GFF MegaScrabble Game 5
 

ZERGRINCH WINS!

Let’s get this Scrabble show on the road. We’ve got 9 players this time around (sorry Krelian, we’ll get you next time).

How this works:
-When your turn comes around, you may play 2 words. If you use all your letters with those 2 words, you get a bingo bonus of 50 points. You may also use one of your moves to trade in letters.
-I’ll keep the first post updated with everyone’s current letters. As you use them, I’ll fill them up again before your next turn. When we get to the “final round” (when there aren’t enough tiles for everyone), I’ll divide the remaining tiles up (and maybe throw in a few extra) so that everyone has the same number of tiles for the last round.

Remember:
-POST YOUR WORDS IN CAPITAL LETTERS
-Post your moves/scores in the thread
-Letter/word multipliers only work for the first word(s) played on them (lots of folks make this mistake).
-When posting a blank, put [brackets] around the letter; I’ll change them to italics when I’ve checked the score.

I’ll be checking scores/letters for accuracy. If anyone makes a word for which they don’t have the letters, or any other illegal move, they forfeit that turn, and I’ll take the letters off the board if no one has played off them yet.



Tiles remaining: 0

Turn order: Hawkeye, Dullenplain, nuttyturnip, Juanzen, Tritoch, Sousuke, Zergrinch, Rockgamer, Araes

Scores:
1. Zergrinch: 955
2. Araes: 922
3. Sousuke: 846
4. Rockgamer: 708
5. nuttyturnip: 600
6. Dullenplain: 537
7. Tritoch: 463
8. Juanzen: 437
9. Hawkeye: 299

Detailed score info here

Turnip, I think for fairness' sake, everyone should get the same number of wildcard tiles (worth zero points). I mean, here I am (probably with Juanzen, Tritoch, and Dullenplain) staring longingly at Rockgamer's 2 wildcard tiles :P

REVILING - double letter on L, double word x2

52 points

REV[I]LER - double letter on R and V

14 points



BINGO!!


52+14+50

116 points



... I like this game.

Additional Spam:

Nutty, your link to the hasbro site doesn't work. Just so you know.

Everyone had exactly the same odds of drawing a blank (1 in 50). You'll survive somehow.


WHAT

I felt sort of bad using the same root word, but if it works, it works.

Bingos are a lot easier to get in this version of scrabble it would seem.

Thanks. I fixed it.

Oh, we're going with a turn order this time, and not a daily 'free-for-all'? Ah well, I guess that sort of brings some kind of order *rimshot* to the game.

For the record, are we going with the TWL or the SOWPODS [or whatever it is] list?

We're going with TWL, since that's for North America. It's what we've always used.

I put down the words:

VAPORIZED - with double letter on the Z and double word score for - 68 points

and

ALONE - with double word on it for - 10 points


TOTAL: 78 points

I made INVITED for 44 points (2 double words) and LIEGE for 12 points.

well off to a crappy start

UNWEIGHT using the N from reviling for 32 points I think
ZORIL using the R from vaporized for 35 points or so

Total for me seems to be 67 and I have 3 tiles left QUX

I usually somehow always get something wrong, so it won't be a surprise.

Alright, my long-awaited turn has been taken.

First up I made QUANGO (32) which also created QI (11) and AG (3). That adds up to a total of 46 points.

Next I played off of that for AGAMIC. With the x4 multiplier that adds up to 40.

And that puts me in second place with 86 points.

Took a long while of looking at the board, but I finally came up with...

HYDROX[Y]L for 42 points, and
JINGLY, also for 42 points.

I'm amused that they BOTH came out to 42. It's sign. In any case, that puts me at 84 points, and apparently in third, and leaves me with WHNN WNLL.

WNLL, actually.

I place VOTVE on the I in Jingly, forming VOTIVE for a measly 26 points.

My second move places PRLIX on the O in Votive, forming Prolix for a barely tolerable 30 points.

I get 56 points, tying with nuttyturnip for last place.

This leaves me with BOUR.

Probably not my best option, but good enough for the work I put into it.

Playing EXTENDING off the I in invited for 36 points.

And then I'm playing [B]ET[W]IXT off of that for 16 points, which also nets me a bingo for a grand total of 102 points and second place.

Man, I wish I came after Rockgamer, what with that lovely opening he left for Araes :(

BETWIXT is only worth 15 points (0+1+2+0+1+8+3=15).

Whoops, I counted the double letter score as a triple letter score. Sorry, it was late.

Revoke his turn! Revoke his turn!


...I miss second place. :(

Is it just me or are there a lot of Xs in this game? I'm assuming that there's no limit to how many times a letter can come up, then, nutty?

