PSTAR Scrabble Games

The PSTAR Scrabble games is an annual event for organisations in the civil service to take part in a friendly game of Scrabble. It was held at the Civil Service Club on 15th July 2006 from 10am to 5pm.

Here's my match report, with quizzes marked with [number] and the answers given at the end of the report. Don't look at the actual board positions if you are trying the quizzes.

I was there a bit earlier to help draw the pairings for my team. The new Collins dictionary is used for this tournament and many players were talking about the new words to be studied. MOE, HDB and CPF had 3 teams each. A friend of mine told me that she hoped that she would not draw against MOE or HDB as they had very strong players.

My first draw resulted in my team playing against MOE 2! My team mates complained a little bit when they knew their pairings.

Game 1: MOE 2
MOE 2 consisted of three ladies, Ruby, Valli and Selvi. After discussing about the lineup, it was decided that JP played against Ruby, CC played against Valli and I played against Selvi.



It was a very closed board at the start. I opened with CHIZ with the I on the star, she played HA underneath and I played VAW on top. There is almost no more place to put any more tiles! The board started to open up a little bit more when I put ANY back hooking the Y on the triple letter score to the ACH on the board to score 39 points. I accidentally closed it down again when I played EAU underneath to get rid of my vowels. Feeling frustrated over the closed board, I opened up with REV but this seems to be a mistake as Selvi promptly put down a eight letter bingo with a DEIMOPS rack through the R[1] for 76 points.

Had AMORU?? on my rack on one turn and I phonied with AMOURed* that got challenged off! Think I overheard the word checkers on what was wrong with the spelling and I managed to put ArMOURs for 86 points on my next turn. Almost ran out of time towards the end of the game and I was lucky to put down the late Q and J that came my way.

Won my first game with 409 to 307. My team also won the match 2-1!

Playing in the tournament is very much like sitting for an examination! The organisers announced the end of the game after exactly one hour after the start of the master clock and everyone is supposed to drop their tiles and calculate their scores even though the individual clocks have not reached the time limit yet. Was figuring out why such a case would happen as the maths added nicely with 25 min playing time to each player and only 5 min overtime was allowed. After one day of thinking about it after the tournament, I finally realised that it was because they did not take into account the time taken for challenges which would freeze the timer. The time taken for challenges would then depend on the number of challenges per game and the average speed taken to process one challenge.

My second draw resulted in my team playing against HDB 2! Oops, two bad draws in a row!

Game 2: HDB 2
JP played against a Chinese guy, CC played against Jessie and I played against Serene.



Serene started very strongly with a bingo: HOARDER for 80 points which I challenged unsuccessfully and a high scoring EXEC for 43 points! I was lagging far behind until I managed to bingo with a ACEILT? front hooking to an existing GIO on the board setting the blank as a "T"[2]. By turn 8, I was only 5 points behind but she pulled further ahead in her subsequent turns.

One interesting rule that my opponents told us before the start of the game was not to turn the board around during the game but to view it sideways. I realised the rationale of this rule towards the end of this game!

The board provided by the official sponsors had no grooves to place the tiles properly on it and it was not designed to rotate smoothly as it is rectangular in shape. During the course of the game, the tiles began to shift sideways even though we tried to move the board minimally. The situation was so bad that I mistakenly put down JOLE, front hooking the E to an existing TEA on the board. Due to parallax error, I thought the EA belonged to another column and noticed it only after my turn. Luckily, Serene did not see my error. She made the same mistake as I as she tried to front hook a B to the ETEA* a few turns later, but I challenged her off!

Lost my second game with 360 to 432. Our team also lost the match 1-2.

Lunch was provided by the organisers and it was quite delicious! After lunch, my third draw resulted in my team playing against IRAS 2. Not too bad although one of my team mates said he preferred us to play against CPF that had many pretty lady players!

