Wednesday 27 July 2011
Thursday 21 July 2011
QI, QUOTAS and The Death of The Penalty Shot
Wordy fun with some refreshments.
The Jazzy Scrabble Club assembled for a second time on Monday night, and showed hedge fund-like growth with a 133% increase in attendance!
The first game got underway with The Regulars settling in to a gritty 500+ battle. Expansive play was near-impossible, with the north-west quadrant sparse for much of the game. A combination of tricky letter combinations and strategic blocking resulted in a match of close combat: squeezing short ones in dense crisscross patterns.
Mia looking doubtful about the idea of Scrabble as a spectator sport.
Despite skipping a turn off an ill-advised abbreviation, Ilse took the game with a solid margin of 39 points (I = 228, L = 189, T =151). Exploiting a bidirectional QI with Q on a double letter did no harm to her cause – 42 points for one letter!*
Ilse going gangster after a comprehensive victory.
Lidia making it up as she goes along: “GLEEN. You know. As in, to clean something. Kinda carefully like. You know… Um. That’s one tequila for me then. Sigh.”
Numbers swelled for the second game, and Team Scrabble was initiated. Making up Team MTI was Mia, Tania and Lize. They were up against Team BIPL: Bruce, Ilse, Lidia and Philipp. Team Scrabble is a fun way to get to know the game, or to learn from other players’ strategies. Philipp soon proved to have not only impressive anagramming and lexiconic skills, but also an uncanny ability in selecting sought-after letters.
“Sweet-fingers” Phillipp getting congratulated after yet another successful vowel forage.
Team MTI had some early disappointments with an illegal entry and – surely the saddest sight in Scrabble – seven-letter words that have no place on the board. If you give her half a chance, Lidia will never shy away from recounting her own much-grieved missed opportunity years ago: FOIBLES! What a word!
The sad sight of seven-letter words without homes.
Despite these setbacks (and a wondrous QUOTAS / AGAVE combination by Team BIPL; on a Triple Word score!), Team MTI sneakily snuck into the lead four rounds before the end.
Admire the beauty that is QUOTAS and AGAVE!
Thus it remained, and Team Scrabble proved to be a high-scoring concept: 294 for Team MTI, and 272 for Team BILP. With some semblance of retained dignity, Team BILP went out with a low-scoring IRONY.
Team MTI: That’s Mighty Team to you.
Team BILP: Pipped at the post!
Wise words:
- On the merits of interesting versus boring high-scoring words: Ilse: “This is a game where the points actually matter.” Tania: “But the words matter more.”
- Said during a hard game: Lidia: “What’s up with these teeny-tiny words?” Tania: “I only have teeny-tiny letters!”
- Bad pun of the night: “What vegetable shouldn’t you take on a boat trip? A leak!” – Lize
- Bad pun of the night: “What vegetable shouldn’t you take on a boat trip? A leak!” – Lize
- On her first impressions of Jazzy Scrabble Club: “Ek dink dit word deur Pfaff*** geborg.” – Lize
- Tough crowd: “Niemand kan cool wees met ‘n woordeboek op hul skoot nie!” – Mia
- On the lure of the soulful tunes: “We’re losing her to the jazz!” – Lidia
Soothing jazzy sounds in the background.
Getting serious:
After deliberation, Rule 4 (concerning penalty shots) has been revoked. As the agricultural, pharmaceutical and industrial growth of our country rests firmly on The Regulars’ shoulders, they have reasserted their professionalism and vetoed undue inebriation (on week nights). A suitable replacement deterrent shall be instituted.
* For the uninitiated: QI is an acceptable Scrabble word, being an alternate spelling for chi, the word for life force. Always useful to remember when you get stuck with the Q in the latter stages of a game!
**Updated Jazzy Scrabble Club Rules (as of 25 July 2011):
1 - No replacing of blank tiles after they have been played.
2 - Absolutely NO in-game "checking" of words. Words may be played, then challenged, then checked.
3 - Tiles drawn for the determination of play order shall be placed back before game tiles are drawn.
4 - The order of resources for checking of words shall be: (1) South African Concise Oxford Dictionary, (2) BlackBerry Dictionary
5 - The languages of play are English (South Africa), English (United Kingdom) and English (United States of America)
6 - When Scrabble Club takes place on a Monday night, Jazzy Scrabble Club attendees are strongly advised to have an afternoon nap before proceedings. If an attendee did not make use of such a nap opportunity, said attendee waives all rights in terms of claims of fatigue.
7 - The player with the average lowest score over the evening shall buy the last round.
8 - The player who plays first, draws first.
9 - The challenger must check the word being challenged.
*** Sewing machine manufacturers.
**** A case study in the importance of accurate scoring: On closer inspection of the score sheet of game 2, it turned out that a mistake was made, and Team BIPL had 10 points more: 282. Could this have swung the game? With victory so close, could Team BIPL have gathered exceptional reserves and taken the victory? We will never know…
Wednesday 13 July 2011
And all that JAZZ! (8+1+10+10=29)
The Inaugural Monday Night Jazzy Scrabble Club kicked off at Klein Libertas, to the lekker jivey tunes of the All Free jazz ensemble!
