Huntington results for October 18, 2008

Five people showed up at Java Joint in Huntington to play Scrabble on Saturday. Here are the results of the games.

Brad Mills 3.5-0.5, +57
Aaron McGuffin 2-1, +170
Leah Gingerich 2-2, +69
Rob Stanton 0.5-1.5, -134
Shelley Schiavone 0-3, -162

And here is the bingo roll.

Brad Mills: MAESTROS (80), FIANCES (80), HERIOTS (75), RECOATS (69), GAZETTE (65)
Aaron McGuffin: PRICIEST (72), INDENTS (68), NUTTIER (58)
Shelley Schiavone: BARIUMS (74), RECOUPS (70)
Rob Stanton: IGNITES (74)
Leah Gingerich: IGNORED (72)

Rob insisted on sitting out a few games this time so Leah and I could maximize the number of games we played, since we'd driven from Charleston. I'd given Rob the same courtesy when he visited us here last week. We all played pretty quickly, so Leah and I got four games finished in three and a half hours.

Lots of enjoyable moments today. Autumn is definitely in full swing in the Metro Valley, and the sun shone upon the reds and golds on the mountainside as I sped up I-64. Shelley and Rob were reviewing some bingo stems when I got to Java Joint, and Shelley was dissing Rob's "deluxe" board, talking about how it didn't hold the tiles in place properly. I referred Rob to samtimer.com so he could see some other options. You know you're hooked when you start dissing the official Hasbro products.

Aaron showed up shortly after I arrived, and he informed us that he was taking a poetry class. Not only that, but he's been published... and his opus was about Scrabble! Aaron McGuffin... maverick, poet, doctor, legend. Who knew? If anyone can find me a copy of this work, I will offer you a rich bounty. (Well... a bounty of some sort, anyway.)

No word yet from the NSA on Aaron's directorship. Boo.... come on guys, we've got things to do.

GAZETTE was a fun play because the Z was a blank, and because I hooked a D on the end later. I'd played GAZETTED as an out play against Aaron on ISC one night, not sure if it was good or not and hoping it was, because it would give me the win if it was. I laid it down with more confidence against Rob today, and like his colleague, he challenged and lost. Rob kept me at bay with a tie, though... the second time we've done so. I was in serious time trouble and missed a winning play with only three seconds left on my clock.

FIANCES was interesting too. This was my opening against Aaron, and it took me a good five minutes to find it. Aaron called hold, and I sat there while he deliberated, realizing in a face-palm moment I had FANCIES as well in case it came off. He finally challenged, thinking the correct word was FIANCEES. Turns out FIANCE is a man engaged to be married, where FIANCEE is a woman... so FIANCES worked too. Whew! I mean... exactly as I thought!

Shelley really gave me a run for it in the last game. We stuck around and got this last game in after everyone else had left, and at one point, she had a 112-point lead on me. I managed to bingo on my next turn, but Shelley continued to outscore me until three turns from the end when I played QUIN for 55. She gave me a few choice curse words, part of which may have stemmed from me holding HOER and then accepting it because it gave me a choice spot to play QUIN. "How magnanimous of you! Of course you'll accept the play! #$@!&*!" (HOER is good either way, but it reminded me I probably should brush up on the fours a bit.)

The late great Neale Clark once told me that Scrabble's only purpose was so people could learn how to spell dirty words. I continue to be astounded at the friendships I've forged over the board, the great people I've met, and what an adventure this continues to be. Sorry, old friend... you may have been right about lots of things, but on this one, you were way off.