Game 3: IRAS 3
Our opponent is an all-girls team. JP played against a Chinese girl, CC played against Sally and I played against a Malay girl. Lost my score sheet so can't comment on the games. Just remembered that my opponent phonied with TIB* and I phonied with CUL* for my game.

Our team won 3-0.

We were placed in the Silver category after 3 games. There were 4 teams in the Gold category, 12 teams in Silver and 14 teams in Bronze. The prize distribution is such that there are 4 prizes for Gold, 3 for Silver and 3 for Bronze, so we still had a chance to get some prizes at this stage. This is a KOTH game and we were placed against HDB 3.

Game 4: HDB 3
JP played against Catherine, CC played against Joseph and I played against Sufarman.



Was very lucky in my game as I had two bingos back to back with a DEGINRS[3] and a AEHILNS[4] rack. After that, I drew two blanks from the bag to form AEETQ?? on my rack which had two possible bingos[5] by itself. Missed the eight letter bingo through an existing N[6]. Scored not too bad with the "Q" for 48 points though.

Won the last game 418-303. Our team won 3-0 and had a cumulative spread of 335 to come in tops for the Silver category teams! Ngee Ann Poly grabbed the top two positions in the Gold Category. Hope we could do even better next year!


Quiz answers (Highlight to see clearly):

[1] PROMISED
[2] TACtILE or LATtICE
[3] DINGERS or ENGIRDS
[4] INHALES
[5] EQuATEd or EQuATEs
[6] pETANQuE

Superman Returns

The story is what happens after Superman returns to Earth after a trip back home. He meets up with his ex-girlfriend Lois Lane, saves people and fights against bad guys.

The soundtrack still sounds very nice after all these years! Nice special effects with Superman flying around and lifting gigantic things! The human side of Superman is portrayed pretty well! Liked the piano piece played by the little boy that is played in "Big" too.

Internet Movie Database Link

The Road to Guantanamo

This is based on a real incident when a group of British Muslims who were friends, got captured by the Americans in Afghanistan shortly after the September 11 incident. They were held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for two years where they were interrogated.

Interesting "mockumentary" style where the group of friends recounted what happened with interspersed documentary footages! The first part of the film looked like a tour programme about the adventures in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The second part describes their captive lives where they were not allowed to talk to each other and was physically and mentally strained! Liked the flashback scenes that contrasted their "before and after" lives.

Internet Movie Database Link

Rain Dogs

A Malaysian film about how the life of a young man changed after he met up with his brother working in KL during school holidays and many unexpected things happened.

Liked the scenes when he ended up staying in his uncle's place and he made friends with his nephew's tutor. She and her sister spoke in Malaysian style Chinese and it sounded quite charming to the ears! Liked the nice scenery in the peaceful village too!

Respire

A very short film that describes what happens when everyone has to wear a mask 24 hours a day. The mask looks quite cool and even has a hole for people to smoke and drink! Not really sure how they can eat with the mask on though. There is a end-of-the-world feel to it and the music is quite nice!

Internet Movie Database Link

Lightning

The DVD title is mistakenly stated as "Okuni and Gohei" which is another movie directed by the same director, Naruse Mikio, in the same year of 1952. Saw "Lightning" a few years ago during the Naruse Mikio retrospective a few years ago at the Japanese Association and thought the film look suspicously similar to it from the opening scene. Quite confirmed that it is the same film when I finished watching it as I found several other scenes that look similar.

The story is about a family of an old woman and four children, each from different fathers. The youngest daughter, Kiyoko, is frustrated living in the family. Her eldest brother in law is unfaithful, her second sister hangs out with a rich guy and her brother is jobless and plays pachinko all day. She is also being pressured to marry the rich guy whom her second sisters hangs out with, whom she dislikes.

Interesting look at how the family members interacted with each other! Great acting by the actress who played Kiyoko! She looks quite cool in her bus conductress uniform! Found out from this link that the director has made another film on bus conductresses, "Hideko the Bus Conductress" a few years earlier! Would be great if I have the chance to watch that together with "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" and "Yearning"!