Notable Scrabble incidents:
- Game 3 started with a seven-letter word, GREETINGS, scoring 62. Somehow, Lidia managed to squander this near-unassailable early advantage, with the game being won in a spectacular come-from-behind effort by Ilse. Kudos!
- ICKY was played on a Triple Word tile, and proved to indeed be an acceptable word.
Notable non-Scrabble incidents:
- Bad pun of the night: "You look good even if you're not wearing your glasses!" - Ramon
- On suggestions for the letter X: "We had 'SEX' in the previous game." - Tania
- On the arrival of elderly, somewhat eclectically dressed gentlemen: "Lidia, are these your leathermans**?" - Ilse
- Philosophical musings of the last round purchaser: "You're only as good as your last game." - Tania
All in all, a delightful experience!
Next meeting: Monday, 18 July, Klein Libertas, 20:00
Addendum: Lies, damn lies, and statistics (nod to Mark Twain)
*Jazzy Scrabble Club Rules (as of 11 July 2011):
1 - No replacing of blank tiles after they have been played.
2 - Absolutely NO in-game "checking" of words. Words may be played, then challenged, then checked.
3 - Tiles drawn for the determination of play order shall be placed back before game tiles are drawn.
4 - For sacrilege / dapper attempts of made-up words, the penalty of 1 (one) shot shall be had by the offender; with the shot to be purchased with funds provided by said offender. The nature of the shot shall be determined by the ensemble of non-offending competitors.
5 - The order of resources for checking of words shall be: (1) South African Concise Oxford Dictionary, (2) BlackBerry Dictionary
6 - The languages of play are English (South Africa), English (United Kingdom) and English (United States of America)
7 - When Scrabble Club takes place on a Monday night, and in view of Rule 4, Scrabble Club attendees are strongly advised to have an afternoon nap before proceedings. If an attendee did not make use of such a nap opportunity, said attendee waives all rights in terms of claims of fatigue.
8 - The player with the average lowest score over the evening shall buy the last round.
9 - The player who plays first, draws first.
10 - The challenger must check the word being challenged.
** As in BDSM subculture
Happiness on a rotatable plate...
Tania, Ilse and Lidia were representing; with equipment consisting of a lovely play-worn large Scrabble board with wheelie-stand for easy rotation. Proceedings soon got serious with a discussion of super important (ever-expanding) club rules.*
The Scrabble Queens planning their next moves
Although the inaugural game of the inaugural event went to Lidia (L = 247, I = 182, T = 165), the undisputed champion of the night was Ilse, winning 2 out 3 games (game 2: I = 212, T = 170, L = 184; game 3: L = 173, T = 137, I = 194). Victory in game 3 was especially dear to Ilse, coming contrary to her sibling's expectation of decreased lexiconic performance due to the added strain of scoring; as well as the handicap of penalty shots.*
Lidia, Tania and Ilse's thumb having a good time
Notable Scrabble incidents:
- Game 3 started with a seven-letter word, GREETINGS, scoring 62. Somehow, Lidia managed to squander this near-unassailable early advantage, with the game being won in a spectacular come-from-behind effort by Ilse. Kudos!
- ICKY was played on a Triple Word tile, and proved to indeed be an acceptable word.
Ilse and Ramon contemplating the beauty of QUIVER
Notable non-Scrabble incidents:
- Bad pun of the night: "You look good even if you're not wearing your glasses!" - Ramon
- On suggestions for the letter X: "We had 'SEX' in the previous game." - Tania
- On the arrival of elderly, somewhat eclectically dressed gentlemen: "Lidia, are these your leathermans**?" - Ilse
- Philosophical musings of the last round purchaser: "You're only as good as your last game." - Tania
All in all, a delightful experience!
Next meeting: Monday, 18 July, Klein Libertas, 20:00
Addendum: Lies, damn lies, and statistics (nod to Mark Twain)
*Jazzy Scrabble Club Rules (as of 11 July 2011):
1 - No replacing of blank tiles after they have been played.
2 - Absolutely NO in-game "checking" of words. Words may be played, then challenged, then checked.
3 - Tiles drawn for the determination of play order shall be placed back before game tiles are drawn.
4 - For sacrilege / dapper attempts of made-up words, the penalty of 1 (one) shot shall be had by the offender; with the shot to be purchased with funds provided by said offender. The nature of the shot shall be determined by the ensemble of non-offending competitors.
5 - The order of resources for checking of words shall be: (1) South African Concise Oxford Dictionary, (2) BlackBerry Dictionary
6 - The languages of play are English (South Africa), English (United Kingdom) and English (United States of America)
7 - When Scrabble Club takes place on a Monday night, and in view of Rule 4, Scrabble Club attendees are strongly advised to have an afternoon nap before proceedings. If an attendee did not make use of such a nap opportunity, said attendee waives all rights in terms of claims of fatigue.
8 - The player with the average lowest score over the evening shall buy the last round.
9 - The player who plays first, draws first.
10 - The challenger must check the word being challenged.
** As in BDSM subculture
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