It's a Gift to be Simple

This is just a good anecdote for why we like to keep certain letters on our racks when trying to build a Bingo (but not at the expense of other good turns, of course). These are low-point letters specifically because they can be used in so many ways, especially with one another.

The letters usually saved up are RETAINS (a good way to remember them), and of course the Blank tile. Today I was able to keep most of those on my rack and knew I could land a Bingo. Then Maven played JOT, which suddenly opened the possibility of playing my Bingo (STEAMING) on two Triple-Letter tiles in one turn:

Now, this turn yielded 140 points, but the total POSSIBLE was 152. This is because the M could've been played one tile higher, which is a Double-Letter tile. Can you find what better word I could have used?

(NOTE: This screen shot was taken after the game was finished, which is why AH shows up alongside STEAMING.)

Another Word-Merge Bingo

A few games after my last post's game, I ran into a similar situation where I had a Bingo that I wanted to play and Maven got in the way. Maven played ALIT next to the Triple Word on the right side. Now, my Scrabble vocab isn't impeccable, and it's possible I could've played an ING word off the G in the center/top of the board. But once again, I was able to play where I originally planned because my letters merged perfectly with Maven's ALIT. So Maven unwittingly added points to my turn.

Do you see the ING word I might've used in the top/center? If so, leave a comment here with what else could've been done.

Never Give Up on that Bingo

The other day I had collected the right tiles for a Bingo, but Maven played EPITOME (for its own Bingo) in the only available spot.

I checked the whole board and, in the very end, realized that there was only one chance to still play a Bingo -- I had to merge letters from my Bingo with letters from Maven's. Here's what I eventually came up with (if you'll pardon the poor screen capture):

Lesson learned: when you think all is lost, it might not be. Try to break out from your box and see possibilities you thought weren't there!