Internet Movie Database Link

Roman Holiday

Just realised that I saw two 1953 film on the same day! Saw RH on Central but missed the first half an hour of it. The story is about a princess's adventure in Rome while on holiday there.

The princess, Ann, was given a tranquilizing shot when she tried to slip out from home but managed to escape anyway. She ended up sleeping on a bench and was taken home by a reporter, Bradley, who didn't know who she was at first. He then volunteered to show her around Rome. I began watching the film when they showed Ann deep in sleep on Bradley's bed.

Interesting to see how Bradley flipped Ann to a couch and she continued sleeping like nothing has happened! The adventures in Rome are interesting too! She walked along the streets, had a very nice haircut, rode on a scooter zipping through the busy traffic and danced in a party at night! Wouldn't be surprised if Rome used this film to promote tourism 50 years ago!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Wages of Fear

The story is about four men on a dangerous mission and the reward is high if they succeed! Their mission is to carry tonnes of explosives across treacherous terrain on an ordinary truck for an oil company and the reward is US$2500 per person.

The film describes the background of these people at the start. They stay in a South American village where there is nothing much to do but to drink and listen to music. The mission itself is very interesting as they encounter many obstacles along the way, much like "Worst Case Scenario" on AXN! Didn't really like the ending as I thought it felt a bit like an anti-climax.

Internet Movie Database Link

Older Brother, Younger Sister

The story is about how the family relationship changes when one daughter came home pregnant but unmarried. The village people talk about them behind their backs and it affected the propspective in-law's opinions of her younger sister as well. The older brother scolds her whenever she is home and the parents are stressed by the incident too.

Noticed the many different ways the film showed the sister reclining on the floor in a relaxed posture which is pretty interesting! The family relationship is portrayed very well and the buns made by the mother look delicious!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Golden Age

There is no clear storyline but plenty of strange images: scorpions fighting, a cow sitting peacefully on a bed, the pope being thrown off the window! All these are coupled with a recurring image of a pair of lovers getting interrupted by figures of authorities.

Read that the director is against repression of any sort including sexual repression which explains what that recurring image is about. There is also a very controversial image towards the end which makes "Da Vinci Code" tame in comparison!

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Bought some DVDs at the World Book Fair and this is one of them. The story is about how the lives of a married couple staying in a farm is affected by a temptress from the city.

Nice cinematography and I especially liked the special animation effects from the subtitles! Great suspense in the beginning and I was worried for the protagonists! Dragged a little bit in the middle but the film wrapped up everything pretty well in its closing scenes!

Internet Movie Database Link

Scrabble Quiz

The above board is taken from an actual game.

I just played EE 14J and it is now my opponent's turn.
My score: 355. My tiles: ACDEEN?
Opp score: 331. Opp tiles: HIORTW?
Tiles in bag: -

Here are my quiz questions:
1) What is the best move for my opponent?
2) If he didn't play the best move and played WHO M2 for 30 points instead, what is my best move?
3) If I didn't play my best move as above but played DEAN N1 for 29 points instead, can my opponent still win?

Think Q1 and Q2 are obvious by checking LexPert. For Q3, found a move that will enable my opponent to draw. Can you do better?

9th Singapore Open (Second Day)

Game 6: vs Low Bee Tiang
Could have formed a bingo with ADENORS on my rack and a floating "L" on the board to surge ahead but didn't. I actually thought of the word but decided that it had high chance to be a phoney. After my opponent bingoed with BERTHING(74), I should have just used up the TWS line with my "K" on my rack to form KEB 1A instead of KITED 4A for less points. Allowed my opponent to score twice with the TWS line with AMOK and BINGOS after that. A late VOX(42) managed to narrow the gap but still lost.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: BERTHING(74)
My Phoneys: RADONES* Opp Phoneys: EY*, TTAY*, RETT*
My High Moves: DEFS(30), QI(31), VOX(42) Opp High Moves: VOW(30), HEY(30), ZITS(40), AMOK(30), BINGOS(35)
L 336-409, -73. 3W 3L (Accum spread -244).

