EUDAIMONs watching over us...a truly blessed weekend...
It was the best of times...it was the worst of times...
But aruspex is victorious and finishes in the money at 3rd place.
Hello gentle readers. Here's how it went down this weekend:
After filling up the car with our Scrabble gear and other assorted goodies, Tom picked me up from work and we began the somewhat arduous drive to East Lansing. This was our first tournament drive since I've moved to Chicago and I think that's what made the drive feel so long. Before, when I'd fly out for a weekend and then we'd get in the car for a 3-5 hour road trip, it didn't feel exhaustive because I was just so excited to see Tom and talk Scrabble and laugh with his fool ass...but now that I see him everyday it felt exactly like what it was, a long ass drive on a hot ass afternoon. We still hadn't received voice or email confirmation from aruspex about whether he was definitely in or even knew where we were staying. After arriving in East Lansing and finding the Red Roof Inn, we found out that yes, aruspex knew exactly where we were staying and had even gone so far as to already check in and pay for the room!
We shared some laughs and some wine Friday night and while the boys settled in for a couple of games of Scrabble, my ass settled in for a couple of hours of sleep. A strange thing has happened to me since I've moved to Chicago. I cannot sleep past 5:12am. And usually I wake up right at 5:12 am on the dot. (This morning tired and hung over, my internal clock was off by one minute and I arose at 5:11, quelle horror...in true pothead nature, I digress). So I awoke really early on Saturday morning and lay in bed thinking about how excited I was to play Scrabble and how lucky I am to have a Scrabble partner-in-crime (HWSNBN) who has the opportunity to play and travel as much as I do. Do you ever wake up and you're just truly grateful for the people and experiences you've been given? I drifted back to sleep for an hour or two with a smile on my face and woke up ready to hear the shake of the tiles.
aruspex and I climbed into Tom's car and the three of us made the short trip over to campus. Another digression: Michigan State University has a lovely, green, sprawling campus that bowled me over. College in New York City did not really expose me to campus life and I found myself imagining how different life could've been had I ended up at a Big 10 school, like my 'safety school' Ohio State. We find the playing room easily and spend some time reconnecting with some of our most favorite Scrabble friends, The MI-OH-KY contingent (which includes my Scrabble crush Chuck Armstrong). After a short wait, we're ready for pairings.
The field of this tournament was split right in the middle to create 2 open divisions. A unique and exciting concept indeed. I only needed to pick up 12 more points to finally get over the mental hurdle of 1000 and I was ready to do it. Mark Garrod announced the pairings and as I heard my name called I got a sinking feeling in my stomach as I discovered my first opponent would be none other than aruspex.
GAME 1: vs. KMAC aka aruspex, L: 232-484
He is a Scrabble force to be reckoned with. There was nothing I could do to stop the bleeding as he double blanked me to great effect, laying down three bingos (C(O)REMIaS*, WA(I)tRONS, TR(E)MBLED) among other high point plays. At least I gave him some vaulable spread points that might help him later! Depsite the 252 point tromp, I still feel positive because I played as well as I could with my racks. I will quackle the game and discover this to be a distruth, but for right now that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
GAME 2: vs Mr. Bye, W: 50-0
Because of my shitastic showing against KMac, I was relegated to the bottom of the field, receiving a nice shiny bye as reward for the 4 hour drive...
GAME 3: vs. Carolyn Kribs, W: 423-339
Despite an early bingo (SPRINGY) that I responded to in kind (ELUSION), Carolyn wasn't able to put the game away. I benefited from some nice finds such as CA(L)IF on the triple and scored steadily while she fished for the tiles to bingo with the second blank. By then, she'd played off and fished so much that her 68 point pATTIES merely brought her within 70. And I just kept scoring...
GAME 4: vs. Fred Oswald, W: 385-331
Fred had this game in the bag before the fishing virus invaded him as well. As a reformed fisher, I can spot the sickness in others and now I'm just hoping to take advantage of it. After averaging 30 points per play through the first 6 turns without bingoing, he stood with a 60 point lead. I found rAFTING easily on my rack and as I laid it down saying the score aloud, it didn't seem like it was worth enough points. I retracted my hand from its position headed toward the clock and looked at the board again. Open D dangling in A15...rAFTING becomes (D)rAFTING for 98. At this point I have a mere 10 point lead and Fred begins his fishing expedition while I shut down all lanes picking up points here and there to increase my lead enough to justify the 7 point shut down plays. He averages 15 points per play over his last 6 turns. I feel great that I beat the eventual winner of the division without drawing the bag!
