1st game, the Erratic Fisherman (altho he only traded once in this game...)
He spends a while on the opening move, so presumably he has interesting tiles. All he ends up playing is GEM. Holding CARLINE (the only 7, says LeXpert)... I play RELACING for 63, not even seeing RELIANCE (83, to the triple). I think I saw RELACING first, somewhat surprised to have a natural bingo immediately, and didn't really think it very likely I'd ALSO have a bingo to the E, without a blank or S in my rack, so only gave the E lane the most cursory of looks. And RELACING placed the R horribly, inviting scores of possible 3x3's (not to mention killers like QUIRE and ZAIRE). Without seeing RELIANCE, maybe CLEARING would be better than RELACING... extra 6 point hit on the triple small price to pay.
So... don't know where my head was at.
Fortunately, all he does there is ROWER. 3rd turn he dumps JEE for 28, thru the RELACING E. Fourth turn, he comes up with the not particularly impressive NEARINg, hooking the front of it under the em of GEM... and extinguishing any wild thoughts of ever finding GEMINATED, etc. I squeeze FADER/AJEE in for 34. Next turn is SIgNORY off his ROWER for 80. Apparently short of vowels now, he plays BOTH thru the signory O, where I'm only too happy to play ROCKY hooked as BOTHY for 70 on the top right triple. From here on, he's looking for a bingo that doesn't come, and I'm hitting steady 30 pointers. He momentarily puts down UTILISE, but realizes his only apparent hook isn't allowable (xus*) and plays a dump elsewhere. Ends 509-295.
Game 2... Good player, never plays tourneys.
He opens BOITE... and the rest of the game is oddly confined to the bottom 2/3 of the board. I play an early S to gets rid of ZIPS for 44 (he'd just paralleled OW as OWL, allowing OWLS/ZIPS to double both ways). He later did the same with JO to JOY, and I expended another S in a 36 point defensive/dumping play. This was after I bingoed cheaply (but with a difficult fit) with ANEMONES. He got that back immediately with JAPED paralleled along the top of it to the TWS. He threw in CARIbOU hooked as PEC in the 8th turn.
After ten, he's up 306-294, and the remaining S, blank, and Q are not on my rack.
The only one of those I end up drawing is the Q of course. He extends JOYS to ENJOYS for 16, presumably to set up an extra hotspot for the H... I'm holding QUIRFDT, down 376-342 after his 14th turn. I don't see it immediately, but am happy to play QUIRTED for 39 using "enjoys" E (no room for SQUIRTED hook, either). I have multiple out plays next turn, the best being 11 points. He's 376-381, holding VIGTL?. Earlier, BRAIN had been played on the left side triple... now he desperately tries bIGBRAIN for 30. This is the same guy who once memorably tried LOVERMAN in a similar situation. Obviously, I challenge it, and play out. 410-376. Weird game.
Third game... lower level player
This was nearly as dangerous as the last game... again, was shut out of the blanks, and managed one S. After 7 turns it was even at 135... not very pretty. I held REUSEZU at this point. An onlooker... the next best player in the club... said on that turn, he'd take REUSE/NAPS for about 19. (Leaving ZU)(???). He apparently didn't like my exchange of UZUE, my only exchange of the night I think.
I play YIRTH for 38 from HYRIESA rack. I also had ASHIER for 42 available. Checking with Lexpert, HYSTERIA may have been possible to fit (I forget the board layout). HAYRIDES and HAYWIRES are the other two possible 8's. She plays the first blank, QuOD for 34. I dump OCA on the bottom trip for 20, she gets 40 for FEZ/FA thanks to the A I just supplied.
After 10 I'm struggling, down 193-223.
I squeeze 23 points out of L and A somewhere. She brings out the other blank, TRaNQ for 26. Fortunately, she draws the X and wastes a turn trying to set up a play for it... I'm out in 2. 376-310. No bingos for either of us(tho as I said, I might have been able to play HYSTERIA had I seen it)
4th game, pretty good player. The one I had that crazy tie with last week.
I open with 56 point ZENITH, play off the Z with ZONATED. She dumps J for 36. I do something apparently useful for 41 points, and she plays WEAR as a SWEAR hook to the left hand TWS column. Hmm.
I could play PIXES there, but I don't... ZENITHS/SIX for 45. 5th turn, she bingos with RECITEd... not RECITEs/sWEAR, but MILER/RECITEd on the opposite side of the board. I dump HP for 26 points, now holding TEQUILA rack. She erases the WEAR hook with BLUEST. That's fine, I take LIQUATEd onto her d for 101 (bottom triple). This draws me my first blank in 3 games... with DAKOID. I take 34 for KA, now have DOONID?. NOD in bottom left trip for 22, now have DDIOWY?. That BLUEST of hers allows me to hook the Y, and I play DOWDILY/BY for 79. She parallels along the top left trip I'd just opened (AGO for 29). After 10, I'm up 463 to 276.
I dump RV for 8... then ACA as AECIA, setting up an L hook to the right hand TWS column, but I don't draw the remaining L. With one in the bag, she plays a U for 2. Tracking shows a pretty nice last rack for her... LINAGES. She doesn't know the AECIAL hook, it turns out.
As for me, I'm holding FOAMERS.
That just LOOKS silly to me. And if I try to bingo out with it, she'll certainly challenge it. I have plenty of clock time this time around.
No spot for FORMATES... but this gets me onto the right track. The T of the opening ZENITH is on the center star. I play FOREMAST for 92 (she challenges, it stays). I then learn FOAMERS is good (altho it would have been about 10 points less than FOREMAST).
Final 593-289.