Game 7: vs Tan Yao Zhong
Played with Yao Zhong during last year's Nationals and he seems to have grown bigger and taller. Both of us got one bingo each. I played STAINED(82) while my opponent played TAVERNS(96). Was quite surprised that the bag emptied sooner than expected and my tracking seems far off than usual. Realised after the game that about four or five tiles were missing including the blank! It was too late to do anything then but we helped to replace the missing tiles from the spare bag.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: STAINED(82) Opp Bingos: TAVERNS(96)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: CET*
My High Moves: FEH(32), DAISY(37) Opp High Moves: XI(44), WOK(30)
L 388-335, +53. 4W 3L (Accum spread -191).

Game 8: vs Valli
Was frustrated with a very closed board until I decided to open up with EATING 14I. Suddenly, three TWS lines were available at the same time and I was able to score well with FISH O12. Valli was able to score on the other two TWS lines though with EXPOS and JOBS. She also bingoed with LEANEST(66) and won the game.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: LEANEST(66)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: COOR*
My High Moves: FAY(37), FISH(50), RAZED(44) Opp High Moves: EXPOS(53), JOBS(47)
L 351-403, -52. 4W 4L (Accum spread -243).

Game 9: Bye
Not really sure whether to feel happy about having a bye as this means that I play one less game than I am entitled to. Had fun walking around helping people check challenged words! Saw Bee Tiang missing an opening bingo with a AIORTU? rack where he put OUTRAIn* and Serene missing a closing bingo with a AELPRSU rack where she put PAULERS*.

W 150-100, +50. 5W 4L (Accum spread -193).

Game 10: vs Valli
Surprised to meet Valli in the KOTH round as I thought she should be somewhere on top of the field, way out of my league. I bingoed with TRAILED(66) while Valli bingoed with FLEECING(82). She missed a few turns trying for a bingo but was challenged off. It was a very closed board towards the end and I decided to open up. Turned out to be a bad decision as she promptly put down REQUITS(105) back hooking the T to an existing VAU. Later, she scored with FITS(46) underneath REQUITS across the TWS line and won convincingly.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: TRAILED(66) Opp Bingos: FLEECING(82), REQUITS(105)
My Phoneys: WALT* Opp Phoneys: SURRIES*, SOURIES*
My High Moves: AX(36), CREW(43) Opp High Moves: SEZ(39), PANE(37), FITS(46)
L 344-501, -157. 5W 5L (Accum spread -350).

Game 11: vs Peter Yu
A game that is full of bingos! I bingoed twice with INEARTH(87) and TIRADES(78) while Peter bingoed with SNORTER(65) and SUCTIONS(61). Held a ACEINO? rack on one turn but wasted it on a phoney with ACONISE*. Drew many high scoring tiles towards the end and counted that there were exactly 7 tiles left in the bag. Changed my tiles and left Peter stuck with them towards the end to give me the game.



New words learnt: ZINGY
My Bingos: INEARTH(87), TIRADES(78) Opp Bingos: SNORTER(65), SUCTIONS(61)
My Phoneys: ACONISE*, AWIDE*, YOR* Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: XI(39), HOED(35) Opp High Moves: ZINGY(53), QAT(32)
W 433-419, +14. 6W 5L (Accum spread -336).

Game 12: vs Low Bee Tiang
Second time playing with Bee Tiang. Once again, I got an ACEINO? rack on one turn. Luckily, Winston helped me check the anagrams for it with his PDA just before the game and I played ACONITE(70). Didn't have many high scoring moves after that but managed to maintain my lead towards the end.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: ACONITE(70) Opp Bingos: -
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: IE*
My High Moves: AX(33) Opp High Moves: ROC(35), BODY(33), ZOA(38)
W 353-300, +53. 7W 5L (Accum spread -287).

