Huntington meeting #6

Four people showed up at Java Joint for Saturday's meeting of NSA Club 767. Aaron McGuffin was out of town so I acted as guest director.

Here are the results:

Brad Mills 3-0, +243
Leah Gingerich 2-1, +69
Shelley Schiavone 1-2, -83
Brad Smith 0-3, -229

Bingos played were as follows:

Brad Mills: SAUNTER (68), LUNATION (59), ASTERIA (79), REASONS (65), SELTZER (89)
Leah Gingerich: STORAGE (82), SOUNDED (95), ARRIVED (83)
Brad Smith: MISTING (85)
Shelley Schiavone: GLORIES (75)

Highest non-bingo play was by Brad Smith - QUOTES for 61.

I hereby nominate Brad Smith for "phoney of the year award" for getting NN* on the board, and because his opponent (who shall remain nameless) didn't notice it until after Smith had drawn, it stayed!

Hope to see everyone in Huntington again soon.

Let them eat cake

Two of our local Scrabblers have birthdays today, so before I even get started, happy birthday to Shelley Schiavone and Jim Merrill! If it seems unusual that two people in a group share a birthday, it really isn't. In fact, it only takes 23 people in a group for the chances of this happening to exceed 50% - and only 57 people for the chances to exceed 99%. (I like counterintuitive math problems.)

Since Aaron McGuffin's birthday is tomorrow, and NSA Club #767 met today anyway, it was turned into a birthday celebration complete with Scrabble cake. Here are a couple of pictures for those who missed the fun at Java Joint.

Here's the cake. It was a very dense chocolate sponge cake with gooey icing in the shape of a Scrabble board. It even had tiles atop which read: "HEY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELLeY". The cake board underneath was a real Scrabble board - one of the cardboard ones, which I'm told is now ruined.

Here we see Dr. McGuffin making an incision into the patient. Please note the Scrabble logo peeking out at the bottom left of the photo - the aforementioned cake board.

I don't know what the "tiles" were made of, but I think it was something close to 100% pure sugar. I think I heard someone say there was cream cheese in the icing also. If so, I certainly blew my calorie count for the day - but it was fantastic.

Kudos to Jason at Java Joint for creating this masterpiece, and kudos to Amber for serving us with her usual aplomb and grace.

Huntington results for November 15, 2008

This was Marshall's homecoming weekend, so traffic was wild when we arrived in Huntington - and the worsening weather didn't help matters on the trip home. Sandwiched in between were the camraderie of friends, the comforts of food and coffee, and the clacking of tiles on Scrabble boards.

There were six people at Java Joint on Saturday for the inaugural meeting of NSA Club 767, including one of our newest club players and the usual merry band of wordsmiths and onlookers. Aaron McGuffin directed the session and handled us with aplomb and grace, kept things rolling along, and kept careful track of win-loss records, scores, and notable plays. He's provided his own write-up of the stats and his perspective on how things went.

I blew an endgame against Rob for 12 points, but given the near-perfect letters he had on his last rack (including both blanks and an S), I think the game may have been his despite my best efforts. I believe Rob is severely underrated - an opinion shared by others - and we need to get him to a tournament in the near future. (And the rest of you should tag along!) I was also happy to hear Shelley will likely be joining us at our next meeting in Charleston and may be bringing Rob along. Shelley has been jonesing for some Scrabble action - prior to Saturday, she'd only played one game since we got back from Lexington.

This was fun for me, and I'm looking forward to seeing Club 767 evolve and grow. I observed a couple unaffiliated with any of us playing Scrabble while the meeting was going on, and I pointed them out to Aaron. He went over and introduced himself to them and gave them his contact information. This is how it all begins... and it looks like a promising beginning.

Huntington club update

Aaron McGuffin has passed the director's test!

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.

Huntington results for September 20, 2008

Just like two weeks ago, six brave souls came to Java Joint for the Huntington Scrabble club meeting on Saturday. Here are the results.

