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2004 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 12

[ Congratulations to the new National Champion, Trey Wright, who defeated David Gibson in three straight games, 365-328, 355-344 and 429-328. Please tune in to ESPN to watch the final games at 1 P.M. ET on Sunday, October 3rd, 2004. We welcome your e-mailed corrections to our web site. ]

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, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3.

Round 12

Our last game before lunch and the room is hopping. At table 6 in division 1, I catch Jesse Matthews (Calgary AB) played RENeWED for 64 in response to an opening play by Joe Gaspard (Minneapolis, MN).

In division 2, Jack Eichenbaum (Flushing, NY) and Judy Horn (Reading, MA) are starting a fun game. He opens with OUTRIGS for 68 and she replies with OUTLANDWS through the U for 68. He then tries PARTAGES* to the S and she holds then challenges him. I walk them to the machine and the play is ruled unaccetable. I don't know what other kind of mischief they got into later on in the game as I moved on.

Glenn Dunlop (Brantford ON) vs. Timothy Anglin (Scarborough ON) in division 2. On their board I see HINDERS, BLOATING, and PREFAB.

The only female in the top four games in division 2 is Fern Lindzon (Toronto ON). Head bent forward, she is spending this round concentrating on defeating Patrick Hodges (Glendale, AZ) to move herself to the top table.

Two players walk up the machine and one types in CORDY*, which is ruled unacceptable. The losing player says "Boo!" and walks back to the table.

Division 1's Jeff Widergren (Los Gatos, CA) is in heaven after a stupendous game with Joel Elkins (West Hollywood, CA). Joel got down RANKLESS for 89 and Jeff played DEVISORS for 89, EARWIGs for 77, FLAnERIE for 90, UNOILED for 68 (this was his opening play), and INDEX for 83. Final score: 577-332.

On a division 1 board between Carol Ravichandran (Northville, MI) and Travis Chaney (Van Buren, AR), I see Carol's TWIgGED for 82 and Travis' ANEROID for 74, TUSSORES for 68, and STATUARY for 92. They aren't very far into this game either!

I've been trying to catch our British player, Mark Nyman (United Kingdom), but he's been elusive so far. This round he is playing Lisa Odom (St. Louis Park, MN). I see Lisa's early bingo of ESPANOLS for 90, which she follows with SUDDENER for 60. Trying to read scribbled handwriting, I think Mark's next play was a 95-point bingo that may have been PASTIER (this is not my writing I can't read!). Later in the game, I walk by and they are gone. They are at the challenge computer. Mark tried LUZERN# from the L (this symbol means the word is good in another official SCRABBLE^® dictionary, but is still not acceptable in ours). His play came up. Lisa got down two other bingos and won the game, 525-343.

David Mallick (Andover, MA) is playing Jim Pate (Birmingham, AL) in a division 1 game. I see Jim's BArONET and another fun non-bingo: VIMINA.

Always a good sport, Bruce Adams (Worcester, MA) comes up to me and tells me about his opponent's great play. Jonn Dalton (Austin, TX) earned more than 300 points in four consecutive turns. He played FLAWIeST to the T for 101, ZAP for 48, CHEVIED for 78, and ENMITIES for 72. At this point, the score was 91-390. Bruce ended up losing by 225 points.

Division 1's Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) was all atitter about his last game against Robert Kahn (Plantation, FL). Craig got down the natural GARMENTS for 78 and then later in the game played REDHORSE through the S for 64. What makes the latter bingo so extraordinary to Craig is that he played at a tournament this year where a "most outrageous phoney" prize was awarded to someone who got away with REHORSED*. Intrigured, Craig looked it up at the time and found the anagram. And there it was on his rack! To make it even better, Robert challenged the play! Craig's next rack was UNMEWED, but he couldn't get it down. He also played UNRAGES for 73, ZETA down the triple for 69, and QAID for 32. Game score: 508-311, Craig's win.

Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON) has had a great morning: he is 4-0 +780! He just defeated Michael Baker (Portland, OR) by 155 points. He says that Mike challenged ADIEUS, thinking it might not take an S. It does.

At table 29 in division 1, Diane Firstman (Brooklyn, NY) defeats Cynthia Pughsley (Oakland, CA), 416-389. I see Diane's ABSENCe bingo, but can't eke out much more information because Cynthia is critiquing Diane's play. I guess she wanted Diane to win by even more!

Steve Pellinen (St. Louis Park, MN) defeated Jeff Fleetham (Calgary AB) in a division 1 matchup this round, 439-392. I see Steve's TETANOID for 80, and gINKOES for 71. Jeff played FRONTAGE for 82, and PRICK for a double word and then PRICKLY (by adding two tiles) for another double word. So a double-double of sorts.

Helena Gauthier (Merrimack, NH) tells me about a comeback win she had against Jerri Bergeron (Atlanta, GA), 409-371. Jerri opened with ASSORTED for 63 and Helena got down INARMED for 76 and NAILSET for 82. At one point she was down, 128-244. Jerri opened their game with ASSORTED for 63.

As the room clears out, I see Kenji Matsumoto (Aiea, HI) on all fours roaming around the division 1 carpeting. He nonchalantly looked up and said, "I'm looking for my water bottle."