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2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 24

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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 24

I saw Dean Saldanha (Richmond BC) pull out the "flashiest bingo" sheet to fill out, so I scampered over to his table 31, division 1 game against Larry Rand (Chandler, AZ). Dean won, 408-386. I see Larry's RAISINg and GOLIARDS (nice), and Dean's FUtHORKS (what?) and CLUTTERS. Larry points at the latter bingo and tells me it was the game turner.

I'm not sure how good it will be for roommate relations, but Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA) just defeated his roommate, Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX), 445-382. Their 4 bingo game split down the middle, DEMAnDs for 85 and VERSINES through the I for 94 for Mike and WESTERN for 100 and VIRAGOES through the R for 66 for Doug. Mike still has a firm grasp on 1st place, but Doug is knocking!

At the next board, Steve Pellinen (St. Louis Park, MN) defeated Judy Levitt (Los Angeles, CA), 444-405. I see Steve's LIVYErS and Judy's INTRUDEs and RABBONIS (wow!).

It all came down to a painful Q-stick at table 1 in division 3. Eric Kinderman (Freehold, NJ) won a close game against Diana Spiller (Ashby, MA), 373-356. Ouch.

I had trouble keeping up with the fab plays at divison 3's table 2. Jeff Martin (Albuquerque, NM) and Jessie Jones (Yuma, AZ) appear to have had quite the time. TENABLE was played by Jessie for 66 and later extended by Jeff to UNTENABLE. Jeff got down CHUNKIER for 82 and Jesse played CALUTRON for 62 and wAIVERS for 76.

Andrew Golding (Verdun QC) brings me over to see his 441-384 win against Robert Crowe (Fort Wayne, IN), 441-384. I see Andrew's REFACES for 80, AUSTErER to the R for 74, and UNITIZEs for 82. Bob played CREEPILY for 88 and CALVARIA to the A for 84. Andrew caught two phonies and called them off: YELPIER* and ISOPATHS*.

Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA) slipped me a couple of notes. One mentions him defeating Michael Baker (Portland, OR) by 160. Sam appears to have gotten away with playing NEGATORY*. The other says, "two players from the last U.S. WSC team played (one another.)" Sam beat Mark Kenas (Madison, WI), 461-288, this last game this round. I admit to not getting to that portion of the room as it is behind the red roping separating tables 1 and 2 from the rest of the division. Thanks for these updates, Sam.

At the top board in division 1, Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL) fell to Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand), 282-437. The game bingos were, no surprise from the score, all Panupol's: DISLiKER for 59, STEARINE for 70, and PREVISOR for 64. Brian struggled with just wretched racks. Check out the annotated game if you want to see for yourself.

The win once again brings Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) to first place in division 1 with 19 wins. Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) is the only player with 18 wins, and John Luebkemann (Pineville, NC) is in third with 17.5 wins.

Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX) is still two games head of his closet competitor in division 2 and Steve Pellinen (St. Louis Park, MN) is second with 18 wins.

Eric Kinderman (Freehold, NJ) remains at the top spot in division 3 with 19 wins. Betty Cornelison (Portland, OR) has quietly crept up into second place with 18 wins and Tony Claitor (Orlando, FL) is in third place right now also with 18 wins, but half the spread of Betty's.

Ben Harrison (Cambridge, MA) continues to hold the top spot honors in division 4 with 19 wins. Jeff Myers (Granville, OH), Chris Schneider (Seattle, WA), and Edward De Guzman (Berkeley, CA) are close on his heels.

Nat Gardenswartz (Newton, MA) and Ken Kasney (Cypress, TX) continue to battle it out at the top of division 5, both having 18 wins.

Jacob Williams (Austin, TX) has crept into the lead of division 6 with 19 wins and Ida Scaglione (Tonawanda, NY) is in 2nd with 18 wins.

So many possibilities!