that it had been five minutes, but I was afraid of being accused of cheating.

I've had much higher scoring plays, but the satisfaction level on this play is pretty high. (Upon analysis, GLITZY and ZYGOTE are pretty good plays also. ZLOTYS ends up being the highest scoring play for the rack, at least according to the ISC computer examiner. But GLITZY might be a better play because it would have scored 38, just one point less than ZLOTYS, and I would have kept the S). I ended up winning the game by a scant 11 points.

My Internet Scrabble Club rating is up to 1124 now.