I agree that there do seem to be a large number of "odd" letters this time, but there's not an easy way around that. A standard Scrabble set has 100 tiles. When I'm handing out letters, I use a random number generator to spit out X unique numbers from 1-100, using the same tile distribution as a normal Scrabble game (meaning you can never draw more than 1 J, K, Q, X or Z in one go). There's nothing stopping someone else from drawing another Q or Z, but at least most of the time each person gets a decent set of vowels, "normal" letters and a few high-point tiles.

My suggestion for any future games:

1. Everyone gets a [] tile, as in Literati.
2. Finite letter set, as in Scrabble. So there's only a specific amount of Ps, Qs, Ks, and so on. You can re-randomize after every substitution, or just tack them on to the end of the sequence for luls.
3. Randomize the letter sequence, and the players draw in that random order. Instead of randomizing every time letters are replenished.

There's something wrong with your link to the two- and three-letter word list, nutty.

the link seems to work fine for me...

No on that. Literati starts you with a blank? It's been so long since I've played, but I don't remember that. At any rate, you have the same odds as anyone else in drawing a blank.

You mean working out the correct distribution/ratio for tiles, and then generating a string of unique numbers 750 long for the whole game? Not only would that be unwieldy, but what if in this string of 750, there were 3 Zs in a row, or more likely, a string of 30 or so letters with no vowels? That would mean some poor schlub would get stuck with that.

In the system I'm using now, everything is equal. Sure, we might see more Xs, but you only get one at a time (unless you don't use the one you had), and everyone has an equal chance of getting a good or bad set.

Fixed. I copied my opening post from Word, and the quotation marks copied differently on my links.

Yes, you are always guaranteed a blank in your first rack. The Literati system also randomly draws the rest of the tiles from a distribution table, similar to your current system of drawing.

Scrabble, of course, has only two blanks you draw by luck. The letter distribution however is finite.

On the second suggestion, do allow me to point out that the chances of a poor schlub betting 3 Zs in a row is identical whether you do a random draw or draw from a pre-determined randomly-generated sequence, since we're dealing with the same probabilities here :3: I will concur that this system is more unwieldy, but hay, you know that's how I rolled when I ran that werewolf game!

Ironic. You're using the Scrabble system for blanks and Literati system for draws. I'm lobbying for Literati system for blanks and Scrabble system for draws :o

By the way, Scrabulous was rebranded to Lexulous. Perhaps you can find the old stuff there.

(B)ERIMBAU, 3 x on A, 2 x Double Word = 48
AMEERATE, Double Word = 18

BINGO = 50

Total of 116

Right, let's get rid of some of these not so helpful letters.

VOX is good for a respectable 46 points.

CIVVY, to get rid of some of those annoying tiles, is only worth 32 points.

46 + 32 = 78 points round two, leaving my total at 194.

There are two problems with this. First, your letters were as follows: X-U-V-I-Y-A-H-A-V-R-A-I-E-M. Note that you didn't have an O. Second, forming VOX off of VOTIVE also creates OL, which is not listed in any of the resources in the first post.

Therefore, you forfeit the 46 points, and your total score is 148. I have removed VOX from the board.

oh no... I was going to use the E, when did I change it to an O? Bah.

Indeed, that would have worked. But since you posted VOX here, on the board, and on the score calculator, you must have had O on the brain. One might even say you've been O-wned.

hold your grOans

Alright,

I'll play off the last T in UNWEIGHT to make TAUTOLO[G]IES, with a triple letter on the first O and a double word on the blank turned into a G giving that word a score of - 24

And working on the last S in TAUTOLO[G]IES, I use my remaining letters to form SUITE, with a double word score on the T to give me a score of - 10.

BINGO!

Add 50 points!

Total Score for the round - 84

I made GIGGLE for 20 points, and JELLIFY for a sweet 189 points with the 9x word score.

Who needs bingos?

And Zerg wanted to complain about me leaving people huge openings...

I was expecting after my turn to have people try and capitalize that real estate.

Holy crap, 189 points on a single turn. :shakes fist at Dullenplain:

How would I know there are people far more generous than you? :(

oh man, I guess I am this bad at this.

TIMBERED 48 points, pretty miserable
GULAG 14 points

64 points, tiles left XQ can't get rid of these.

So Juanzen has drawn another Q, giving him 3 total. Would anyone object if I threw 2 of those back, and henceforth if anyone draws a "unique" letter (J/K/Q/X) when they already have that letter, I throw them back. Z would be an exception, since there are a decent number of words with 2 Zs.

No objections here, since it will presumably benefit me in the future as well. Though, I think K isn't quite as tough to use, as does befit its 5 points compared to the 8 and 10-pointers. I personally hate it if I draw too many Cs - that infernal letter should be worth more than its 3 points...

Also, limiting the number of difficult tiles will limit the damage whenever some generous soul leaves a whopper of an opening to the next in line... :3:

I wish you did that with Rs. They (and that stupid X) are the main obstacle to my ability to bingo on this round :(

It's been 24 hours, and I did remind Tritoch last night, so if Sousuke wants to take his turn, he can.

