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USSO 2006 Commentary: Round 3

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

Ben Withers (Houston, TX) and Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) are playing each other at Board 1 in Division 1. Steve Pellinen and Scott Smith are posting the game live.

round 3

So, Jeff Clark (Linden, MI) ran up to me and said, "you've got to see this 675 board!" I agreed and was in hot pursuit of him across the ballroom. We end up at a game that took place between Jeff and Judy Levitt (Los Angeles, CA) and in the ultimate good sport spirit, it was Judy's high score, 675-262. No slouch, Jeff did get down SEDATED for 69 (all side remarks about it being a "sedate" play are acknowledged by the ever-dry Jeff!), but it was all Judy for the rest of the game. She played CEiLERS for 74 and VERSINE for 96, but the play was Judy's 212-point triple-triple aYURVEDA through the D! Way to go Judy!

Paul Cole (St. Augustine, FL) sought me out to see his 556-422 winning board against Andy Michlin (Dallas, TX). Andy got down AQUATICs from the first A for 122 and sLEEPIER for 70. Paul played FORMALS for 76, SOFTened through the F for 74, AROUSING through the N for 72, WREsTLE for 77, and RIGHTERS to the S for 64.

Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON) walked by the internet table and casually mentioned that he'd just defeated Joe Edley (Coram, NY) by 169. Always a good day when you defeat the only three-time champion that his event has ever seen!

Diane Firstman (Brooklyn, NY) brings the news to me at the internet table (my feet say thank you). She had two games with bingos worth at least 110. Just telling me this made her smile from ear to ear. She leaned back her long torso in the chair, crossed her legs, and set into the tale. In the first game, she opened with BOTANIC. On her next rack, she held DFORSX?. She found oXFORDS/BOTANICS on the triple lane for 116. In the second game, holding ADENOZ?, she found BlAZONED from the B for 110. Needless to say, she won both of these games. I think I see the method to her success: give her a blank and let her rip!

Fashion isn't the hallmark of SCRABBLE^® tournaments on the whole, but every so often an item catches my eye. Today, the item is a jacket made by Luise Shafritz (Las Vegas, NV). Per usual, the sum of the parts is less fun than the item itself, but since she shared the details, I'll pass them on. The jacket is actually a 20-year-old white sweatshirt that she cut up and attached swatches of SCRABBLE-themed bed sheets she'd purchased off E-Bay. Turns out that in the 1950s, there were actual SCRABBLE^® sheets. She's repurposed them for clothing and tile bags. Snazzy for sure!

Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) comes up to me and says in his most understated way, "So, I was scheduled for the round 1 bye in division 1. Then Steve Tier (New York, NY) was added to the division to even us out. It turned into the toughest bye I ever had!" He says he went on to draw everything and won their game, but Steve's non-bingo find of SHOWBIZ to the Z for 60 points was their game's highlight.

So, S Spencer Sun (Novato, CA) comes up to me between every round, Treo in hand, to let me know about how the division 3 standings are not right. We've only played three games, he says, why do I have four losses already? I smile and blame John Chew for everything, something I couldn't do were John sitting next to me as he usually is. But honestly, there has been some sort of glitch that we hope to iron out soon!

So, a beautiful play went down on a board between Orry Swift (Dayton, TX)and Seth Lipkin (Hopkinton, MA). The play was CROQUETING through the separated E and IN to a triple for 146 points, played by Orry, who, no surprise, went on to win the game, 541-307. Beautiful find, Orry!

A distressing development from a director's point of view is developing in division 1. It is taking the players up to 35 mins to transition from round to round. This is creating a terrific delay in ther rounds wrapping up. I see a general announcement in our future.