Thursday, July 31, 2008

S-L-E-E-T-I-N-(blank tile)

Maybe it was all the talk in the blogosphere about the lamented demise of Scrabulous, or maybe it was just the maddening boredom that awaited us in our net-less apartment after we returned from the library yesterday. Either way, my lady friend and I played a spirited round of the old-fashioned, non-virtual letters and squares game of Scrabble before dinner.

And I scored 113 points on one word (see title.)

Those as geeky and lame as myself will recognize that these particular letters are worth exactly one point apiece, with the blank tile (standing in for a "G" if you're retarded) valued at zero. So how does a seven-point word become a 113-point haul?

I'm glad you asked: The eight letters spanned the gap from one triple word score square to another, which allows for the total to be multiplied by nine (three and then three again.) 63. Plus 50 bonus points for using all seven of my available tiles.

Interestingly (for those who are inexplicably still reading this nerdfest), it was almost the lowest possible score in this particular scenario. The only way it could have been lower was if I had held two blank tiles instead of just one. Throw in a letter or two worth more than one point (instead of "sleeting" it could have been "sleeping" or, god forbid if it were a word, "zleexing") and the score for this one word could have easily been many times my measly 113 points.

This was no consolation to Courtney, who did not find it nearly as funny or academically interesting as did I. She interpreted my amazement and incessant rambling on the subject as gloating. She may just be a sore loser. And she did end up losing. It's tough to come back from a 113-point deficit in Scrabble (which she nearly did anyway.)

(P.S. Dont' forget about Choose Your Own Blogventure tomorrow! Don't worry if you show up here and find the conclusion to a nonsensical story; I'll link you to the start.)

12 comments:

shelleycoughlin said...

Yeah, I'd be pissed about that too, if I were in Courtney's shoes. But also kind of impressed. 113 points beats my all time high of the word "genocide" on a double word score, using all my letters.

Allie said...

Wow! That is pretty amazing.

Love your quote too!

The Modern Gal said...

I bow before your royal Scrabbleness. Seriously, I am increadibly impressed not only by the achievement but by the way you managed to analyze the situation.

Anonymous said...

Geek moment:

Know that scene in star wars? You know? "Droids don't rip your arms off wne they lose?"

That's why I let ladyfriends win.

Noelle said...

I appreciate the geekiness of that scenario.

And for the record, my biggest win ever was the word "QUARTZES" on a triple word score. It was 125 points. Who knew you could even make that word plural? The Scrabulous dictionary, that's who.

arbyn said...

I wish I'd known you were a scrabbulous genius earlier... would've beat you for sure!

Maybe after the lawsuit.

Courtney said...

You have simply got to shut the fuck up about this. Maybe I'm a sore loser, people, but you would be too if you'd heard him go ON AND ON about this for three days.

That still doesn't beat the time I spelled QUIVERS on a double word score, using all seven tiles. I forget how much it was worth, but it was a LOT.

Meaghan said...

I feel ya, Courtney. Mickey has a way of expressing how wonderful he is! Haha! Chris and I play Scrabble sometimes, and I wouldn't call myself a sore loser when he wins. But he doesn't go on and on about it for three days! His dad has a way of making up words. You gotta watch out for people like that!

Anonymous said...

Damn. That's impressive - although I laughed at Courtney's response - heh. I feel your pain, Courtney! When I finally beat Rob at Scrabble, he said, "Oh, well, don't be too excited, because I could have played a 51 point word but I didn't because I figured it was time for me to let you win."

Jackass.

Aaron said...

You get definite cool points for that, although for sheer style points, nothing beats the seven letter word "zombies" on a triple word score.

Jacob said...

Courtney's comment made this a lot more interesting.

Chris said...

I hope the whole topic is dead by now, as I'm reading this several days after the fact. If not, please let it die, Mickey.

Other than that: Wow, I thought I was the biggest geek in the room. Well, actually Jacob, then me in second place.