Can I still take my turn since Sousuke hasn't gone yet? I forgot last night, and I haven't even been home most of yesterday and today.

Yes, you can still go.

Then I shall Scrabblize rather than eating lunch today. Huzzah!

Okay, I (finally) made ZOOTY (34) and OR (2) for a total of 36 points.

Then I followed up with HYBRI[D] (52) with a quadruple letter score.

Not the best turn for 88 points total, but I was in a rush.

This time around was surprisingly easier than last time, despite not having a blank. I played:

DIAZONIUMS for 84 points,
CALLOW [also building AL and AW] for 22, 2, and 5 points respectively.

BINGO! + 50 points

That gives me a total of 163 for this round.

I am pretty sure more time and effort will yield me more points and better leftover tiles. But, I'm not quite willing to spend that much resources for a losing game :p I guess claiming a pair of quadruple word scores should suffice.

P and X on the Y in zooty to form PYX for 60 points.
RBOREOUS on the A in tautologies to form ARBOREOUS for 44 points.
A total of 104 points this round, brings me to fifth place, with 160 points.
I am left with IRRI.

I took the liberty of changing zero-value tiles to a white text on black background scheme. Hope you don't mind.

Edit: Seems like you DO mind, the way you kept reverting. Shrug.

Changing background colors for tiles would just get confusing since those are already used to note triple/double letter/word scores. Let's just stick to brackets.

Perhaps you did in your mind, but you didn't put it on the board. I'm not a mind reader, but I'm guessing you meant to play it off of the Y in ZOOTY, which unfortunately has been taken by Zergrinch. Sorry, but you're out of luck.

Yes, I mind. That's just ugly and distracting when you're trying to read the board.

God dammit, that stupid computer didn't save it. I did type HYBRI[D] into the board using ZOOTY, but that window froze up and had to be closed through ctrl+alt+del a few minutes later. I thought Google had already saved itself since it usually does that frequently and I had no time to check.

Without those 52 points I may just drop out after next turn. This takes too much time for an already lost battle.

If it was a computer glitch, I'll give you the points, since you did post your move here.

Also, I did replace Juanzen's 2 Qs, but he only did marginally better with J and L.

Yeah, I'm 100% positive that I put it on the board.

So before I take my turn, I just want to confirm that while Tritoch's word counted, Zerg's is the one that will remain on the board?

Seems that way, and it works for me since Zerg's is harder to play off of.

Yeah, I'll just leave the board the way it is.

Okay, I played LANDGRAVES for 76 points and VELURE for 10 points. That nets me a bingo and a total of 136 points for this round, giving me a grand total of 237 points and third place.

Not quite able to make a bingo, despite trying for quite a while, so went with:

QUILLWORK 25 x 2 x 2 = 100
FAZING 19 x 2 = 38

For 138. Puts me at 254 total. At least I managed to use most of those rare tiles.

My indifference seems to be my bane. I looked for about 5 minutes before settling on:

OX and XI - 17 points each for 34

and

MEALIER, including OM, RE, and KA which ends up totaling 33.

67 points this round. I'm not exactly looking competitive right now.

Welp, I didn't think this would be a problem, but in the occasion that it does arise...

I'm currently in the process of moving. Later this morning, I'll be moving the computer over to the new apartment. Should I need it, could I have a small extension on my 24 hour period? I'll be getting 'hooked up' again on Thursday, sometime between 12n and 5pm, so they tell me.

Like I said, it's not a HUGE problem. You guys just have to take your time for a few hours more. :3: In any case, if my turn comes up and I don't reply, it's because I'm net-less until at least noon tomorrow.

[edit: Which I now realize may not be a problem as it's difficult to STAY ALIVE long enough to make a post today.]

Yeah, no problem, Sousuke. As long as I know you haven't forgotten, we can wait a bit for you. Plus the whole questing thing today.

It seems questing is still going on today, forsooth.

In any case, I'm all moved in, and hooked up. Ready to go, and I see that nobody has taken their turn yet. :tpg:

I think most people are lucky if they can even see this section to check on the turns without being slain lately. Looks like it may be this way for a while longer as well from the talk among the deceased.

We can all still see the game board though, so this shouldn't come to a complete halt. Also, killing Araes while I'm here.

I'm not really pushing for the game to progress as long as the questing stuff is up. You can see the Scrabble board, but you still have to look at the thread for your letters. I'm sure this won't last much longer, and then we'll get back to normal.

Okay, now that the boards have resumed their normal state, I will play these words.

Looking at the lower right corner of the board . . .

Playing on the I in MEALIER, I create INDEXE(S), with a double word score over the D for a word score of 28.

From the special (S), I use more letters to form WOMBAT(S), with a double letter score on the W and a triple word score on the B for a word score of 48.

