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NASC 2015 Commentary: Round 9

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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 9

Fashion alert! Annotator Jackson Smylie and Matt Canik (Austin, TX) have somehow managed to buy then wear the loudest Hawaiian-themed shirts on the same day. I am hoping the camera catches this before the day winds up.

Dan Stock, division 2 leader, is a bit of a purple fan. Like a big time, super, over the top all the time purple fan. And if only on some year, a division at the NSC could be purple and he could direct it, I think his life would be complete. In the meantime, he has to settle for squeezing purple in around the edges of his black and white striped referee shirt. Yesterday he wore purple bandanas down the back of his hat, so he looked like he had waist-length purple paisley hair. Today he has on a purple cowboy hat. And, with that vision in your mind, imagine him coming over to me as excited as could be about a word on a board between John Karris (San Jose, CA) and Howard Pistol (Oakland Park, FL). “They played VAQUEROS, Sherrie! That is Spanish for cowboy! It is also where the word BUCKEROO came from.” I wander over to that board and see COMMITER, ROWINGS, and OUTsAIL.

Chloe Fatsis (Washington, DC) vs. Ani Migirdicyan (North York ON). I walk up just as they are about to do a challenge. HOSE/UHS* is challenged and comes off the board. I see Chole’s MARROwS for 80. A quick glance at her scoresheet and I see that she had some difficult racks early on and traded tiles on turns 2 and 3 scoring 0 for those plays. However, something seemed to kick in for her, because she was ahead, 295-211, at that point. She ended up winning the game, 378-290.

Mark Fidler (Waltham, MA) made a play that impressed Dan Stock, his division leader. In Mark’s game with John Dalton (Dallas, TX), he played SMOOTHInG on the triple lane through MO for 104 points. It looked like a triple-triple, but wasn’t, but was still a pretty smooth find! I see OOLITEs on their in-progress game.

Ruchi Gupta (Knoxville, TN) and Kit Morehead (Berkley, MI) had AILEURONS and PATENTS on their in-progress board.

So, I wanted to pay attention to the Sam Masling (Washington, DC) vs. Carolyn Easter (Birmingham, MI), but she had to have a Betsy Johnson purse under the table and it was ALL I could focus my attention on. I pulled Patty Hocker over to take a photo of it. The bag is white with a crosswords type design on it. I am not sure if she added it (Carolyn) or if it was there, but one of the words on the bag was the word HIMBO (a male bimbo and one of our new TWL words!). It was so fun to see! Anyway, check out the photo section of this round to see the bag. Back to the game. I saw NETLIKE, BOAsTER, LINTERS, and RECORDS. It ended up her win, 485-375. She was flying on the wings of Betsy Johnson, I guess!

A pretty board between former National champs Trey Wright (Sierra Madre, CA) and Conrad Bassett-Bouchard (Piedmont, CA). I see JOBNAmES, NERViEST, RESULTED, ORIENTAL, and ROMAINE. The board had just been picked up when I got back. It was a 450-433 win for Trey. Conrad said, “he won, but we both made one big mistake in the game.” Then they went on to talk in that post-game Swahili talk.

AXLETREES and OBLiGaTED jump out of an Amit Chakrabarti (Hanover, NH) vs. John O'Laughlin (San Francisco, CA) game. Top top right of the board has this clump of words: ATTAP#, ONCOME#, and HYENA all piled together, making a bunch of small one, two, and three-letter words. Collins is just another beast altogether in the mashed up pile of words sense. Beautiful boards, truly. Another fun word was KIAUGH. John’s win, 508-333.

Table 1 in division 4 featured a game between Hannah Rozear (Durham, NC) and Marvin Kraus (Newton, MA). A four-bingo game: BOSSIEr, lOATHER, GROANED, and TENNIES. Of the fourth bingo, I heard him say, “You know, you can try to draw a challenge by playing this new word.” And he arranged the tiles to spell TENNESI. She nodded and said she remembered seeing it in her studying but was happy to be reminded. It was her win, 464-411.