GAME 5: vs. Joanne Grow, W: 360-331
And now, here's the highlight of my weekend...where it all comes together for your dear girl, gentle reader. Joanne pulls ahead early with GALLERI(A) and I just keep making plays to stay in waiting for my opportunity to bingo. That opportunity never comes and 10 turns into the game (with 5 more turns left) I am down by exactly 100 points. I hold NJOYSQD on my rack and there's an s hook to the trip lane. If only I had and E, I could play ENJOYS for a lot of points. I decide (probably foolishly) to exchange the Q and the D, in hopes that I'd get one of the remaining 4 Es. I do draw it and play ENJOYS for 69. After her FA response, it's still a 58 point game. Back and forth we go until I take my last draw. I have to bingo out to win. But she's done a great job of shutting the board down. My last rack looks hopeless: AEINOU? and only one letter to play through: an M! I'm cursing myself and Scrabble under my breath when I start just looking at the rack and wouldn't I be damned, I see it almost instantly. I take a deep breath, steady my shaking hands and lay it down (one of only two words in this rack): EUdAI(M)ON. There's some history with this word...Tom and I have had numerous conversations about the alternate spellings of the word on meandering drives to play Scrabble through the heartland and one of his favorite songs is Eudemon(by Greg Brown I think). We'd never discussed the alternate spelling that I'd just played. But in the children's fantasy series "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman, the children's spirits are daimons...so I drew the logical conclusion that put an eu in front and it'd be a good spirit. I was 90% certain it was good, but Joanne had to challenge since it was my outplay. Trembling, I walked to the Word Judge and held my breath as she typed in the word. Tab brings back the green screen and a huge gasp of air for yours truly. I make eye contact with Tom on the way back who is genuinely intrigued by what's going on. When he finally finishes his game and I tell him the word we've both got stupid ass smiles on our faces that won't come off. Chuck Armstrong comes over and looks at my rack (hah, I wish it was my rack) and says oh yeah, you got EXONUMIA in there as well. Paul Epstein hears the story and I add some of my self-deprecating wit, "And I'm only rated 972," I say. "Finding and playing words like EUDAIMON and you won't be for very long." That made me feel so good. Here's a pic of the board for posterity.
...more to come. More write ups. More carjackings. More teary-eyed games...check back later tonight for the rest of the rundowns...
But aruspex is victorious and finishes in the money at 3rd place.
Hello gentle readers. Here's how it went down this weekend:
After filling up the car with our Scrabble gear and other assorted goodies, Tom picked me up from work and we began the somewhat arduous drive to East Lansing. This was our first tournament drive since I've moved to Chicago and I think that's what made the drive feel so long. Before, when I'd fly out for a weekend and then we'd get in the car for a 3-5 hour road trip, it didn't feel exhaustive because I was just so excited to see Tom and talk Scrabble and laugh with his fool ass...but now that I see him everyday it felt exactly like what it was, a long ass drive on a hot ass afternoon. We still hadn't received voice or email confirmation from aruspex about whether he was definitely in or even knew where we were staying. After arriving in East Lansing and finding the Red Roof Inn, we found out that yes, aruspex knew exactly where we were staying and had even gone so far as to already check in and pay for the room!
We shared some laughs and some wine Friday night and while the boys settled in for a couple of games of Scrabble, my ass settled in for a couple of hours of sleep. A strange thing has happened to me since I've moved to Chicago. I cannot sleep past 5:12am. And usually I wake up right at 5:12 am on the dot. (This morning tired and hung over, my internal clock was off by one minute and I arose at 5:11, quelle horror...in true pothead nature, I digress). So I awoke really early on Saturday morning and lay in bed thinking about how excited I was to play Scrabble and how lucky I am to have a Scrabble partner-in-crime (HWSNBN) who has the opportunity to play and travel as much as I do. Do you ever wake up and you're just truly grateful for the people and experiences you've been given? I drifted back to sleep for an hour or two with a smile on my face and woke up ready to hear the shake of the tiles.
aruspex and I climbed into Tom's car and the three of us made the short trip over to campus. Another digression: Michigan State University has a lovely, green, sprawling campus that bowled me over. College in New York City did not really expose me to campus life and I found myself imagining how different life could've been had I ended up at a Big 10 school, like my 'safety school' Ohio State. We find the playing room easily and spend some time reconnecting with some of our most favorite Scrabble friends, The MI-OH-KY contingent (which includes my Scrabble crush Chuck Armstrong). After a short wait, we're ready for pairings.
