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NSC 2011 Commentary: Round 17

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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 17

We are getting punchy. Someone named D. Turner lost to D. Pounder in division 4 and Dan Stock almost has a short story about it! I met Daniel Pounder (Slidell, LA) outside between rounds and he tells me he is from the Metarie club run by Lila Crotty (Metairie, LA). I find out news from him. One, he is to be a dad in January and his wife recently took up playing club SCRABBLE, too, because she was tired of losing to him at home. In addition, Lila and Tim are expecting their first grandchild in October. So hearty congrats go out to everyone involved (Lindsay and James and Nell). Daniel started out poorly and is now 9-9 +78ish. This is his first nationals and he hopes it won't be his last (new parenthood DOES have its responsibilities).

Several players have expressed sorrow at not seeing Word Gear at the NSC this year. I tell them that they can stil get all the great items at the Word Gear web site: http://wordgear.com.

Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON) played fellow Canadian Ross Brown (Ottawa ON) this round. While I was watching, Robin tried ASTHENAR*, which Ross challenged. Off it came. She threw up her hands and said she had to try it. He agreed. On their board, I see Ross' ANTIROLL, ENdOWING, and EXEQuY. Robin played RUTTISH and PIECINGS. Ross' win, 469-342. Ross is having such a great NSC!

Kenji Matsumoto (Aiea, HI) vs. Jesse Day (Berkeley, CA): LABORER, ATTENDS, CINDERS, PeNTANE, REINDEX.

Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) vs. Nigel Peltier (Seattle, WA): GANISTER for 80, ACTiVES for 78, and CRITERIa for 67. A close game, Dave's win, 383-374.

Perhaps the most interesting game today is the one that took place at table 2 between Nigel Richards (Malaysia) and Scott Appel (Trenton, NJ). Having one of those moments, Scott thought UNCTION took J, F, R. So, he opened with RUNCTiON*. Nigel called it off and had to think through a response with tiles he knew. So, he did something so great. He played IT, for nothing, knowing that Scott would come back with UNiCORN/NIT. And Scott did. While playing IT, Nigel held a Q and a blank. So, pick a few tiles, get a U in the triple lane, and what do you do? Play ALIQUAnT of course. I mean, talk about something else! Other words: ARMREST and PEAHENS. A 424-421 win for Nigel. Dallas Johnson, upon hearing this story, said it reminded him of a game that Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME) played with Nigel long ago. Nigel played BI and next turn hung DECAGOnAL onto BIn for a bunch of points!

Joe Edley (Port Jefferson, NY) is having just terrible luck this tournament. In one game, ahead by 45 near the end of the game, his opponent is trying to open the board as he is trying to close it. Joe played ANTEED to close. He picked 6 replacement tiles. And his opponent then played RAY to the AY to open up. Of the 14 tiles Joe had to draw from, 7 of them would have given him a blocking play. He got 6 of 14 that did nothing and he ended up losing due to an inability to block.

Mike Lean (Washington, DC) is now up to two losses with the game this round with Tracy Bowman (Chicago, IL). I see WIZENING, AIRPOSTS, PeRIODS, MANTLER*, and RESELECT. She is now 11-6 and feels back in the game!

Phenom Jack Overby (Rosemount, MN) just beat Sam Rosin (Bernardsville, NJ), 567-372. Holding AEEINTT, he found ORIENTATE from the OR, a nice 9! He also found QUANGOS. As a matter of fact, Jack has defeated Robert Gillis (Owens X Roads, AL), Dielle Saldanha (Richmond BC), Joel Wapnick (Montreal QC), and Marty Gabriel (Charleston, IL) before Sam. He is just crusing! And the thing is, he's such a great kid! He's just finished his first year at Northwestern University. Both of his parents are here (they look like his siblings!) and they could not be more proud of him! Players in his club in Minnesota are deighted, too. This is his third NASPA tournament, and he is in division 1 at the NSC taking names!

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.



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