Welcome to the Jerusalem Scrabble Club
COME PLAY WITH US … VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME!
*** NEW PLAYERS: CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ***
Director: Elana Simons, 054 220 6238, elanalibby@gmail.com
THIS WEEK AT THE CLUB
Season 81, Week 7 of 25 – March 12, 2024
The club resounded with “Mazal Tov” to a beaming Richard, the new grandfather of twin baby boys. How soon they will be pushing Scrabble tiles around a board is a matter for conjecture.
Elana gave us advance notice that the school library will not be available for our use in three weeks’ time, on April 2. An alternative day for our session that week will be announced.
Rita essayed RIDELESS, which Susan didn’t challenge. She did, however, prefix a B to it which Rita, in turn, didn’t challenge. (Susan: “Wouldn’t someone without a bride be BRIDELESS?”) Turns out neither word is good – the discovery of which, one might venture, rendered both players PRIDELESS (also not good). Wendy, in anatomical vein, played both THORAX and TESTICLE.
When DavidS’s opponent opened with AMOEBAS, and he had WHIRLED on his rack, “I was thrilled to find a place even though it put the D on a triple line.” As soon as he hit the clock, however, “I realized I had a much better spot – a six-tile hook that was infinitely safer and also got me more points.” Not for the first time, David emphasizes: “Take that extra minute to find a better move – even if your first one is an 80-plus bingo!”
Overheard: “I had so much trouble with two blanks on my rack!” Envious response: “Other people’s problems….” It is, though, a fact that holding two blanks can present a challenge. In a bind, one recommendation is to play one blank off for a good score, then concentrate on finding a bingo with the other. While Chani agrees this can be a good move, she doesn’t mince her words regarding that player who is having a hard time holding two blanks. “The question is: Why did the player get into that situation? Perhaps mistakes were made along the way. Was the rack too awkward? If so, it should have been cleaned up – either by playing off difficult tiles, or even swapping them. Was the board too closed to place a bingo? Then it should have been opened. Or maybe the player just didn’t see the opening by not knowing a hook. It could also have been a lack of word knowledge, or poor anagramming skills.” For those looking to up their game – and that’s most of us – there are important lessons to learn here, rack “management” being just one of them.
If you missed the opportunity to communicate your hilite in person at the club you can email it to judymo@netvision.net.il or WhatsApp it (054-5552355) up until noon the following day. If you wish to mark any occasion by bringing refreshments to the club, please check with Susan up to a week in advance.
WWWW: JudyM
WWW: DavidS, Steve, Wendy, Richard, Brenda, LisaH
WOW: BIVOUAC (DavidL), LOMEINS, (DavidS), CHOLENTS (Brenda), YULETIDE (Elana)
PHOW: MEETUPS (DavidL), INDIANS (Steve) RIDELESS (Rita)
High Win, High Loss, High Triple:
A: 578 (Wendy), 427 (Rena), 1470 (Wendy)
B1: 491 (Shirley), 387 (Hilda), 1229 (Avi)
**NEW!!** Scores over 500: 578 (Wendy), 515, 500 (DavidS) 501 (Elana)
100-pt play: UTILIZED (122, Elana)
Attendance: 33