Managed to squeeze into top 10 with 7 wins and spread -287. Sad that I didn't have the chance to play with Marcus, JoBeth and Jason. Hope to have the chance to play with them sometime in the future!

Over the Hedge

The story is about the adventures of a group of forest animals who found themselves in an urban neighborhood after waking up from hibernation. An outsider raccoon became friends with them and taught them how to steal food from the humans.

Interesting to see the conflict between the raccoon and the existing leader of the forest animals who is a turtle. One is adventurous while the other is cautious by nature. The plan that they came up with towards the end is also very ingenious!

Internet Movie Database Link

9th Singapore Open (First Day)

This is my first time playing Scrabble in Teck Ghee CC. Didn't have much trouble locating it as I have a street directory with the bus stop information in my bag.

Saw many familiar faces as I reached there: Marcus, JoBeth, Valli and Peter Tay to name a few. Haven't seen Peter Tay for a long while since the last time I played him in the Millenium Cup, so was quite happy to be able to play with him again. Found out that I was playing with him for my first game after the organisers did the pairings.

Game 1: vs Peter Tay
Learnt many new words from Peter Tay. Spent a long time deciding whether to put FIBRE or FIBER across a TWS line and was still shuffling the tiles around after I put down the word until I decided that FIBRE looks more right. Catherine who was observing the game at the side told me that both words were valid after I pressed the clock. Lost as Peter bingoed with INTAKES(91) and made many high scoring moves.



New words learnt: OURANG, HIST, FISTY
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: INTAKES(91)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: FIBRE(33), XIS(35) Opp High Moves: HART(36), JADE(37), FISTY(40), MZEE(48)
L 296-450, -154. 0W 1L (Accum spread -154).

Game 2: vs Chua Zhong Jie
My favorite move in this game would be FLORA N9, back hooking the "O" to ROT. Was unsure of ROTO, so was glad that it turned out to be good when challenged! Felt great when I was able to score very well with JILT 15L across the TWS line back hooking the "L" to FLORA on my next turn! Was still able to keep the lead and win when my opponent bingoed late in the game with WEARIES(67). (Short quiz: There is a valid anagram for MANKIES*. Can you guess what that is?)



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: WEARIES(67)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: MANKIES*, VAWN*, NANE*
My High Moves: FLORA(41), JILT(66), SHEET(34), WIRY(38), AH(31) Opp High Moves: MAD(33), EX(31), QUA(41)
L 393-343, +50. 1W 1L (Accum spread -104).

Game 3: vs Victor Gwee
Was totally out of luck in this game! Had the "J" and the "Z", but Victor had both blanks, all four "S" and the "K", "Q" and "X". Made a very silly mistake when Victor put down HaX* M3 next to an existing CLAW L3 and PAN K5. I challenged it off but made no attempt to block it as I thought HeX would be safe as Le* would not be good. Victor promptly put HoX on his next move to score! He won with many high scoring moves and two bingos: TANNERS(66) and SENATES(89).



New words learnt: CHIV
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: TANNERS(66), SENATES(89)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: HAX*, COSTY*
My High Moves: VANE(33), WITE(32), ATE(34) Opp High Moves: PEEKS(61), HOX(45), DIV(35), QUA(35)
L 311-502, -191. 1W 2L (Accum spread -295).

Game 4: vs Ong Wen Hong
Fell behind when my opponent put down ENZYME(44) for his first move but caught up as I made two bingos PRINTERS(74) and TINIEST(71). My opponent replied with DRAINED(76) and with all the remaining "O"s on his rack, he did a pretty good setup with JUT N1. I attempted to block with UG 2N but realised later that he could also have the "G" and the "U" on his rack to form a 3-letter J word. Luckily he didn't see that word and I got away with a comfortable win!



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: PRINTERS(74), TINIEST(71) Opp Bingos: DRAINED(76)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: -
My High Moves: ABLY(32) Opp High Moves: ENZYME(44)
W 410-302, +108. 2W 2L (Accum spread -187).