Brad Mills 3-0, +253
Martha Mills 3-0, +215
Rafael Barker 2-1, +106
Shelley Schiavone 1-2, -78
Rob Stanton 0-3, -151
Brad Smith 0-3, -345

The bingo roll was as follows:

Brad Mills: LOWERED (80), INTRANET (77), TASTIER (73), WIRIEST (69), INTERNS (66)
Martha Mills: MOTORING (80), SPORADIC (76), EERIEST (68), RETAINED (61), SHEETING (60)
Rafael Barker: ROOFERS (88), EQUATOR (88)
Rob Stanton: ORBITER (64), LOUSIER (62)
Brad Smith: SHINTER* (72) - note, HINTERS is valid here
Shelley Schiavone: SOAPING (66)

A few notes... I opened with LOWERED at 8B to capitalize on the W hitting the double letter square, knowing it could easily be hooked with an F or a G on the triple word and hoping I'd get that opportunity. Brad Smith saw this as well, but he apparently didn't know the G hook, as he played a G elsewhere. I pressed on, playing fairly long words to maximize turnover in an attempt to get one of the remaining letters for the hook, but no luck. After a few more turns, Brad Smith picked it up with FLOWERED and FRY for 72 points.

We were entertained (?) throughout the meeting by a gentleman who was clearly quite intoxicated. He kibbitzed our plays and the games in general, mostly with comments like, "Damn, you guys are too serious," and, "I can't even fucking spell. What's that word mean?" He'd convinced himself that Shelley had become angry with him at some point and spent the rest of his time with us apologizing to her and trying to make nice. Drunk people are funny.

(Edit: Just want to clarify that this gentleman's drunken stupor did not occur at Java Joint. He was inebriated when he arrived.)

Martha had RESITES and was convinced there was a bingo in those letters, but couldn't find it. Oddly enough, the only bingo in those letters is - well, RESITES. Having two Ss at once can be a curse at times, a plethora of goodness.

Having phonied YEHU* to squeak out a win against Rob at our last meeting, he didn't quite trust my play of ENOW this time and challenged the word. Shelley, who is an English professor, advised him he should read more Shakespeare. (ENOW is a Middle English variant of enough.)

I also noticed Rob has redesigned my score sheet a bit, mixing my letter tracking chart with a tally sheet of his own design - a "large print edition," as he called it. Just yesterday, I rereleased my score sheets with a Creative Commons license so people can feel free to mix them up in any way they see fit. I suspect Rob's remix was coincidental and not directly related to my relicensing, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

Club tournament... two weeks. Be there!

Huntington results for September 6, 2008

Six people came out to Java Joint for the Huntington Scrabble club meeting held on Saturday. Here are the results....

Brad Mills 3-0, +172
Rob Stanton 2-1, +177
Shelley Schiavone 2-1, -18
Leah Gingerich 1-2, +9
Tina Totten King 1-2, -57
Mark Gingerich 0-3, -283

Bingos played were:

Tina Totten King: OUTDOES (70), FOLIAGE (63), RADIONS* (68), SCARIEST (86)
Brad Mills: ENTAILS (64), RECODES (79), LINTERS (63)
Rob Stanton: TRAUMAS (86), MOONING (78)
Leah Gingerich: STATION (68), RAINING (71)
Shelley Schiavone: QUIVERS (100)

Shelley was quite pleased with her QUIVERS bingo, as you can probably see by the picture above. She wanted to make sure it got a mention here, so not only am I going to mention it, I'll include a picture of the board it was played on.

I missed a fantastic out play in my game against Leah. It was one of those "There's my play, hit the clock, damn, I missed a bingo" situations. The board and position is shown below. Leah held AGIINR?, so she had several choices to go out - all using an -ING hook onto RAN to make GRAN - and she found one with ease. I had a significant lead at the end, so while Leah's play gave her some spread points, I still got the win.

My rack was AABELTU, and I ended up making BEL at C13. Can you find the play I should have made instead?

Speaking of Huntington...

Thanks to Shelley Schiavone and her media contacts, our latest Huntington gathering attracted some attention from the Herald-Dispatch. The online version of the resulting article can be found here.

Another search result for "Scrabble" on the Herald-Dispatch site indicated even more interest in the area - across the border, in Boyd County, Kentucky:

Play Scrabble, 4-7 p.m. Monday, July 28, at the Main and Summit branch; 4-6 p.m. at Catlettsburg branch. Test your Scrabble skills at the Library's first Scrabble-thon. Players can stop in during the event times and play a game. Scores will be recorded and prizes awarded to the top three scores. The event is offered at all branches. Boyd County Public Library District, 1740 Central Ave., Ashland.

I'd love to know how that evening turned out!

Huntington Scrabble club results for August 16

Twelve people showed up at the Huntington Scrabble Club meeting today, which was a new attendance record. Since we had three groups of four, players were sorted roughly by playing strength into pseudo-divisions of four and played three rounds of round robin. Here are the results.