I then use my remaining letters to make a simple EYE from the first E in INDEXE(S), with a double word score on the Y for a word score of 12.

So, 88 points from the words, and having used up all tiles, I garnered a BINGO, which adds 50 more points.

Total move score: 138 points

Alright, am I missing something or has this rule:
Been totally ignored?

That would be an awesome piece of strategery if the rules allowed you to play more than 2 words in a turn. Alas, they do not. Therefore, no EYE and no bingo. Still a respectable 76 points.

EDIT: Beaten by Araes. :(

Does the two words rule exclude what occurred in Hawkeye's latest turn, where a word also forms other words in its wake?

As in normal Scrabble, if by playing one word, you form several other words (playing an S on the end of a word, or forming several 2 letter words, for example), that doesn't count towards the 2 word rule, no.

I played SHIVER by putting an S on LIEGE, giving me 28 and 9 points. Then I played QAID for 28 points. I'm sure I could have done better, but I'd rather watch the basketball game, and I'm just happy to be rid of my Q. Total of 65 points.

sorry for the hold up

XYLIDINE 92 points if I got it right
and MIFF for 22


114 points this turn total tiles left QVJP

Just posting to assure that I haven't forgotten about this, and I'll be posting my turn between 10-11am today.

Additional Spam:
Alright, for my first word I laid down ZEALOT with a triple letter score on Z and a double word score for 70 points.

Next I laid down AJIVA with a double word score for 30 points.

That makes my total a strangely even 100 points.

I double checked the board this time, and both words are there.

Ergh, it's getting tough to find places to put letters. Especially with the combo that I had...

VELOCE for 12 points
EYELIKE for 51 points

That gives me 63 points for this round. Leaves me with QIO.

Letter Stack: IRRIOTEAPLDILI

I put down ILIA, putting the A on top of the W in WOMBATS. This earns 11 points.
I then put down TRIPLOID, putting the D on under the I in ILIA. This straddles both 3w tiles and earns 108 points.

Letter Stack: RE

No Bingo Bonus.

I get 122 points this round, and increase my total to 282, putting me in third place behind Tritoch.

Fourth place, actually. Nutty hasn't updated the score listing since Sousuke's turn.

No, Zerg is right about third place, but he's behind Sousuke, not Tritoch. He also has 288 points, as he forgot to include the triple word score on ID.

Curses, foiled by Freud! :(

Okay, I played BEQ[U]EATHING off of SHIVER for 60 points, and VOLTE off of ZEALOT for 16 points and a Bingo for a total of 126 points for this turn and 363 points overall, putting me in first place.

Well Tritoch ol' buddy, you're right again thanks to Rockgamer.

Bah. Think I probably could have done better, and this leaves openings, but ran out of time after work.

VIATICUM, x2 V, x2 Word = 32
DOOWOPS, x2 Word = 26
UT = 2
MI = 3

63 + BINGO for 50

Total = 113

Man, why is everyone else bingoing every turn?

I feel so inferior ._.

you are not alone there zerg, I just can't bingo this round. At least the score and my tiles are slowly improving for me.

You actually made VIATICU[M] (note the blank); you scored VIATICUM correctly, but MI is only 1 point. I corrected the game board. Still, you got enough to take the lead.

Hmm, new tiles drawn. Turnip, your random number generator loves Qs a lot :P

Not that I'm complaining. I finally have bingo possibilities!

Also, good God Araes. Those are mighty tasty openings you left in there!

I know, and I really didn't want to do it. Hawkeye or Dullenplain will probably make super huge scores off those which pains me, but I just couldn't make anything work better in the timeframe I had Wed. night. Working out the points now, I think I should have taken a different option, even with the Bingo, but too late for that.

It's been more than 24 hours, and Hawkeye was online this afternoon, so Dullenplain can make his move if he wishes (Hawkeye can still go too).

Okay, I shall take the opportunity to play:

OVERJOY on the first O in DOOWOPS, with a double word score on the E for 40 points

Then on the R of OVERJOY I put in PALER with triple letter on the P and a double word on the E to yield 26 points

Total points for this turn is 66 with leftover letters M A L and Q.

That's odd, my computer shouldn't have been online, I haven't been on all day. This warrants further investigation.

I'll just take the missed turn, I really don't have time to find any half-decent words. It's not like i'll be winning anyway.

I made that post on Thursday, not yesterday, then Dullenplain took over 24 hours more to make his move. Skip if you want, but you can still take your missing turn if you want to (at least until your turn comes up in rotation again).

