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NSC 2014 Commentary: Round 14

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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 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 14

Adam Logan (Ottawa ON) continues his winning ways in the Collins division and ends today 14-0. He played Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) this round and had a 468-418 win. I see Dave’s VENATOR# and TEGMENTA. Adam played PERILUNE, AEROSOL, and ENTAsIA. They contributed on QUIVERER.

Michael Gincel (Lakewood, NJ) is ready to end this day with a drink. I ask if he is quite old enough for that and he slams open his wallet to show me his license. He is 23! Shocking! I thought he was 18 at most. I suspect that some might accuse him of carrying a false ID.

Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX) won his match with Becky Dyer (Austin, TX) by 7 points. I see NUNCIO, FERMENTS, VIFDAS#, and CREAtING.

Shan Abbasi (Mississauga ON) is delighted to have won a game without having a blank. He made terrific plays with the premium tiles: UNJAM for 52 and three bingos: TRIOXIDE, DUALIZE, and AQUATONE. Apologies to Cecilia Huber (Cleveland, OH).

Some words from the David Whitley (Monrovia, CA) vs. John OLaughlin (San Francisco, CA) board: RaOULIA#, SYNDICAL, bAWDIER, LOGOI, WADT#, BEPAINTS, BHUNA#, and MAGNOX# (magnesium oxide). John won that, 471-333.

Dan Lichtblau (Los Angeles, CA) played at table 1 in division 4 against Doug Critchlow (Columbus, OH). In profess, I saw PASTURE and ENSOULs. Another bingo went down and I wanted to catch it, but got pulled away to another game. Maybe he will fill me in tomorrow. He won, 412-292. Dan updates me! He found pIEROGI for 70 which he considers to be a top contender for the “Best Buffalo” word. Wait: is there a prize for that?

A very excited Shelley Kirk (Wyoming, OH) comes up and tells me she thinks she is in first place in the division. She is excited to see a woman leading ANY division at this point. Cheers to Shelley!

Ted Gest (Washington, DC) played a tough game at table 1 in division 3 this round against Ida Scaglione (Tonawanda, NY). I was there as the game wrapped up and they dove instantly into a long discussion about possible other plays. I see Ida’s EAGEREST and OUTGIRD*. Ted played RECaNINg and SARDINES. Ted pointed out that 4 of the first 7 plays were bingos and then after that they struggled. She won, 417-387.

Risa Horowitz (Regina SK) and Betsy Chai (Calgary AB) are in a post-game discussion. I see FACTIONERS*, COOLERS, WINGERs, and FaNNERS. I think ACTION, then ACTIONERS went down before it became a phony. Risa won, 421-310. Adam Logan (Ottawa ON), seeing me type this up says that there is an acceptable anagram for FACTIONERS. Have at it, you all!

Chris Schneider (Chicago, IL) pulls me across the room to see his back-to-back 9s game against, Gary Skowronski (Silver Spring, MD). REEDITING through separated R and E (so second E) and ZIBELINeS through EL for the second one. I asked if it was good and Gary chimed in, “Oh, we know it’s good. I challenged.” I see Gary’s ALUnITE, PREXY on triple, and OUTSIDES through the D. Chris played ELECTROS. He tells me that he owes Rahn McKeown (Cary, NC) a beer, because Rahn played ZIBELINES earlier today and told him about it. For some reason, Chris not only remembered it, but found it on his rack. I think maybe two beers? three? A 474-395 win for Chris.

Jonathan Kent (Unknown city, NY) bestows upon me his end of the day visit again today. He is now 9-5 so slightly happier than yesterday, but he wants me to warn the division. He is coming on strong tomorrow. He had a fun 4-bingo game in which he scored a 536. There was a bingo/bango/bongo of DILATED, AIRLINES, and SCOURING. Then later, a double-double SYRINGE for 102.

Toronto area denizen, Joseph Bowman, stopped by this afternoon. He would have loved to play this year, but he had to work one day of the event. He honestly contemplated registering and taking 7 losses and registering anyway, but in the end, he thought it unethical. So, we get a nice visit instead.

Andy Saunders (Guelph ON) is happy to end today 7-7. He is one cheery guy!

Alan Stern (Shadow Hills, CA) went 3-4 today and points out the very nerdy statsy thing of how many bingos were played in those games: 32. Alan played 17 and his opponents played 15. They must have been high-scoring bingos for sure!

The Youth SCRABBLE event ended today and the kids had an awards ceremony downstairs. Check out the shots in this rounds photos. Full results are available on this site and I’ll report more tomorrow on this as it is underway as I type.

We are tired to the bone after two long days, but I see people laughing and making dinner plans and heading out en masse. See you all tomorrow morning!