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NSC 2012 Commentary: Round 21

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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, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 21

Kristen Chew gives me this rack: BINOU??. Can you find the play that someone found in her division to an AR? In the game between Edward Gowash (APO, AE) and Linda Robinson (Clyde, OH), Kristen found the word BINOcUlAR! Should read BINOCULAR if that blank L looks funny on your screen.

Jason Keller (Highland Park, NJ) on fire today, had a misfire. He tried OLDWIVE* which got challenged off. At first, it was reported to me that he tried GOODWIVE*, so I'm glad Jason corrected me!

Leesa Berahovich (Berkeley, CA) is in row 1 this round! She is playing Rafi Stern (Seattle, WA) and early on I see TRACHEAS on their board.

Their game in progress, Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) vs. Komol Panyasophonlert (Thailand), I see some beautiful plays! Dave's scoresheet is so clear, I can see that he got down CARDIAE and at that point in the game, Komol had played back-to-back OBESITY for 82 and INDOrSES for 77. HE also played OVERRATE for 63 and nUTRIAS for 74. A win for Komol, 464-374, I find out a bit later. The good news? Dave gets a grudge match first thing tomorrow morning because they are paired together again!

Nigel Richards (Malaysia) opened with JESUIT for 42 in his game with Conrad Bassett-Bouchard (Piedmont, CA). The game is pretty: BIGTIME, mAFIOSI, DERATtED, GLEBAE, and EPHOR. And though I can't exactly speak for Conrad, I think he ended today pretty happy to have a 415-361 win against Nigel! And his 427-404 win against Jason Keller (Highland Park, NJ) in round 20 helped with that, too!

Jon Shreve (Denver, CO) reaches the top tier of tables and this round is playing Jerry Lerman (Foster City, CA). A bit of a battle was being waged when I caught their game in progress. Jerry played FONTInA for 76 as an opening play. Jon replied with HElOTAGE for 63. A bit later Jerry played FUNDABLE for 82 and Jon got 70 for DARNDEST. The fun COYPOU and MOMI are also on their board. Later I see that it was a 475-433 win for Jerry.

David Gibson (Spartanburg, SC) was at board 2 this round with Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX), who was happy to make it to the top row. The pretty VEALIEST on the triple lane was Mike's best play, but the rest were pretty much all David's: sEDILIA, FJORDS, gARBAGES, and the fun BUNCOS down the triple for 48. I think this last play was David's favorite because his eyes twinkled when he pointed it out. A 403-316 win for David.

Still smiling through the tears, Orry Swift (Houston, TX) reports regretfully, that he lost all three of his games in the afternoon session. This round, he squared off against Jesse Day (Berkeley, CA). While Orry played PENISES (a first), Jesse got down AROUSING, AVIAtEs, EXUVIAL and ENGULFED. A 487-352 win for Jesse.

Division 2's top game this round was between Kevin Leeds (Austin, TX) and Roy Kamen (Covina, CA). I see BANTERER, DOTtLeD, and SESSION. Later on, I find out Leeds won, 451-382.

Adam Ginzberg (Swarthmore, PA) and Emely Weissman (Menlo Park, CA) had a fun, if not a bit low-scoring game this round. She opened with VOMIT (he later hooked created VOMITO) and got down KINGS for 49. He played REcITALS for 73, but everything else was pretty small and cramped for them both. However, a win is a win, and Adam heads out today in first place in division 2. Way to go, Adam!

Another young player in div 2, Jackson Smylie (Toronto ON) played Brian Galebach (Columbia, MD) this round. They were not quite done when I was there, but I see three nice plays for Jackson: ATROpINES, RIMPLED, and TAWDRIER. Their result slip said, 517-346 in Jackson's favor.

Mark Fidler (Waltham, MA) vs. Mason Shambach (Battle Creek, MI). Game in progress: SITUATED SWEEpING, TAPABlE*, STINGER, and FULLEST. A 416-389 win for Mason.

Their game winds up as I watch and Glenn Dunlop (Brantford ON) says, and I'm not sure to whom, "write this up for the ages." I see FLICKERS, OCREATE, INsNARED, and DIRTIEr. A 440-421 win for Glen.

Morris Greenberg (Brookline, MA) is ecstatic. He is 6-1 today!

A close game between Chris Canik (Austin, TX) and Arthur Moore (Ocoee, FL). All I can see is the fun VAMoOSE. A 348-324 win for Chris.

What a way to end the day! A 485-485 tie for Charlene White (Kearny, NJ) and Michael Donegan (Austin, TX).

Unlike his fellow countryman, Cedric Lewis (State College, PA) who played in the CSW division, Mohd Khairi Zulkalnain (Ames, IA) decided to try TWL and this afternoon alone he had 4-5 Collins bingos called off the board in his games. This is his first TWL event.

We've got Peter Sokolowski here from Merriam-Webster. The editor at large is known as one of the faces of the "Ask the Editor" series on youtube. It turns out that the NSA's John Williams, Jr., produced several of these shorts! Check them out! The one I saw most recently was about the word penultimate. He's set up a table with about 50 different dictionaries. And he's happily answering questions from various NSC attendees like JC Green (Lealman, FL), a member of our dictionary committee.

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, Round 31, After the Tournament.