Liam Hopfensperger (Chapel Hill, NC) was standing around, waiting for his next game, and I asked him a few questions. A former TWL player, he switched to Collins about 6 months ago. He is 4-5 here, but really enjoying himself. He’s had a chance to play so many great players. He lost a game to Peter Armstrong (Oakland, CA) by only 60 and he lost a fun one to Austin Shin (United Kingdom). He’ll be a freshman and UNC in the fall.

Bradley Whitmarsh (Attleboro, MA) is standing around, waiting for his next game. I ask him how the morning has gone and he tells me about his triple-triple, UNVAILES# (blank L) through the A for 149 points in his game with Orlet Bullock (Barbados). He confesses to chickening out on another play. The word ICTERIC was on the board. He knew it, but thought it must be an adjective. Turns out, it is not. And Brad had MANWISE on his rack and it would have nestled right beneath ICTERIC on the triple lane for a bunch of points. Not to be. Of his game with Orlet, FORNENST# went down to the T. Brad challenged and it was good. He was impressed that Orlet’s play.

Their game wrapped up, Stefan Rau (Hudson, NY) and Puneet Sharma (Cambridge, MA) are sitting around and chewing the fat. In a sort of embarrassment of riches way, Stefan explained how he had to pick the right tile so that he could choose which triple-triple he was going to play. Punnet blocked the higher-scoring ARUGOLAS through the G, so Stefan had to “settle” for AUREOLAs for 113 on another triple line. Other fun words: DONATIVE, AGNISED#, REARING, GUITARS, and ENROUNDS#. A 513-407 win for Dr. Rau.

All the assembled CSW worker bees were excited about a 676 win for Karen Richards (Australia) this round. As excited, I ran after her. She looked at me blankly and said she’d not had a 676 game and that it must have been someone else. So, I went back to the worker bees and they looked into it. Well, it turns out, Karen had an almost equally nice 476 game. In all of our defenses, even the data inputter read her score to be 676! We will wait for the real 676 game we know is in her future!

Ben Berger (Germany, Federal Republic of) is visiting us from Germany. He told his division leader, Jason Idalski, that in one day here, he’d lost as many games as he’d lost in the last four tournaments in Germany (and they were multiday events). He says he is still having fun. He is working on encouraging Nigel Richards to take up German SCRABBLE next!

I am happy to report that Robin Pollock Daniel will now join in on the color commentary when she can! Enjoy!

Division 1 Round 9 Auto-Commentary

Orry Swift (Houston, TX) claims the lead, 8-1 +439. Joey Krafchick (Richardson, TX) is 1 game behind at 7-2 +787, #2 improving from #4. Joe Edley (Port Jefferson, NY) is +452, on a 7-game winning streak, #3 improving from #5. Darrell Day (Richardson, TX) is +436, #4 falling from #1. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard (Piedmont, CA) is +372, #5 dropping from #2. Trey Wright (Sierra Madre, CA) is +305, #6 up from #9. Jason Li (Dollard-Des-Ormeaux QC) is +286, #7 improving from #10. Nigel Peltier (Portland, OR) is +122, on a 6-game winning streak, #8 improving from #11. Jesse Day (Berkeley, CA) is -54, on a 3-game winning streak, #9 improving from #13. Charles Reinke (Middleton, WI) is 2 games behind the leader at 6-3 +537, on a 3-game winning streak, #10 leaping up from #15.

In Class B: Darrell Day (Richardson, TX) is the lead, 7-2 +436. Nigel Peltier (Portland, OR) is +122, on a 6-game winning streak, #8 rising from #11. Charles Reinke (Middleton, WI) is 1 game behind at 6-3 +537, on a 3-game winning streak, #10 jumping up from #15. Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) is +473, #12 up from #17. Patricia Barrett (Houston, TX) is +348, #14 dropping from #7. Leesa Berahovich (Berkeley, CA) is +278, #15 dropping from #8. Sal Piro (New York, NY) is +189, #17 climbing from #23. Norases Vesdapunt (Stanford, CA) is -15, #19 tumbling from #12. Kate Fukawa-Connelly (Lawrenceville, NJ) is 2 games behind the leader at 5-4 +381, #20 whizzing up from #31. Avery Mojica (Overland Park, KS) is +310, on a 3-game losing streak, #22 tumbling from #16.

