Way to go twickhopper! 
Heh. Thanks. My first thought was “Mad would be so proud…”
Okay, maybe that was my third thought – after “Ho. Ly. Shit.” and “I hope my opponent doesn’t quit on me.”
MadTheSwine– do you play competitive Scrabble IRL? Do you have a “real-world” rating? I’m curious… partly because I sometimes think about trying to play seriously. I have a friend who used to be rated over 2000 (he’s probably between 1800-1900 right now) who always told me I should play competitively. I appreciated the sentiment but knew I’d never be very good. Still, I think about getting into a tournement sometimes…
I did when I was a teenager.Don’t remember how high my rating was,but I did play against Chuck Armstrong at one tourney, who was one of the highest rated players in the world at the time(and still is AFAIK).I lost by 65 points.I studied a lot more back then,not sure how I would do these days.
Best opening rack ever (in the order in which it first presented itself): WOKBARF
And I have surpassed myself – just scored 185 points with JANGLERS crossing both TWSs.
(Final score 525-359 – kudos to my opponent for hanging in till the end of the game.)
Possible post of minor interest. I am reading Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis. It’s about the world of competitive Scrabble and the misfits and geniuses who inhabit that world (very similar to chess in ways).
Here’s the thing, though. I am an ok player–my ranking is about 1250. I enjoy playing it with my Facebook pals, but as I read this book, 2 things are happening to me: I am becoming obsessed with games and I am realizing just how much I suck at this game. This does not feel good. So, what I’m saying is this: read the book if you want to know more about the game, strategies and the personalities at the tournaments etc. He’s a good writer. But as his obsession with this world grows, mine does too–to the detriment of my pleasure in the game.
Ok, so it’s not a ringing endorsement, but I thought some folks would be interested in the book…
I don’t dare play against Dopers. I’d lose my shirt and my already shaky self-esteem!
I’m pretty good, I’d say. Part of it is just knowing the random words, QAT, AE, AR, XU, XI, ZA…I’d be lost without those! But I definitely sometimes feel bested.
Oh, today I had my first BINGO ever–the word was STILLED. Finally!
There’s a movie loosely based on the book: Word Wars. It’s available for instant view at Netflix. Not a “gotta see,” it’s pretty entertaining though.
Great book!Well worth the read,even for non scrabble players.
*wtg twick!
3 consecutive bingos in a game. Made WRINGER and AGER for 68,GROUSER and WRINGERS for 80 then EARWORM and MAE for 79.After that I had to play ZANY NE and YA for a measly 39.
Here is another thread I tooted my horn of scrabble
My best bingo in terms of points was GATEWAY for 103 in an online (facebook) game.
My personal best was BAIZES (no idea if it’s accepted) in a game years ago–it was only worth 75 points or so, but it was my last move in a close game and it was exhilarating. I cleared my rack and won the game. Of such simple things is happiness made.