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PC 2007 Commentary: Round 27

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament, Award Ceremony.

This round's annotated game featured: Panupol Sujjayakorn vs. James Leong.

Round 27

Lynda Finn (Madison, WI) invites me over to see her game with Ryan Fischer (Charlotte, NC). Ryan played SUbURBIA through the R for 59 and SIGNAlER through the blank l, an 82-point dbl-dbl. Lynda's plays were QUElLER for 78 and ENATIONS through the T for 59. At this point, she was down by 68 points. But then she bingoed out with OPUNTIA for 70, catching Ryan with LEZRER, which gave her 30 points, and the win, 415-383. Ouch.

Charles Reinke (Middleton, WI) was leading the whole way, but something happened, that something was the blue-wigged Andy Saunders (Guelph ON). Andy played DEPARTS for 76. Charles played TORNADOS for 72, ROUGING for 64, and RECEDING for 98. At this point, the score was 415-341, in Charles' favor. The latter play was one of those textbook no-nos. I know why Charles did it. It was ALMOST 100 points, what could be wrong with that? Well, Charles emptied the bag. And you can write the script now, can't you? Andy bingoed out with INCREASE through the C for 60 and caught Charles with AAIIIQ for 28 points. Andy's win, 429-415.

Marcia Wade (Muncie, IN) tells me that she and Jim Fonti (Port Jefferson, NY) tied, 408-408, but they took up the board. I wa sorry to miss it, but she gave me the game highlight: GIRLIEST played through the first I for a 131-point triple-triple. Grats to Jim for that great play.

So, division 3 is kinda looking like a square dance right about now. Tables 1 and 2 have done a do-si-do to their neighbors. Chad Hopper (Austin, TX) is now playing Carlene Wallis (Sparks, NV) at board 1 and Michael Wolfberg (Westford, MA) is playing Carlynn Mayer (Sparks, NV) at board 2. While I'm admiring the dance metaphors, Pete Zeigler (Medina, OH) walks over to tell me about his two 9-letter-plays so far: STINGLESS through the ES and SENSITIVE through the IT. Nice finds!

Now totally off my dance metaphor, Mike Whiteoak (United Kingdom) walks up to tell me a terrific story about his game with Alyssa Faria (Washington, DC). And, that he won it isn't even the news he wants to impart! Each of them made a fun plays down either side of the board along the triples. He played TEAROOM and she played CATHOUSE. Take your pick!

I see Connie Creed (Philadelphia, PA) and Glenn Dunlop (Brantford ON) in an endgame chat. She taps into her handheld and shows him plays, anagrams, etc. I remember him not being much of a gadget person. And then I'm onto another thought.

Wayne Clifford (Calgary AB) is in front of me. Tall, kindly, he's got a puzzle for me, I can tell. And I'm right. He holds up a piece of paper, find the bingo in this: AAFJIT? I amaze us both by finding it right away: FAJITAs. He nods and says, "Yes, and that is what I played." I nod encouragingly as if to say, "good for you, Wayne." But he isn't done with me yet. He says, "I played it, but missed the center square." Turns out they both recorded the score, remarked on the fun play, and he drew a whole new full rack of tiles. She turned the board and discovered his faux pas. She tried to challenge, but the director ruled that by permitting him to draw, she's in effect accepted the play. The bummer, Wayne reminds is that you don't get to double a first play that stays on the board and misses the double word square!

Jerry Lerman (Foster City, CA) beat up on Ron Tiekert (Melbourne, FL) this round. I see OVULE and DEAERATED on their board. 417-313, Jerry's game.

Lester Schonbrun (Oakland, CA) got defeated by Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ) at the next table, 379-414. I see NEUROSAL, HANGMEN, and EpITOME.

Joe Edley (Coram, NY) vs. Sammy Okosagah (Baltimore, MD) at the next table. Plays I see: BECURSE, IRONLIKE, ?OOZIER, TENTAClE, NOONTIDE, and MANAGED. Sammy's win, 580-421.

Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) tried the phenom named James Leong (Vancouver BC) at table 1 in div 1 this round. James had two early bingos: LORINER for 62 and PERVERTS for 76. Early on, Panupol played sEEPINg for 87 and then three-quarters of the way through the game (it should have been the endgame, but I will explain) Panupol played SINUATE for 78, drawing the last tile in the bag, a V. The score was then 396-368 in Panupol's favor. That clever little devil James, holding ADGLSUY managed to not only V-stick Panupol, but he did it as slowly as possible. While Panupol was forced to pass 5 times, James played WAD for 7, WADY for 33, SO (which hooked to make DJINNIS*, so it was challenged off) for 0, Fuel for 14, YAG for 7, and DUOLOGS for 9. He got 8 from Panupol and won this game, 446-396. Terrific control.