Still jet-lagged and brain-lagged from Reno... don't remember too many details
1st game, good player... Naturally I lose my first game back. 353-412. He plays SPRINTS by turn 5. It's not till my 12th turn that I play S/blank... extending JOY to JOYANCES for 60... board is too cluttered by now for any hope of a bingo. This guy is notorious to me for having incredible tile luck at the exact right time. After he sticks SPRINTS, with the bottom S by a TWS that I can't touch at the moment, he gets easy 32 for OH/TO/SH. Naturally he has the H for that SH triple spot!! I finally dump a Q, 5 spaces under a TWS. Of course he has RAN on his rack, picks T for his next turn, and easy TRANQ for 45. Never seen anyone get the right tiles so regularly for simple but high scoring plays. Oddly, he can never beat Dave H, who I played next...
2nd game, Dave H. Going first, I spend an S to rid myself of JIVES for 46, followed by JOULE for 24. Another 36 point play, but Dave bingos to make it close at 106-92.
I score 36, 30, then 51 for FAERY/YA, followed by 28, and then my first bingo of the night. After 10, 377-220. Ends up 470-290.
We're playing outside, on a card table, as the sun's going down...
3rd game, pretty solid (1319) player.
My first exchange turn of the night, turn 5, followed by a 45 point turn that almost draws me even 123-128. A 40 point turn after that, then 19, and a bingo (AIRHEAd), though HEtAIRA would likely be better. Oddly, the OSPD gives the defn of AIRHEAD as "an area in hostile territory secured by paratroops"... similar to BEACHHEAD. He bingos for 82 on his 10th turn, closing to 275-241. Ended 352-324 for me, with one blank and no esses going my way.
4th game, the erratic fisherman. Surprise surprise, he exchanges 1st turn. I exchange second turn. He bingos 4th turn, after 5 I'm down 134-97. He dumps QAID for 28, offering a triple thru the D. I hold EILTTS?, which LeXpert confirms doesn't do anything with a D. An open Y in a DWS lane looks like my best option, so I go with STYLITEs. After 10, it's close and relatively low scoring... 220-229 for me.I bingo in the 12th turn, follow it with 30, and win 343-388.
5th game... good player... Elvira T needed to get her 4th game in, so I obliged, though the sun was down now, and the mosquitos abruptly appeared with a vengeance about halfway into the game.
I opened with a bingo, and exchanged in my 6th turn. After 10, 287 to 173. Squeezed in a late bingo in turn 14, won 455 to 262. Elvira's on her way to Cincinnati, I believe.
Our last few turns were rather rushed due to the mosquito onslaught.
In her previous game, sitting beside me, Elvira bingoed with VERBENAS. Her opponent held ACEHLRT, didn't try RELATCH* or LATCHER*, and apparently didn't know TRACHLE, the only 7 in there. I think he just dumped HET.