EDIT: First off, I made TRILLIONS on a 3/2 space, giving me 60 points, which also forms QAIDS for another 15 points. Then to get rid of my Q, I played QAID again, this time with a double letter, for 24 points. Total points this round is 94.

ok here goes

VESPERTINE 96 points
DECK 22 points

total 118 points and tiles left would be QJ

Isn't that kind of unfair to the rest of us? What if we spend like two hours coming up with some good words just to have it ruined by Hawkeye who finally decides to play his turn from two days ago? I mean, no offense to the guy, but you snooze you lose, and the rest of us shouldn't have to potentially suffer because of it.

This is true; we need some hard and fast rule about the length of time you have to take your turn. I mean, technically Dullenplain was 2 hours past the 24 hour deadline; I just wasn't in the mood to take my turn at that point, which is why he still went in order. What would have happened if I'd gone first? How about this: You have 24 hours from the last person's turn to take your turn. After that, the next person in line can go. Once the next person takes their turn, your turn is lost.

This can all be solved by simply saying if you're going to be MIA for a few days. We'll be happy to wait if we know what's going on.

As I said last night, that's what I thought the rule already was so this is fine by me. It seems a bit unfair to let people go whenever once their turn has passed. Plus you know someone* is going to abuse that and wait for a later player to leave an amazing opening, and then no one is going to take their turns on time. Chaos!






*Zerg

I completely agree. If I could just go anytime I wanted, why not wait until there was a double 3x word score open and take my turn then? It seems silly for everyone else to have to take turns except myself. I figured this might happen, and I didn't mind. We're not bending any rules just because I'm lazy.

EDIT: yeah, i didn't read Tritoch's post all the way through. oops.

Tritoch my friend, I have some standards as well! Winning isn't everything! *

* At least not to me anymore. Though it still feels so gooood!

In any case, I don't oppose the 24-hour rule. Everyone should subscribe to the thread with instant e-mail notification, unless of course old Turnip is willing to pester people to take their turns via PM :3:

It would appear Tritoch has slept through his turn. Sousuke can now move.

Yes he can!

Lol, you are estopped!

Sorry Zerg, no amount of estoppel can keep me down. First word is TORNADO for a whopping 27 points. Stupid mass amount of crappy 1 point letters.

My second word is LUBE for a total of 12 points, because I'm tired of looking at this board. That gives me 39 points for the round.

You are saved by Sousuke's delay.

Curses.

Okay, this one's a doozy.

LOGO + OE = 11 points
QUATRAIN + LI + ON = 170 points. 9x word for QUATRAIN, plus 3x word for ON.

No bingo, but a nice 181 points for this round. I'm left with WU.

Lucky for me, my spot didn't get taken. Woo.

I have a bingo this time, QUACKERY and FAMINE, but I'm sacrificing the extra 50 points for the chance to put a huge point-getting word on the board. :tpg:

First, ENEMA connecting the A to the D of DOOWOPS, forming ENEMA and AD for 11 points.
Finally, I put QUACKRY on the first E in ENEMA, forming QUACKERY and straddling the 3x tiles, for 261 points.

I get a total of 272 points in this round, and am left with IF.
This gives me 560 points and the lead.

Thank you, Araes! You are ever so kind. :tpg:

Okay, I played ABSOLUTEST off of VIATICU[M] for 48 points, and VAGINA off of TRILLIONS for 20 points, which also formed UN for 4 points and BA for 4 points. This also nets me a Bingo for a total of 126 points for this turn, and a grand total of 495 points, which puts me in third place.

I like how VAGINA worked out to be right next to LUBE. :tpg:

Also, damnit Zerg, I thought I had you beat! Nice play.

Only a few on this one.

ZELKOVA, x2 K, x9 Word = 252
OUTCITY, x3 U, x2 Word = 22

Total Points = 274

Think that gives me 639, which is just a little ahead of Zerg...

At this point, my continued play is really more of a technicality, so I'm going to be as inconvenient as possible and waste one of the triple word scores.

I played AROUND and FAT for a grand total of 33 points. Hooray for 5 minute turns!

That.... is an interesting strategy :tpg:

Araes, you certainly have a flair for understatement... :p

Okay, from ABSOLUTEST, I put down BALM, with a double word over the A for 14 points.

And from the L in BALM, I lay out FRENZILY with double letter on the N, triple word on the F and double word on the Y for a score of 144 points.

That gives me a total of 158 points for this turn and letters Q L A and E left over.

When will I ever get rid of that Q?

ok... this is pretty bad news, but I gotta go on a trip from wich I will be back on sunday most likely, doubt I will have an internet connection to take my turns over there, so I will just forfeit whatever turns I gotta take meanwhile. Seems like an easy solution, well if you decide anything else I won't be around.

I volunteer to take Juanzen's turns!

Pssst, need tile update so I can start looking for bingos. Thanks!

Bingoes

xenophobias + wife (need H)
inespiable + woofs (need L)
bioweapon + fixes

Other high-yields:
swinepox + FIBOEA
spinifex + OOWAEB

If you see this before you leave, you're welcome to go ahead and take your turn before me. I don't feel like it tonight, and I may or may not take my turn in the morning before I leave for the beach.

