(* = Lingo alert. Please refer to the lingo page)
For the past 2 months Pie Pie Lo* has been playing a lot, and I mean A LOT, of Scrabble.
PC version. Online version. iPhone version. Old school board version.
Against Maven the PC. Against her friends. Against strangers. Against Fong Bao.
There’s a Chinese saying:
失敗乃成功之母 – Failure is the mother of success
Whoever coined that phrase, I just want to let that person know I’ve lost 20 straight games to Pie Pie Lo* and that kid named “success” has yet to show up outside my Oven*.
Admittedly I’m just a novice but you would think a blind squirrel would find an acorn once in awhile. Well apparently not……yet. So far I think I’ve lost in just about every way imaginable: By a small margin and a large margin; by drawing nothing but the same vowels and hanging onto certain letters for too long.; by making and losing rash word challenges and getting caught with terrible bluffs.
But nothing beats being “bingo-ed”.
Ever had one to start the game? Well………
My reaction?
WHAT?! INCONCEIVABLE!
Completely and utterly shocked!
So much so that I had to snap a bread crumb* as a memento.
Just like that. Down 80 points before I had a chance to arrange my letters. But surprisingly that game turned out to be a close one.
So what’s the upside to this, you ask? For starters, I’m still motivated to get that elusive first “W”. As well, I’ve managed to get a couple of bingos myself. Here’s one.
Quite a “vintage-d” accomplishment if I may say so myself. (i.e. just pumping my own tires)
And I think I’m becoming a better player. While 300 is still a pipe dream, 200 is definitely reachable. If and when you see me use vocab like “Qi” or “Ja” on The Oven*, you’ll know I have arrived as a competent Scrabble player.
Until next time,
G-O-O-D-B-Y-E (Max 86 points to start. Double letter score on “Y”)
F-R-I-E-N-D-S (Max 80 points to start. Double letter score on “F”)
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