The erratic Richard C up first...
I needed revenge against this guy, because earlier in the week 8 of us got together at another player's house... and in our game there, he came back from over 200 points back by playing WAISTING from the W on a triple, then a few 20-40 pointers, then bingoed out with GODSEND (rather appropriate word). I had emptied the bag in fishing for a bingo... and did in fact have one if he didn't bingo out. If it were a tournament game, obviously I'd have played it safe and taken the win.
As for the club game.. he goes first, and as usual, exchanges. 4th turn I hold AENOPU?, and have a cheap hook for EUPNOeA... but is defensively horrible. He usually has complete faith in anything I play... and I never usually try to exploit that... but this time I try EUPNOeIA on him, which he rightfully throws out. He's accepted such nonsense as PIROUET* and VALORED* from me in the past... oh well!
He throws up a better hook for me, and I play APOLUNE off it. He shrugs at that one, accepts it, and plays NeAREST or something equally mundane. I reply with AERATES. After 10 it's 249-293 for me, I go on to 354-436 win. He only had one exchange turn, contrary to his usual habits.
2nd game... Harold, strong non-tourney player. I open by exchanging. He opens with POTTaGE. After 3 turns, I'm down 48-136. I'm deciding to rid myself of XI for 38... when on the board beside us, a pair of rather low level players are carrying on at about 90 decibels (the guy played F*CK on the triple, she challenged it thinking certainly such words wouldn't be "acceptable"). They're laughing and shouting boisterously... as are many of the other players... and I hit my clock, and then notice in all the distraction I've played XA instead of XI. I take it back, concede the turn and am pretty pissed off at the morons beside me. Now down by over 100.
Turn 8 I get NARCOSE down, a couple points better than CORNEAS and better defensively... and also a word he doesn't know. He leaves it... a turn later he plays FeIJOAS, hooked as UMS*. I get rid of that. I play something for 25, he now tries hooking FeIJOAS with SHULA*. I get rid of that. Playing to a B on the bottom TWS line, I put MITHRAB* down for 45 (I meant MIHRAB... but the T looked to me like it belonged). He left that one alone!! Mithrab??
Yet again he tries FeIJOAS, this time the attempted hook is SPOTTAGES*. Got rid of that again. Now I'm up by 55. He gets JAGgIEST for 68. It's getting late, the Q isn't out... and of the unplayed tiles, I've assembled the most Q-friendly group remaining. I eliminate the only dangerous Q-drop spot there is, planning to stick him with it if he has it... but I draw it as I empty the bag. He somehow fails to block QUAI for 33, dumping a V elsewhere. I gratefully take QUAI, and squeeze out a 436-411 win.
3rd game, fairly strong player... After 6 turns, I've played REPINED, LIVIERs, and an easy 50 point X play... and challenged off her somewhat desperate OUTPLED*. Drew the other blank late, when she had seeming closed off any convenient bingo lanes... ended up 451-283.
4th game, intermediate player... She has a reputation (with me, anyway) of being a blank magnet. Even when I'm sitting out, if I walk behind her, I always seem to notice a blank on her rack (or a recently played one on the board). Anyway, I get ZOONAL for 70, which she challenges (she's the only player in the club that still challenges almost anything silly-looking that I play). She plays some painfully mundane bingo with blank and S. In the tenth turn, same thing (MELtERS), and she has 280-276 lead.
Once again, no sign of Q. She's played out the last U, and of course both blanks. AID is sitting on the board. When the bag is empty, my rack has no Q. I play off the nearby J, blocking QAID. There appears to be nothing on the board that will help her ditch the b*tch. So I nickel and dime her a tile at a time, ends up 430-370.
Mithrab????