In Class C: Jeff Fiszbein (South Lyon, MI) is the lead, 5-4 +284. Tasha Asberry (Cordova, TN) is -203, #34 tumbling from #26. Amnuay Ploysangngam (Thailand) is -260, #35 rising from #44. Alec Sjoholm (Lynnwood, WA) is 1 game behind at 4-5 +102, #38 leaping up from #47. Reid Hattaway (Moscow, ID) is +49, #39 dropping from #34. Tom Bond (Everett, WA) is -15, #42 up from #48. Greg Heidler (Waialua, HI) is -109, #44 down from #37. Terry Kang Rau (Hudson, NY) is -111, #45 up from #53. Ross Brown (Ottawa ON) is -133, #48 climbing from #51. Marlene Milkent (Hattiesburg, MS) is -215, #49 tumbling from #38.

High Win: Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) 510-372 vs. Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand). Low Win: Alan Kait (Lompoc, CA) 336-309 vs. Judy Newhouse (Houston, TX). High Loss: Reid Hattaway (Moscow, ID) 441-470 vs. Will Anderson (Croton, NY). Low Loss: Marlene Milkent (Hattiesburg, MS) 272-500 vs. Kate Fukawa-Connelly (Lawrenceville, NJ).

Division 2 Round 9 Auto-Commentary

Chris Williams (Vancouver BC) remains in the lead for the 3rd consecutive round, 8-1 +971, on a 6-game winning streak. Elizabeth Ralston (Los Angeles, CA) is +516, #2 up from #3. Howard Pistol (Oakland Park, FL) is 1 game behind at 7-2 +475, #3 climbing from #6. Matthew Ridout (Lexington, KY) is +471, on a 3-game winning streak, steady at #4. Martin Weisskopf (Huntsville, AL) is +416, #5 climbing from #8. Dave Leifer (Alpharetta, GA) is +374, #6 sliding from #2. Carlene Wallis (Sparks, NV) is +310, on a 3-game winning streak, #7 up from #9. Paul Avrin (New York, NY) is +282, on a 5-game winning streak, #8 up from #10. Guy Ingram (Ellenwood, GA) is +175, on a 6-game winning streak, #9 improving from #12. Kevin Fraley (San Jose, CA) is 2 games behind the leader at 6-3 +732, #10 rising from #13.

In Class : In Class B: Martin Weisskopf (Huntsville, AL) is the lead, 7-2 +416. Guy Ingram (Ellenwood, GA) is +175, on a 6-game winning streak, #9 up from #12. Jeff Martin (Albuquerque, NM) is 1 game behind at 6-3 +403, #13 tumbling from #5. Ken Smith (Pukalani, HI) is -80, #18 hurtling up from #31. Mark Peltier (Seattle, WA) is -149, #19 tumbling from #11. James Porter (Cleveland Heights, OH) is 2 games behind the leader at 5-4 +229, #24 down from #17. Curtis Lee (Jacksonville, FL) is +206, #25 leapfrogging up from #45. Amnon Igra (Sacramento, CA) is +143, #28 hurtling up from #47. Kit Morehead (Berkley, MI) is +100, #30 whizzing down from #20. Tod Taylor (Seattle, WA) is +33, #35 rising from #42.

In Class C: Elizabeth Ralston (Los Angeles, CA) is the lead, 8-1 +516. Edward Gowash (Fort Worth, TX) is 3 games behind at 5-4 +153, #27 dropping from #19. Carolyn Easter (Birmingham, MI) is +107, #29 leapfrogging up from #46. Lilla Sinanan (Stoney Creek ON) is +56, #33 zooming up from #51. Gwen Stewart (Ellicott City, MD) is +54, #34 leapfrogging up from #52. Cynthia Pughsley (Oakland, CA) is +13, #37 whizzing down from #24. Carol McDonald (Northboro, MA) is -3, #38 collapsing from #27. Diana Grosman (Reisterstown, MD) is -233, on a 3-game losing streak, #43 tumbling from #30. Bruce Shuman (Wilmington, NC) is -389, #44 tumbling from #32. Carole Denton (New Carrollton, MD) is 4 games behind the leader at 4-5 +158, #47 collapsing from #34.