EDIT: Seeing as I'm on vacation and don't want to waste time on a losing cause, I made REJOIN for 31 points and ORNATE for 21 points. Since Juanzen has abdicated, Tritoch is up next.

Alright, I'm making my move on time for once.

PUJA scores 26 points and then QUEZAL scores 34 points. I'm just going for not last place at this point.

This gives me a total of 60 points for this round.

Turnip, need to start scheming so I can take down Araes. Can I have my tiles? :3:


Bingoes:

RETICENTLY + SELF
RECENTLY + ITSELF
RECENTLY + STIFLE
INFLECT + TERSELY

Letters are updated; I didn't realize we'd almost gone a full round without updating.

Most of the good spots to play are gone; it's pretty much down to the wire now, I think. Unfortunately, my play creates a couple openings, probably for Zerg. Anyway:

ZORIS - Using the Z and R in DIAZONIUMS and BERIMBAU - 28 points
BUTTERWORTS - Attaching the S to ZEALOT - 84 points

BINGO! + 50 points. That gives me a total of 162 this time around.

Whew, I'm glad you didn't straddle butterworts on the 3x3 (207 points), and use (P)ISO to form the bingo :D
If it's any consolation, you didn't create any openings I exploited. I think Rockgamer or Araes may find good use for the 4w positions though.

_________

Anyhow, I have several bingoes, but none will work with the position that I think would get points++

I start with FIPOINXOWAESEB

I put down IXES next to the P on PALER, forming PIXES for 30 points.
I then put down BIOWEAPON atop PIXES, earning 153 points.

Tiles left: F <-- fft fft!

I gain 189 points, for a total of 749 points, taking back the lead (until Araes moves, that is.)

Eh, no point in trying too hard, but I did get a bingo nonetheless.

ENDOPARA[S]ITE off of BIOWEAPON for 56 points, and LALL off of that for 8 points. With the bingo that's a total of 114 points for this turn, and a total of 603 points overall, keeping me in fourth place.

So, five rounds, five bingos (for 250 points). I'm impressed (and a bit awed) and I wonder if Round 6 will finally nip your bingo craze in the bud :D

Eh, it takes a bit of luck (I have gotten quite a few blank tiles throughout this game) and a lot of time (I honestly do spend on average about two hours per turn), so I guess anything is possible, but yeah, at this point in the game I doubt I'll be able to keep it up. Of course, all the bingos in the world won't help me compared to all you people who keep getting 9x word scores (though for never having got one, I guess my score is not too bad).

Ooh Zerg, I didn't even see that. I was TRYING to find some way to play on [at least one] 3x word space, but couldn't find an opening. Now that I see it though... Damn, I wish I had.

God damn that was a horrible letter set. Four I's and 7 vowels total. Ugg.

OUTGUIDING, x2 G, 0x n, x2 Word = 28
ARIOSI, x3 R = 8
LUBES = 7

43 + BINGO (50) = 93

Damn near went crazy just trying to wring a bingo out of that forsaken mess.

Everyone's letters have been replenished; we're heading into possibly the second-to-last round. There are a few more than enough letters left (136) to fully replenish everyone's letters one more time (assuming everyone bingos, which won't happen). There may not be enough letters left to have a round after that; we'll just have to see.

As close as the game is, I hated to see what Araes drew. Without many vowels, he's going to be hard-pressed to bingo, unlike Zerg.

I was rubbing my hands in glee, saying to myself "there's no way Araes is going to find a bingo with such a shitty tileset, what with the two Us and four Is"

And you ... actually found one. A heroic effort like that surely deserves a prop.

ZOMG

_______

It is a rather sweet draw. Thanks, nutty! Though, there is a question whether there's enough space to bingo on the board once everyone else gets through with it, but hay... multiple possibilities at last!

It will be interesting to see how this changes over the full round, as right now I'm actually not too restricted on plays, and on a quick scan I've got a couple possible bingos, but by the end a large quantity of the free space and unbonded letters I'd like to use could be taken. Then again, they may add some more. With the way the letters work out though, full consonants is less detrimental than full vowels as long as they don't all end up rares.

It's been 24 hours; Dullenplain may now take his turn.

Sorry people, I clearly need to get with the program. Or just start paying attention.

Played WAE and PARRY for 47 points and removing another triple.

Okay, I play TREELAWN in the lower left corner for a score of 24 points.

And from that I lay claim to the corner triple word with CANON for yet another 24 points.

That makes 48 points for my turn.

Playing WAE off of ORNATE also forms EW, which is not a word. Since you built PARRY off of the illegal WAE, I'm afraid that invalidates your entire turn.

EDIT: I made VELUM for 26 points, and to make sure no one gets any bright ideas about that 3x word, PYELITIC for 22 points.