Game 5: vs Winston Gwee
I started very well with QUAIR(48) but Winston was able to catch up when he bingoed with STRAINS(74). He could have overtook me if he had not wasted a few moves playing phoneys that were challenged off. A nail biting finish and I was just able to edge him out for a win! Probably worth analysing the end game to see if there were more optimal scoring moves.



New words learnt: -
My Bingos: - Opp Bingos: STRAINS(74)
My Phoneys: - Opp Phoneys: IKE*, TREP*, AF*
My High Moves: QUAIR(48), EX(36) Opp High Moves: RAJ(39), ZOO(34), WHO(30)
L 398-382, +16. 3W 2L (Accum spread -171).

Ended the first day pretty well with 3 wins out of 5 although my spread is terrible. Hope to do better the next day!

Just a small quiz on players in the Scrabble scene:
Guess which player has the favorite phrase: "I am one hundred percent sure!".

I hear him say that so often that I could subconciously hear him shouting out that phrase whenever I think about Scrabble. If you have no idea who he is, just ask any active intermediate player and they'll know straight away!

The Da Vinci Code

The story is about Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou stumbling upon an encoded dark secret and going on a treasure hunt to solve it. Tom Hanks is a renowned author on interpreting symbols while Audrey Tautou is a cryptology expert from the police whose grandfather was murdered.

The puzzles are interesting but it is almost impossible for the audience to solve without any background knowledge so didn't have the opportunity to try to beat the characters in solving them. A lot of screen time is devoted to explain this background knowledge and resulted in too much information overload. Not as exciting as "National Treasure" in terms of the clue solving or "M:I:III" in terms of action sequences. Nice indoor scenery of the churches and the museum though!

Internet Movie Database Link

Mission: Impossible III

The story is about the adventures of a group of special agents working in the IMF, the Impossible Mission Force. Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, is a veteran planning to retire and have a peaceful life with his girlfriend but decides to take part in a mission when he is asked to.

Great action and very nice teamwork displayed! Especially liked the sequence in the Vatican where the plan is superbly executed! Also like the nice scenery shots in Shanghai.

Internet Movie Database Link

Bewitching Attraction

The story is about the life of a group of professors in a small college. One of the female professors, Eun Suk, played by Moon So Ri, has a dark secret with a new professor played by Ji Jin Hee who just joined them.

Moon So Ri looked prettier in Nine Lives of Korean Cinema which is a documentary about Korean cinema shown during this year's SIFF! She looked like Cora Miao in this film. Was expecting a mindless sex comedy, so was surprised by the long dialogues among the professors and how cold the sex scenes felt. I would give a rating of two out of five stars for its erotic index.

Understood the film better when I realised that the original Korean title is "The Discreet Charm of a Female Professor" from Variety's Review, similar to Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie. Just like TDCB, there are lots of black humour, flashbacks and scenes that doesn't make sense at all!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Child

The story is about the life of a teenage couple, Sonia and Bruno, who are very poor. Sonia just got a baby and Bruno lies and steals to survive.

Sonia's leopard spot dress and black boots combination looks quite nice!

Felt that Bruno is not as evil as I originally imagined. Although he steals and lies, he still cares very much for his girlfriend and his little buddy. Interesting to see him busy pushing the pram around, crossing the busy highway and bargaining deals with people. Was very surprised at the lack of face to face interaction during some of the transactions!

Incidentally, the girlfriend in "Crime and Punishment" is also called Sonia. The director may be paying tribute to this novel with this film.

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Election 2

The story is about the events leading to the election of a new Triad chief in Hong Kong. The current Triad chief's godson, Jimmy, had wanted to do business in China and not take part in the election, but he found that he could enjoy special privileges if he became the Triad chief and changed his mind.

Interesting to see the power struggle between Lok, the current Triad chief, and Jimmy. They talked to influential people to garner support, eliminated people in their way and used money and violence to get things done. Very ruthless people who would do anything to get elected! Nice ending that showed that winning the election is not everything and there are consequences attached to it!

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