Aaron McGuffin 3-0, +247
Brad Mills 2-1, +22
Martha Mills 1-2, +65
Leah Gingerich 0-3, -334

Rob Stanton 2-1, +206
Rafael Barker 1.5-1.5, -12
Chris Ross 1.5-1.5, -171
Shelley Schiavone 1-2, -23

Tina Totten King 2-0, +183
Mark Gingerich 2-1, -19
Brad Smith 0-2, -32
Lori McGuffin 0-1, -132

Bingos played were:

Martha Mills: CRAFTED (91), STRIVES (89), FEEBLER (82), BITTERS (70), CISTERN (68); average score: 80
Rob Stanton: STEMMED (107), MELDERS (75), LOITERS (66), SCOOPERS (65), INDENTED (62); average score: 75
Aaron McGuffin: HORIZON (77), IODATED (76), OUTINGS (71), REDOING (59); average score: 70.75
Brad Mills: ENTAILS (74), RANDIES (71), SERVING (67), SATIRES (63); average score: 68.75
Chris Ross: SINGLED (85), SUNIEST* (79), SIGNETS (64)
Tina Totten King: MONGERS (84), BLONDER (68)
Mark Gingerich: POTTING (67), GRASSIER (63)
Lori McGuffin: JITTERS (88)
Shelley Schiavone: CRINGING (86)
Leah Gingerich: RESIDUE (65)

A reporter from the Huntington Herald-Dispatch was present as well, interviewing us and taking pictures for an upcoming article about the growing Scrabble scene in Huntington and Charleston. This is the third time this year we've gotten local media coverage - the other two times were a pictorial in the Charleston Gazette-Mail and a story on WOWK. Many thanks to the members of the press who are helping us get the word out.

We're throwing around the possibility of a club tournament this fall to give people who've not yet been to a tournament a chance to get their feet wet and to encourage club members to join the NSA. The date that's looking best for this right now is October 4, based on upcoming regional tournaments and the logistics of our friends at the Lexington Club, who we hope will be able to make an appearance also. I distributed fliers for the upcoming Lexington Ironman III tournament today as well, and I believe we'll be able to get at least seven people to that event, if not more.

Thanks to everyone for participating today - with your help, we had the largest non-tournament gathering of West Virginia Scrabble players to date. Let's keep up the great work.

Huntington results for July 19, 2008

Here are the results from the Huntington Scrabble Club meeting held on Saturday, July 19. Due to people having to leave early and take byes for various reasons, we had eight players in round 1, six in round 2, and four in round 3. It made for an interesting and varied session.

Aaron McGuffin 3-0, +207
Tina Totten King 2-1, +159
Brad Mills 1-1, +116
Brad Smith 1-0, +57
Shelley Schiavone 1-2, -74
Rob Stanton 1-1, -89
Martha Mills 0-2, -64
Amy Lilly 0-2, -312

Bingos played were as follows:
Tina Totten King: MESSAGER* (93), AIRATES* (81), EMBODIER (70)
Martha Mills: STUNNED (70), EATERIES (68)
Rob Stanton: VOYAGES (100)
Aaron McGuffin: DOTTERS (72)
Shelley Schiavone: STORIED (64)

There were also a few notable non-bingo plays, including EQUIPT* (70) and JOSHES (60) by myself and either JEANS or JEERS (90) by Shelley Schiavone. Shelley had the non-go MOLTINg / MoONLIT at one point as well.

I loved the EQUIPT* play because Aaron McGuffin and Rob Stanton had just finished a game where one of them played RUINT*, which prompted a discussion among the three of us about verbs which take an irregular -T suffix for past tense (VEXT, for example). I then got to play EQUIPT* against Aaron, and he held it for at least two minutes but eventually let it go.

Aaron reported he's on the verge of getting the Directors Test completed and submitted, and the Huntington club will likely have its own number and be fully NSA-sanctioned within a month or so. The great hope is that this new club will become another source for tournaments in the Mountain State and another "stepping stone" in the West Virginia / Kentucky / Ohio club and tourney circuit. We are, in fact, discussing venues for next year's tourneys - and I'm anticipating the club will grow quite a bit once classes are back in session at Marshall (the club's meeting site is right next to the campus).

Thanks to everyone who's been supporting the Huntington club thus far. Growing things properly takes time, patience, and a series of small steps. For those who've helped contribute any of these over the last few months, you deserve proper commendation - as our combined efforts are starting to bear fruit.

Huntington results for June 21, 2008

Here are the results from the Huntington Scrabble club meeting held today, June 21, at Java Joint.