No more scrabble after midnight for me. I thought something looked fishy but was too sleepy to be able to figure it out.

well

HYPE 12 points
ABORIGINE24 points

pretty bad turn, but I get to keep the legendary QJ I just can't get rid off this game.

Oh yeah, I forgot it was my turn now. I'll get on that in a minute.

EDIT: Alright, I laid down ZAMARRO (36) and ZEE (22) for a total of 58 points. Not too shabby for a hasty turn. I was sorely tempted to lay down ZERG, but Nutty would've just removed it for being illegal.

Alright, here goes:

BUCKLERED + ED - 47 points
FORGONE - 22 points

BINGO + 50 points. Gives me a total of 119 for this round. Not the greatest, but board real estate is getting kinda low.

No more juicy 3x3 tiles, and the last remaining 3x tile won't give me a bingo. I spent an hour looking at good places, and I think enough's enough for an online game nobody's gonna remember in a few days :p

So here goes:

Rack: FTIRNELSETELCY

I put FELTS next to the O in zamarro, forming OF and FLEES for 14 points.
I then attach the rest of my tiles on the L in felts, forming RETICENTLY for 46 points.
Bonus for my first and only bingo of this game: 50 points.

Points gained this round: 110
Total points: 863

No hope in winning, but I at least wanted to keep my Bingo streak up.

I played ACTINOLITE off of VESPERTINE for 12 points, and BUSKED off of DIAZONIUMS for 16 points. With the Bingo, that gives me 78 points for this turn, and 681 in total.

I'm pretty sure Zerg has this one in the bag, as I wasn't able to make a bingo.

COMPLECTED, x2 O, x3 D, x2 Word = 40
JENNY, x3 J, x2 Word = 60

Total = 100. Not bad, but still widening his lead.

I've replenished everyone's tiles. We're down to what may be the final round. Everyone has a full tile set, but there are only 39 tiles remaining. We'll play through this next round (I won't replenish any tiles) and we'll see where we stand after that. If the game is still close enough to be won by 5 tiles a person, then we'll go for the final final round, otherwise, this is it.

as i was looking at a few places i can go, but the score counter appears to be messed up - it's not counting the fourth letter of the top word. Looks like the formula got accidentally deleted at some point and despite my basic understanding of programming I don't want to fiddle with things i'm not sure about. Hopefully Zerg understands his own code and can fix that for us.




since i used to play far too much scrabble, i'll just count in my head.

RIBIER is worth 27
WAVY and its affiliates are worth 24

total of 51 (and it counts this time! i checked and everything!)

Someone changed instances of "Cs" to nothing, and formulas in some cells were missing.

Dunno what happened, but it's fixed now. Hawkeye scored it correctly.

You know, I never even knew this thing existed. I've been calculating my score by hand this whole time, and now I feel dumb. :(

Naw, maybe it's a good strategy if you don't trust spreadsheets formulated by your nemesis!

I keep my trusty TI-86 next to my computer, so I've never actually tried your score calculator. Your nefarious tricks won't work on me!

Are you sure? I seem to vaguely recall some of the words you formed on that score spreadsheet :3:

Fairly certain considering I don't even know where the link to it is.

Upon opening the link to edit the spreadsheet, you will see a bar at the bottom of the screen (just as in Excel), where you can Add a sheet, or navigate between the Game Board or Score computator.

Epic :TriRock: fail

That's most likely because I use it to check all scores. It's been around since the second game, I think; how have you people missed it?

Anyway, it's been 24 hours, and I'll take my turn sometime after breakfast. If Dullenplain recovers from his drunken chat stupor before then, all the better.

Okay, I've recovered enough to play:

TIRE from the T in BEQUEATHING, for 6 points (3L on R).

and

from the E in TIRE I put down EQUIPOISE, for 21 points (2L on O), finally getting rid of the Q.

And that should give me 27 points to eke out of the letters.

A F and O are left.

I made CHARGE off of HYPE for 42 points, leaving only one 3x word left on the board (and not much room to get a decent score off of it).

Then I made BANDS, which also formed ABORIGINES, for 16 and 13 points, respectively.

71 points at this late juncture isn't bad, but it isn't nearly enough to shift my place in the standings.

I play JIBE[R] for 16 points

SEMISOLID 22 points

total for the turn 38 and Q is left for my tiles.

I laid down TONIC and KATS for 16 points each. Do the math dance and it comes out to 32 points total. Thank YOU multiplication tables!

It's been 24 hours, so Zergrinch may move.

Oh shit, I thought that Tritoch's move was at 12 NOON. I'll make my go momentarily.

Okay, first move is SHEQEL + GULAGS for 44 points.
Aaaand... ROOKY for 24 points.

Not the greatest, but again, real estate is pretty bad at this point. Total for this round is 68, and I have AAETT left over.

