TLW 111 - Nomads Results

Phil 5 INCDT OQ QI C13d 46230
No contest for the obvious QI play but note COND is retained and allows YCOND at D15a
(33) irrespective of pickup.
Harshan 5 E I ?ERSY YE N10a 30 165
Harshan spends some time hunting for the bonus here. It looks like several should spring
to mind but they don't. In fact, there is only one, and that's not an easy one to spot even if
you know it! (answer at end). Playing the YE is an easy decision to make for Harshan being
confident of a bonus nest turn with the powerful leave and bagging 30 points meanwhile.
If you have a great non-bonus play with a strong leave, it's not always worth using up too
much time trying to find the elusive bonus, even if you're sure there's one to find.
Phil 6 NCDTO GI DOCTORING H3d 64 294
Brilliant find by Phil - as is typical of nine-letter bonus plays, they tend to reward the effort
with relatively few points!. The move gives Phil a stonking lead. Lesser mortals would be
pleased to spot the next best play of DIGOXIN. Even plays further down the value ladder
(eg, YCOND or YOGIC) are not straightforward.
Harshan 6 EI?RS NS ESERINeS O8d 133 298
No sooner had Phil written the score for his move and began to enjoy the taste of victory
with a 100 plus lead when Harshan has a stroke of brilliance of his own and throws down
a nine-timer to cancel out his deficit one stroke.
Can you find the next best bonus score, using that Y on the tws?
(Answer at the end of the article)
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
1
2
3
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5
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8
9
0
1
2
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4
5
D
O
D C
F A H T
M I A O W
P I E Z O R E T A X
S I L I C K
J O B E D N Y E
E L G
P
Q I
I T
Y
Phil 7 ADEENSU UNDER K11a 22 316
It's worth noting that no U's have been played back before making comment on Phil's
choice of play. It's that fact that makes UNDER favourable over a play such as YEANED.
Perhaps Phil's thinking has become fragile after that body blow by Harshan because
keeping that A back when there are five more to come can be avoided with DAUNER in
the same spot. The sim reveals that the four-timer UNSEALED should also be considered
(turnover and score plusses) but likes the bravado of UNDEAF D1d above them all.
24
E I N R S S ?
Harshan
Phil 3 I I EHNPZ PIEZO A8a 78 144
It would be very easy here to jump at the more obvious ZIP (51) or ZIN (47) plays but Phil
looks beyond those and finds the play to give him an early controlling lead.
Harshan 3 O BDEIJT JOBED B10a 35 99
There's nothing much better with the J than Harshan's JOBED (or JIBED if you prefer to
keep the O). The only other sensible option is to play JOB at H6a (34) with a nice DITE
leave. If you think beyond playing the J then the less obvious and more unusual ZIBET D8d
(40) might occur to you, but the J on the rack can be a handicap and as a rule-of-thumb
playing it soonest is advised. Does Harshan realise his JOBED play allows ZIBET next turn
irrespective of pickup …brilliant if he did!
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
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2
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5
D
6
A
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M I A O W
8 P I E Z O R E T A X
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S L I C K
10 J O B E D
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L
Phil 4 IHN CDFT FAH D6a 30 174
FITCHE C3d (38) for score, balance and turnover is best and probably overlooked by Phil.
Otherwise the balancing and adequate scoring attributes of FAH are fine, especially as it,
too, takes out the C bonus column. Some neat alternatives that a sim ranks similar to FAH
are HEDONIC or HENOTIC at C7d. A low turnover play from a consonant-bound rack
tends to rely too much on picking vowels so I think the bias should be towards turnover
with this rack.
Harshan 4 EIT EIPY BEPITY D10d 36135
It's a three-way tie between BEPITY ZIBET and SEITY (E9a) - each having slightly different
positive and negative features. There's no need to be overly concerned about placing that
Y on the tws line because it's covering the dls, but the two-vowel leave could lead to a
weak rack next turn for Harshan. ZIBET only uses three tiles, opens up for a high-scoring S
play, and keeping P and Y counts against bonus probabilities. SEITY scores less and tucks
in neatly keeping back the P to help the rack balance. If in doubt go for the score and
turnover as Harshan does.
25
CDFH I NT
Phil