The field of this tournament was split right in the middle to create 2 open divisions. A unique and exciting concept indeed. I only needed to pick up 12 more points to finally get over the mental hurdle of 1000 and I was ready to do it. Mark Garrod announced the pairings and as I heard my name called I got a sinking feeling in my stomach as I discovered my first opponent would be none other than aruspex.
GAME 1: vs. KMAC aka aruspex, L: 232-484
He is a Scrabble force to be reckoned with. There was nothing I could do to stop the bleeding as he double blanked me to great effect, laying down three bingos (C(O)REMIaS*, WA(I)tRONS, TR(E)MBLED) among other high point plays. At least I gave him some vaulable spread points that might help him later! Depsite the 252 point tromp, I still feel positive because I played as well as I could with my racks. I will quackle the game and discover this to be a distruth, but for right now that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
GAME 2: vs Mr. Bye, W: 50-0
Because of my shitastic showing against KMac, I was relegated to the bottom of the field, receiving a nice shiny bye as reward for the 4 hour drive...
GAME 3: vs. Carolyn Kribs, W: 423-339
Despite an early bingo (SPRINGY) that I responded to in kind (ELUSION), Carolyn wasn't able to put the game away. I benefited from some nice finds such as CA(L)IF on the triple and scored steadily while she fished for the tiles to bingo with the second blank. By then, she'd played off and fished so much that her 68 point pATTIES merely brought her within 70. And I just kept scoring...
GAME 4: vs. Fred Oswald, W: 385-331
Fred had this game in the bag before the fishing virus invaded him as well. As a reformed fisher, I can spot the sickness in others and now I'm just hoping to take advantage of it. After averaging 30 points per play through the first 6 turns without bingoing, he stood with a 60 point lead. I found rAFTING easily on my rack and as I laid it down saying the score aloud, it didn't seem like it was worth enough points. I retracted my hand from its position headed toward the clock and looked at the board again. Open D dangling in A15...rAFTING becomes (D)rAFTING for 98. At this point I have a mere 10 point lead and Fred begins his fishing expedition while I shut down all lanes picking up points here and there to increase my lead enough to justify the 7 point shut down plays. He averages 15 points per play over his last 6 turns. I feel great that I beat the eventual winner of the division without drawing the bag!
GAME 5: vs. Joanne Grow, W: 360-331
And now, here's the highlight of my weekend...where it all comes together for your dear girl, gentle reader. Joanne pulls ahead early with GALLERI(A) and I just keep making plays to stay in waiting for my opportunity to bingo. That opportunity never comes and 10 turns into the game (with 5 more turns left) I am down by exactly 100 points. I hold NJOYSQD on my rack and there's an s hook to the trip lane. If only I had and E, I could play ENJOYS for a lot of points. I decide (probably foolishly) to exchange the Q and the D, in hopes that I'd get one of the remaining 4 Es. I do draw it and play ENJOYS for 69. After her FA response, it's still a 58 point game. Back and forth we go until I take my last draw. I have to bingo out to win. But she's done a great job of shutting the board down. My last rack looks hopeless: AEINOU? and only one letter to play through: an M! I'm cursing myself and Scrabble under my breath when I start just looking at the rack and wouldn't I be damned, I see it almost instantly. I take a deep breath, steady my shaking hands and lay it down (one of only two words in this rack): EUdAI(M)ON. There's some history with this word...Tom and I have had numerous conversations about the alternate spellings of the word on meandering drives to play Scrabble through the heartland and one of his favorite songs is Eudemon(by Greg Brown I think). We'd never discussed the alternate spelling that I'd just played. But in the children's fantasy series "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman, the children's spirits are daimons...so I drew the logical conclusion that put an eu in front and it'd be a good spirit. I was 90% certain it was good, but Joanne had to challenge since it was my outplay. Trembling, I walked to the Word Judge and held my breath as she typed in the word. Tab brings back the green screen and a huge gasp of air for yours truly. I make eye contact with Tom on the way back who is genuinely intrigued by what's going on. When he finally finishes his game and I tell him the word we've both got stupid ass smiles on our faces that won't come off. Chuck Armstrong comes over and looks at my rack (hah, I wish it was my rack) and says oh yeah, you got EXONUMIA in there as well. Paul Epstein hears the story and I add some of my self-deprecating wit, "And I'm only rated 972," I say. "Finding and playing words like EUDAIMON and you won't be for very long." That made me feel so good. Here's a pic of the board for posterity.
...more to come. More write ups. More carjackings. More teary-eyed games...check back later tonight for the rest of the rundowns...