High Win: Alan Stern (Shadow Hills, CA) 568-330 vs. Cheryl Melvin (Grand Rapids, MI). Low Wins: Ruchi Gupta (Knoxville, TN) 369-320 vs. Kit Morehead (Berkley, MI); Ken Smith (Pukalani, HI) 369-286 vs. Paul Mishkin (San Francisco, CA). High Loss: Michael Baker (Portland, OR) 455-478 vs. Gunther Jacobi (Portland, OR). Low Loss: Cynthia Seales (Stone Mountain, GA) 275-481 vs. Arthur Finkle (Coral Gables, FL).

Division 3 Round 9 Auto-Commentary

Bill Ewing (Missoula, MT) remains in the lead, 9-0 +622, on a 9-game winning streak. Ben Greenwood (Florence, MA) is 1 game behind at 8-1 +987, on a 6-game winning streak, hovering at #2. Tapani Lindgren (Roseville, CA) is +370, on a 4-game winning streak, #3 climbing from #4. Charles Dupont (Seattle, WA) is 2 games behind the leader at 7-2 +592, #4 rising from #5. Dave Lockrem (Blaine, MN) is +456, on a 3-game winning streak, #5 improving from #6. Margo Kuno (Philadelphia, PA) is +308, on a 3-game winning streak, #6 jumping up from #12. Miriam Gregory (Vancouver BC) is +274, on a 4-game winning streak, #7 climbing from #13. April McCarley (Austin, TX) is +236, on a 3-game winning streak, #8 rising from #14. Zachary Ansell (Los Angeles, CA) is +179, #9 dropping from #3.

In Class B: Margo Kuno (Philadelphia, PA) is the lead, 7-2 +308, on a 3-game winning streak. Zachary Ansell (Los Angeles, CA) is +179, #9 dropping from #3. Betsey Wood (Concord, MA) is 1 game behind at 6-3 +322, #12 sliding from #11. Carol Tillson (Silver Spring, MD) is +234, #15 down from #8. Claudia Finn (Seattle, WA) is +185, #16 down from #9. Mary Ellen Weisskopf (Huntsville, AL) is -56, on a 3-game winning streak, #22 rising from #31. Lindsey Dimmick (Baton Rouge, LA) is 2 games behind the leader at 5-4 +152, on a 3-game losing streak, #28 tumbling from #21. Sonia Wilmot (Littleton, CO) is +152, #28 leaping up from #36. Rhonda Morris (Oklahoma City, OK) is +33, #33 jumping down from #25. Lynn Dreyer (Tacoma, WA) is -65, #36 zooming up from #50.

In Class C: Cooper Komatsu (Los Angeles, CA) is the lead, 6-3 +500, on a 3-game winning streak. Chloe Fatsis (Washington, DC) is +178, #17 jumping up from #24. Joey Gordon (Fort Worth, TX) is +63, on a 3-game winning streak, #19 leaping up from #26. Chris Autio (Missoula, MT) is +56, #20 leapfrogging up from #30. Dani Roter (Valley Village, CA) is 0.5 games behind at 5.5-3.5 +271, on a 4-game winning streak, #23 climbing from #32. Nancy Hanley (Wilmington, DE) is 1 game behind the leader at 5-4 +74, #32 plummeting from #22. George Bissonnette (Seattle, WA) is +8, #34 up from #43. Ruth Brower (Hockessin, DE) is -121, #37 dropping from #28. Ani Migirdicyan (North York ON) is -220, #40 collapsing from #29.

High Win: Bill Ewing (Missoula, MT) 492-346 vs. Zachary Ansell (Los Angeles, CA). Low Win: Regenia Hidalgo (Colleyville, TX) 303-300 vs. Alan Mason (Evreka, CA). High Loss: Betsey Wood (Concord, MA) 407-425 vs. Paul Hagelstein (Waco, TX). Low Loss: Lila Lewenstein (santa Monica, CA) 268-490 vs. Nandini Dickens (Bethesola, MD).

