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2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 18

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Go to: Anagrams Championship, 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, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3, Final Round 4, Final Round 5.

Round 18

Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) defeated Sammy Okosagah (Baltimore, MD) in a division 1 game this round, 405-379. Jim played EUGENiA for 70 and Sammy responded with VESTURAL through the E for 65. Later on, Jim got down BLAStER for 82, but not even Sammy bingoing out with UNDERLET through the first E for 60 could bring him back.

Since their game was one of the first completed today, Jim walked over to tell me about his game last round against Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ), which he won, 517-357. Ever humble, Jim has nothing to say about his own play, but mentions how impressed he was with Nathan's perseverence. Jim was killing him, the board was slammed shut, and near the end of the game, Nathan played SEROTINAL to the AL. It was only 70 points, but it demonstrated to Jim how hard Nathan was fighting to stay in the game. Jim is also fond, still, of the play made ..by John Luebkemann (Pineville, NC) in their tied game yesterday: SHAPEUP, which Jim ended up challenging. Those two plays, thus far, are the best ones Jim has seen his opponents find.

At table 22 in division 5, Zarrine Banerji (Columbia, MO) is beside herself about her victory this round against Terry Aitken (Stratford ON), 406-297. Terry was standing beside the board with her, helping her fill out her flashiest play entry. Her two bingos this game were AMARANTH for 78 and PLEDGEE for 97. Terry managed to get down SCARLeT for 66.

Division 5's table 12 featured a game between Matthew Levine (Berkeley, CA) and Geoff Gibson (Toronto ON). I see two nice bingos: INGeSTS for 72 and TeNOURS for 72, both played by Geoff, who won the game, 377-339. He wanted me to know that TENOUR is the English spelling for TENOR and is acceptable, so now we all know.

At table 12 in division 6, Chad Harris (Clemson, SC) defeats Ann Anderson (Omaha, NE), 373-319. Chad had NABBErS for 79 and Ann had the impressive AMORTISe for 62.

I stop by a game between Thomas Conrad (Hillsboro, OR) and Dan Lee (Pittsburg, KS). I am not feeling the "stay away from me, lady" vibe so I snap a shot and lean in to get some dirt. Well, poor ol' Dan lost with a 194-421 game. And I decided talking to me was just too much to ask, so I moved on.

Divison 4's table 5 featured a game between Jeff Myers (Granville, OH) and Phyllis Koselke (Hammond, IN). I see UNRIDDEN* for 66 that Phyllis is astonished to see in her handheld is a phoney play. Jeff got down GOaTEES for 69 and INSTILS for 70. Jeff won, 380-299.

Division 1's Mark Przybyszewski (Depew, NY) played Trey Wright (Van Nuys, CA) at table 20 this round. Mark opened with TUGRikS, and played OPERATES for 65, DILATES for 72 as his outbingo. Trey got down AUTUMNAL for 79 and HEADWEAR for 80. Mark, a player from Hawaii, knows all the Hawaiian words acceptable in SCRABBLE^® play and I spot one of them on his board, VAHINE (variant of WAHINE, which means woman) for 39 on the top triple lane.

Robert Linn (Potomac, MD) says, as I photograph his board, "I am not having a good tournament." This round, he fell to Kevin Fraley (Madera, CA), 398-441. Kevin played WANTONER through the second N for 74, DEPUTIEs from the D for 83, and the lovely ALIENaTEs, played to ES on the triple lane for 71. In retrospect, Kevin admits that PENALTIES would have been better. When I asked why he didn't play PENALTIES, he muttered something about being under time pressure. Bob played DISDAIN for 73 and VARIATE for 84.

A very quick glimpse of table 25 in division 1 is all I get. It is an eked out win for Marty Gabriel (Charleston, IL) against Lloyd Mills (Georgetown ON), 369-365. One their board, I spot WARRANTING, HATFULS, TROAKED, and ELONgATE.

Jeff Widergren (Los Gatos, CA) tells me a painful tale about a game he said he had with Darrell Day (Richardson, TX), painful for Darrell, that is. The board was tightly closed and Darrell ended up holding both blanks for SEVEN turns and wasn't able to play them at all before the game ended, 409-297. At one point, Jeff saw a bingo that Darrell could make, gINGeLI, but it didn't get played.

Mark Kenas (Madison, WI) had his shot at Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) this round. The first bingo played was Mark's SInUATE for 72, followed immediately by Panupol's NARRATED for 63. Three turns later, Mark put down CICERONE for 89 and Panupol responded again with one of his own, PAGEANTS for 74. A few turns later, Panupol played LOITERER for 70 and a few turns later Mark played BELONgS for 67. Despite the three bingo each evenness, it was Panupol's win, 475-427.