Current Rack: EWIBOSDAIOLCUM

First word: Malicious, next to the last E in endoparasite, forming EM and MALICIOUS for a paltry 16 points.
Second word: Bowed, around the L in LALL, forming BOWLED for a less paltry 26 points.
Bingo Bonus: 50 points.

Total points this round: 92. Game total: 955.

Guess I'm not going to be able to breach the 1,000-point barrier that seems to exist in GFF Megascrabble.

There remains a 2w+2w tile up for grabs. Here's hoping Araes can't get to it :3:

Eh, lack of time (I got two finals I need to work on) and lack of space has lead to the end of my Bingo streak.

Played TENIAE off of OUTGUIDING for 6 points, and COOEY off of VELOCE for 20 points. That gives me 26 points in total for this round, and 708 in total, keeping me in 4th place.

It may be possible for me to get 130 points, as I have a Q,C,and V and there are 2L+3W and 3L+2W squares available. But I'll have to think about my turn a bit, and unfortunately don't have two hours right now. Also on work travel tomorrow. If I haven't taken my turn by tomorrow night you can assume I've been stuck on the road and then haven't gotten to use the hotel internet for any length of time.

Fair enough. We can wait.

While we wait for Araes to make the (pen)ultimate move for the game, I'd like to take advantage of everyone's subscription to this thread.

I'm cooking up a variant of MegaScrabble, which I hereby dub MegaLiteratirisk (not really). My additions will necessitate a dedicated moderator. Ipso facto, I'll be an impartial spectator in this game.

The MegaScrabble 6 (assuming nuttyturnip's not starting a new one right after) proposal is contained in a journal entry here. Do take the time to read it and tell me what you think.

I had been thinking of alternating between Risk and Scrabble, since they share a common user base. I'll probably put a sign up for Risk 11 (?) in Africa shortly. You're welcome to try out your game whenever (I'll put comments in your journal).

I had actually been meaning that the game could come to a conclusion, as I didn't want to hold things up for multiple days. But if that's the case, I'll end the wait and get to work on my turn now.

Nope, not quite there.

QI, x3 Q = 31
QI, x3 Q = 31
IF = 5
COTTONS, x3 C, x2 Word = 30

Total = 97.

I was going to say this was too close to call, and that we needed to use up the last of the letters to determine the winner, then I actually drew everyone's tiles. Zergrinch ended up with N-U-L-G-Y-X-S-K-O, while Araes was stuck with V-N-L-U-E-L-L-D-E. I'm certain Zerg could have maintained his lead with so many multi-point tiles, so I'm calling the game in his favor. Congratulations!

No contention on my part. Zerg played a string of great rounds and used what breaks he had smartly. Congrats on the win, it was a well fought game with a lot of fun surprises.

What'd I say, Turnip? Told ya he'd play QI, forming QI, QI, and IFs. With the rest of the tiles calibrated to get the maximum oomph? 97 points was quite impressive (I estimated 92) and I admire Araes' ability to make the best out of a bad tile draw. No doubt that if he only got an A, he'd do terrible, terrible damage with the game being way too close to call.

I'd attribute the win to a bunch of lucky 3wx3w breaks sent my way. Making that whopper of a move (over 250 points) was quite satisfying, and something I'll never see in a regular game of Scrabble :)

Thanks for the good game, guys.

Yup, just too tasty of a prize to avoid. I tried a number of variations to get SQUINT into the x2 x3 space in the corner, and while it could be done for 75 alone, plus a few more, the rest of the points never worked out, as a viable bridge was the killer.

That was my first assumption too. Of course, forming a very short bridge would have limited your options...

-------------------------
(9:47:45 PM) AIM: SQUINT on the 3w tile
(9:49:08 PM) AIM: but there's no way to bridge it using Y in rocky, he'll have to use the O
(9:49:59 PM) AIM: my best bet is he'll put OYS on the O in rooky
(9:50:06 PM) AIM: and QUINT under the S
(9:50:44 PM) AIM: for 14 + 75 = 89 points
-------------------------

But later I decided you had better options, with QI and some other long-ass word to bust past 89. Which you did exceed by 4 points (as I was expecting OUTVOTES off COMPLECTED for a total of 93).

Man, you had enough time to not only work out your turns but my ones as well... Guess, those few days of travel helped. Makes me not feel too bad for only taking an hour on the last turn after getting back and figuring I had reached the point of diminishing returns. I tried a few of the other QI or QUI options, and made a bunch of chains between existing stuff, but nothing worked out to getting double-triple on a 10 point letter. Since the gap was just a little too large, I almost wanted to just make some crazy chains using 4+ existing letters for the heck of it.

Time my ass. I IM'd him to ask if I should call the game or give you more time, and he spent the next 45 minutes telling me what moves you could make. The man's a Scrabble machine.