Division 4 Round 9 Auto-Commentary

Hannah Rozear (Durham, NC) claims the lead, 8-1 +406. Jim Laris (Altadena, CA) is +289, on a 6-game winning streak, #2 improving from #3. Rachel Gillette (Lafayette, CO) is 1 game behind at 7-2 +497, on a 6-game winning streak, #3 improving from #4. Jennifer DeWaelsche (San Antonio, TX) is +492, #4 sliding from #1. Jack Peters (Nantucket, MA) is 2 games behind the leader at 6-3 +484, #5 climbing from #7. Jean Wolin (Toronto ON) is +428, on a 3-game winning streak, steady at #6. Richard Banker (Ankeny, IA) is +386, #7 rising from #8. Peter Hopkins (Toronto ON) is +179, #8 rising from #12. Laurie Holz (Los Angeles, CA) is +137, on a 4-game winning streak, #9 leaping up from #14. Jennifer Hay (Portland, TX) is -51, #10 jumping down from #5.

In Class B: Jim Laris (Altadena, CA) is the lead, 8-1 +289, on a 6-game winning streak. Rachel Gillette (Lafayette, CO) is 1 game behind at 7-2 +497, on a 6-game winning streak, #3 rising from #4. Jennifer DeWaelsche (San Antonio, TX) is +492, #4 falling from #1. Richard Banker (Ankeny, IA) is 2 games behind the leader at 6-3 +386, #7 up from #8. Laurie Holz (Los Angeles, CA) is +137, on a 4-game winning streak, #9 jumping up from #14.

In Class C: Jack Peters (Nantucket, MA) is the lead, 6-3 +484. Jennifer Hay (Portland, TX) is -51, #10 dropping from #5. Dustin Brown (Fairfield, CT) is 1 game behind at 5-4 +334, #11 rising from #18. Keith Forman (El Cajon, CA) is +91, #16 slipping from #13. Margaret Hughes (Los Angeles, CA) is +82, on a 3-game losing streak, #17 dropping from #11. Pamela Pudelka (Corpus Christi, TX) is +8, #20 tumbling from #15. Sheng Guo (Amawalk, NY) is -104, #21 jumping down from #16. Donna Leigh (Menomonee Falls, WI) is 2 games behind the leader at 4-5 +10, #27 sliding from #23.

High Win: Deborah Komatsu (Los Angeles, CA) 486-276 vs. Karen Kaminski (Demotte, IN). Low Win: Gil Baker (Chicago, IL) 328-271 vs. Desiree Engel (Anaheim, CA). High Loss: Marvin Kraus (Newton, MA) 411-464 vs. Hannah Rozear (Durham, NC). Low Loss: Annie Adkins (Waukomis, OK) 247-453 vs. Ed Morrison (Malabar, FL).

Division CSW Round 9 Auto-Commentary

Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) remains in the lead, 8-1 +791, on a 5-game winning streak. Becky Dyer (Austin, TX) is +688, remaining unchanged at #2. John O'Laughlin (San Francisco, CA) is 1 game behind at 7-2 +555, on a 6-game winning streak, #3 up from #4. Austin Shin (United Kingdom) is +387, on a 3-game winning streak, #4 improving from #5. Amit Chakrabarti (Hanover, NH) is +303, #5 down from #3. Nick Ball (San Bruno, CA) is 2 games behind the leader at 6-3 +538, #6 climbing from #8. Stefan Rau (Hudson, NY) is +470, on a 3-game winning streak, #7 up from #10. Peter Armstrong (Oakland, CA) is +399, #8 up from #15. Evans Clinchy (Boston, MA) is +170, #9 rising from #18. Steve Polatnick (Miami, FL) is +159, #10 slipping from #6.

High Win: Matthew O'Connor (DeWitt, NY) 555-242 vs. Liam Hopfensperger (Chapel Hill, NC). Low Win: Leslie Charles (Trinidad and Tobago) 377-366 vs. Walker Willingham (Bainbridge Island, WA). High Loss: Tim Weiss (Jersey City, NJ) 448-478 vs. Mina Le (West Palm Beach, FL). Low Loss: Liam Hopfensperger (Chapel Hill, NC) 242-555 vs. Matthew O'Connor (DeWitt, NY).