Aaron McGuffin 3-0, +262
Tina Totten King 2-1, +229
Rob Stanton 1.5-1.5, -5
Brad Mills 0.5-1.5, -107
Shelley Schiavone 0-2, -158
Todd Osborne 0-1, -221

Here is the infamous bingo list. I neglected to capture the scores for some of these, but I am listing the ones I did get. If anyone happened to get the others please leave them in the comments.

Aaron McGuffin: DAPPLED (77), TOASTIER, REDOING, GARNETS
Tina Totten King: STONIER (69), DIALERS (72), REBANDED*, WONDERS (86)
Rob Stanton: AVERAGES (86), RETRAINS (85)
Brad Mills: ISOLATE (65), ENTAILED (60)

We discussed the possibility of having an informal, unsanctioned tournament at Java Joint in the near future to 1) increase club visibility and 2) motivate some of the wallflowers to step forward and try to win some cash. Entry fees would be on the low side (probably in the $5 range), and likewise, the prize pool (probably in the $50 range). Watch this space for more information.

Aaron told me he'd delved a bit more deeply into the Directors Test since I saw him last, and has realized it's a little more of an arduous undertaking than he'd originally anticipated. Though he's still plowing through it, he doesn't believe he'll be ready to jump in and hold a sanctioned tournament this year after all - but I'm sure we'll revisit the idea sometime in 2009.

I took a bye during the second round and found an old Scrabble Sentence Cubes game on a shelf. This game was probably my first exposure to Scrabble as a child - my aunt had it and we'd string together nonsense sentences and giggle like kids (which essentially is what we both were at the time). I remember one of the cubes had the word "but" on it, and that one in particular would send me into hysterics. You've got to admit, when you're five years old, the word "but" is pretty funny even if it doesn't refer to one's posterior. And, when you're five years old, that word always refers to one's posterior, even if it isn't spelled the same. It was interesting to see that game today, being more involved in the Scrabble community than I'd ever dreamed, and remember these early seeds being planted in my young mind.

Next Huntington meeting is July 19 - Aaron and I felt having a meeting on July 4th weekend would be an exercise in futility. Thanks to our friends at Java Joint for hosting our meetings, and thanks to Amber for making me a BLT with a salmonella-free tomato and a kick-ass milkshake!

Huntington Scrabble results

Here are the results from the second Huntington Scrabble club meeting held today at Java Joint.

Brad Mills 3-0, +144
Tina Totten King 2-1, +232
Chris Ross 2-1, +48 (t)
Rob Stanton 2-1, +48 (t)
Lisa Green 1-2, +115
Rafael Barker 1-2, +50
Shelley Schiavone 1-2, -57
Kirstie Trabert 0-3, -580

Notably absent: Aaron McGuffin.

Bingos played were as follows....
Brad Mills: STYMIES (103), TAURINE (85), DENTALS (74), GLISTEN (70), COGREET* (68).
Lisa Green: FILTERED (82), CARRIES (72).
Chris Ross: HEARTHS (76).
Tina Totten King: TEXTILES (75).

Huntington Scrabble this Saturday

Saturday is becoming the Holy Day for Scrabble around these parts! This Saturday, the second meeting of the new Scrabble club in Huntington will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Java Joint. Huntington's club will continue to meet on the first and third Saturdays of the month and the club here in Charleston meets on the second and fourth Saturdays (at Books-a-Million) and the first Tuesday of the month (at Capitol Roasters on Summers Street).


Now no one has to go a week without Scrabble. Oh, happy day...s!!

Huntington Scrabble club - first meeting

The first meeting of the fledgling Huntington Scrabble club was today at Java Joint from 1:00 to 4:00. Two members from the Charleston club - namely, myself and Tina - were in attendance to give our support and to gently guide things in the right direction.

Quite a few people showed up, and I attribute this to two things - Marshall University, and Aaron McGuffin and his power of persuasion. Overall, there were 8 to 10 people present playing Scrabble. Aaron has ordered the Directors Test and, upon successful completion, will become the club's director. If today's turnout was any indication, he's going to have a very active club in short order.

The meeting was disorganized, people came and went at their leisure, and no one tracked wins and losses to my knowledge. The five tournament players present (myself, Tina, Shelley, Aaron, and Steve Wilson) instructed the new people on proper turn protocol and timer operation. One of the newbies - who, Aaron warned me beforehand, was "ready" - handed me a three-point loss and managed his timer with great efficiency.

All in all, not too bad for the first meeting of an unofficial club. The next step in my mind over the short term is a little more organization - and more people from the Charleston club lending their support to the cause. Hopefully, we can get some visits from the Huntington folks as well.