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NSC 2009 Commentary: Round 15

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 15

A beautiful sunny day in Dayton and at 9am sharp the playing room is full of the tinkle of tiles! My funny of the day is delivered by John Robertson. It says: If Su Edwards (Cambridge ON) marrid Gary Perman (Blairsville, PA), she would be SuPerman.

Jon Shreve (Denver, CO) had a 615-315 win against Alan Helfgott (Chicago, IL) this round. The board is six bingos. Alan had one: HElPING for 79, and Jon had five: FILATURE to the E for 74, FRONTiNG from the F for 65, JOLLIERS from the J for 98, OUTRAISE to the E making KI/OS for 85, and WAISTED for 70 as an outbingo.

I watch some games in progress this round. On a Sam Hollington (St. Catharines ON) vs. Matt Robin (Sterling Heights, MI) board, I see MONIKER and MOLLuSKA. And just as I'm about to move on, ENTHUSE/GOINGS on the triple goes down for 100 crisp points!

Thomas Reinke (Middleton, WI) and Tyler Hannan (Winchester, KY) are at board 1 in div 2. I see IDOLATERs and CLARIEsT in their in-progress game.

Joey Krafchick (Roswell, GA) and Adrian Mannella (Chicago, IL) are just picking up their game as I walk by. It was a 480-429 win for the School SCRABBLE star. Adrian played JAROSItE for 78 and PRINTOUT for 64. Joey's plays were BEMAZED for 93, GLADIEST for 80, and the fun QUANTS for 70.

Best friends, former Texas School SCRABBLE champs on different years, Matt Canik (Austin, TX) and Stephen Sneed (Ft. Worth, TX) squared off this round. It was a real dominate win for Matt, 472-292. He said he "hoped" that they were still best friends after this game. Stephen assured him they were. Stephen made the nice play of ZONAE for 68 and Matt played MURAENID for 74, aUNTLIER for 66, and MISLAYs for 70.

On a David Meredith (Bowling Green, KY) vs. Doug Szymkowiak (North Ridgeville, OH) in-progress board, I see MARINATE for 64 by Doug and GRILLEd for 62 by David.

Tristan Vanech (Venice, CA) is playing Donna Leigh (Menomonee Falls, WI) this round. I see her gorgeous BANJOEs for 96 and his PATTINg for 75. Just as I start to walk away, he puts down DOURIES/SCUM for 61.

Dan Stock loves words and being clever with them. He suggested I check out the Elizabeth Davis (Dayton, OH) vs. Florence Rott (Amherst, NY) board because it has "great panache." I get there an see it really does have PANAcHE on it!

Christopher Walleck (Lakewood, OH) and Joan Knobelsdorf (Palm Harbor, FL) take a field trip to the challenge machine. She looks up ZITIS/SIEUR, which is ruled acceptable. I go back to their board and see her ENdANGERS for 61. It was her win, 411-304.

Brian Miller (Orlando, FL) has a round board painted to resemble a pepperoni pizza. He played Chris Canik (Austin, TX) at table 1 with this board and lost, 354-386. I see DEbATiNG and MILKERS on their board.

Max Karten (Barrington, RI) is playing Aditya Kini (Indianapolis, IN) and their board is pretty pretty. Aditya seems to have played SERENADE and TELERANS. Max has played FAIReST and TURGiTES. He wasn't paying attention and overdrew in the endgame and Aditya tossed back his A. It broke Max's heart, because he had great plans for that A. Instead he settled for playing TENORIZE through the I and to the E. It was Max's win.

Katya Lezin (Charlotte, NC) played a triple-triple at some point in this event: OUTSWEEP for 167 points. She was playing Roger Cullman (Toronto ON) and when she cheered that it was good, she instantly felt bad and apologized for her bad sportsmanship. He assured her that a 167-point play was cheerworthy and that she should enjoy the moment!

Katie Devanney (Paoli, PA) has a big grin and I ask her about her game. She tells me she held DHWILN? in the endgame and she played DHOW/REMOVED for 33 points to win by 10 in a close game with Lynda Wise (Toronto ON).

Rod MacNeil (Cambridge, MA) eked out a 1-point win against Andrew Solomon (Barrington, IL), 421-420. They ended with a 3-point lead for Rod and then did the recount and it dwindled to one point. I see Andrew's RECREaTOR through the RE for 90 and JETSETS. Rod played ZONARIAL and BUDGIEs.