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NASC 2015 Commentary: Round 22

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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.

Round 22

The broken record plays again: today is a gorgeous day! We managed to gather in the playing room earlier today and players assembled for group shots in front of the big board down front. First the international players (many didn’t get in that photo: camera shy!) and then the family photo. Anyone here with a family member, be they players or staff, crammed into a giant group photo! Alan Stern (Shadow Hills, CA), our master of ceremonies, called off the names of all the past NSC (now NASC) champions. We have a lot here this year! We also got a group introduction to “Grammar Girl.” She is famous for her podcasts on grammar (she has even been on Oprah!). We are delighted to have her visit.

The room as been configured for the streaming live coverage. Board 1 of the TWL division will be featured this round. Robin Pollock Daniel and Jesse Matthews are plugged in and watching them from a monitor on the other side of the the command center. I can hear them speaking softly about the game as it unfolds. I’m told we will be switching off between the Collins and TWL games. There are three cameras looking at the board from the side and three above the players (one on the board and one on each player’s rack). Check out the photos to see this for yourself!

Chloe Fatsis (Washington, DC) started her best of four against Charles Dupont (Seattle, WA) at table 1 in division 3. Early on, he got down STEARIN for 69. The then overdrew and he turned over three tiles, he got to put an S back into the bag! Charles # down STEEPEN. Holding G?, Charles picked the last tile out of the bag, the last blank. Having tracked on her side of the table, they both laughed when he acted surprised to pull it out. His win, 486-263.

Jeff Martin (Albuquerque, NM) at table 1 in division 2 with Tod Taylor (Seattle, WA), took a trip to the challenge machine. UNBRACE is acceptable! God gets another turn. I spy ERAsION and TRAILERED on their board. Jeff won, 430-379.#

Their accents! Joanne Craig (Australia) vs. Austin Shin (United Kingdom). I see her SONANCY# and BORNiTES, but it was his win, 398-369. She explained that he a lot of high-scoring, well placed, premium tile plays.

Becky Dyer (Austin, TX) thinks she blew the endgame in her matchup with Peter Armstrong (Oakland, CA). She could have played for less points to block his outbingo TRIBADE for 83, but she opted to play a higher-scoring bingo elsewhere, NORITEs. I see her EVAsION for 81 and TINKLIER. He got down WARSLED for 85 and SOILIEST. His win, 511-465.

Division 4’s board 1: Hannah Rozear (Durham, NC) vs Constance J Creech (Metamora, MI). I see ISOTINE* come off early on. SEXTANT for 80 went down for Hannah and then I see NOISIEr/SEXTANTS and then TRAVELs went down, but couldn’t read the scoresheets. Hannah won the first game.

We don’t have updated division 4 standings as I type, but I caught some plays on the game between Jack Peters (Nantucket, MA) and Dustin Brown (Fairfield, CT). Early on, Jack called off Dustin’s RUSHIEr/TOER*. Later on Jack got down OPeRATE and Dustin played the cool SURFErS.

Yolanda Ushry (Fort Smith, AR) vs Bill Ewing (Missoula, MT). I see her ALiENOR and his PATTErN early on.

Daniel Novinson (San Francisco, CA) vs. April McCarley (Austin, TX). I think she may have tried TONNOIER* early on as it on the result slip. I see his UNEAGEr and her RENOTING*. He held her good and long on this last play, but then let it go.

Lynda Wise (Toronto ON) vs. Greg Feldkamp (Cleveland Heights, OH): I see ANISELLs through the E early on.

Matthew Tunnicliffe (Ottawa ON) pulls of a big victory against Laurie Cohen (Tempe, AZ). I see her HOTLINE and AROUSED and his PLEADeRS. His outplay: REGLUE from the R. 481-340, his win.

Orry Swift (Houston, TX) has a tough game with Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) this round, despite having both blanks. Orry got down PRiVATE and then the late FrENEMY through the first E for not very many points (blank came too late, but style points for that fun word!). Panupol played SPOILER, CAROUSER, and DEUTERON. Played like a World SCRABBLE Champ, Panupol, 498-294.

Joe Edley (Port Jefferson, NY) puts down TROUPIAL (blank L) through the A for 80 points in his game with Will Anderson (Croton, NY). Will replies above it on the triple lane with JEEP, hooking to create ET, ER, PO for 59. Joe then slaps down EX/AX for 42. I see that Will got down SERIEMAS and NEURONIc and Joe played ANIMATOS. Will’s win,458-374.

Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) and Doug Brockmeier (San Francisco, CA) have a pretty board: CoVENANT, BORNITES, SHItLOAD, CATALOG, and AERATES. Chris wins, 428-359.

Matt DeWaelsche (San Antonio, TX) is amazed. He managed to win, 468-448 in his game with Gerry Greenside (Las Vegas, NV). Gerry is amazed that he lost with his score! In the shock and daze, what I got was that Matt managed to get QUINATES down the triple from the Q for 104, totally unexpected by either of them! Other fun plays: WALTZERs, ENCLOsE, VALOURS, INFIXES, and TIREDLY.

Robert Kahn (Plantation, FL) vs. David Whitley (Monrovia, CA). This game was a barn burner. David played RINGTAWS for 98, JIVEY for 67, and AbANDONS from the first A. Robert got down WATERIEST through the ES, got away with SCAMPIeR*, and played ATTENDED. What sealed the win was a one-two punch. First, Robert got down a late-game EMOTIVE. David, still thinking he stood a chance, and with 11 in the bag, plays off two. He needed to draw AR, which he did! And he had a place for PLANULAR, but Robert blocked it! A 534-415 win for Robert!

It is crazy in here! Those in the top 8 are playing a best for 4 this morning. And then the rest of their divisions are continuing on with the regular tournament. Almost like 10 separate events going on in this one room. I fear coverage by me will be the worse for it. I hope you are enjoying the streaming coverage of the board 1 games!