This Scrabble Outplay Will Awe You

[@prodtheontar]

you can feel the overawe and jism from will's initial reaction

[@HaapsaluYT]

💀

[@extremaz9908]

The turd into dork combo was telling also, I feel

[@PelumiOTE2B]

😂😂😂😂sheesh

[@kumquatmagoo]

"Turd" and "Jism" both being best moves. Incredible stuff.

[@vitex198]

I've had a few moments where I've considered playing a very juvenile word but thankfully I've been able to find a better move every time

[@kamilbidzinski475]

even "tit" made an appearance

[@q-tuber7034]

And “dork”

[@denelson83]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@brett211]

Thanks for the balanced review Will. Definitely a complicated game. I was about half a second from emptying the bag with NOISE/TOISE, which of course would have won, so it still sticks in my head. I’d also considered ENTOZOA but for various reasons opted against it (don’t ask me what those reasons were…) Definitely a great example to all players to play for any win, however improbable. Sometimes it comes off, and those are the games that go down in history

[@purgruv]

4:46 "JISM n. let's just focus on the game, shall we"; spoken like a true Scrabble master! ;D

[@Brass319]

Of course it's a variant spelling for the thing it sounds like. The Scrabble classic

[@heichan8657]

"Josh get aggressive and play DORK" that cracks me up lol

[@zpmzpm3300]

Brilliant definition at 4:43

[@bomoose]

naughty list

[@minamagdy4126]

As an Arab, I am only somewhat confused as to what it would mean in an English context (it means "body" in Arabic, so I leave it to the imagination what some English speaker made of it)

[@alfonzog_music]

@@minamagdy4126 "Jism" is a term for semen in English

[@JDHinten]

If he really wanted to be clever about avoiding the subject, he could have just given the older definition of spirit or energy.

[@AdvaithOMGOfficial]

Agreed 😂

[@DavidMoscoeUni]

The definition at 4:50 lol

[@wanderer15]

😈

[@adamprestin28]

I was surprised that wasn't when the exciting noises were made.

[@VladickHelms]

@@adamprestin28 Congrtas, you've won the internet today

[@Acesmcnugget]

You may not like it, but this is what peag scrabble performance looks like.

[@wanderer15]

Well played

[@Acesmcnugget]

@@wanderer15 Thank you! Love the videos!

[@dentonyoung4314]

Nothing like two grandmasters going at it and putting on a tactical and strategical masterclass. And Will's explanation of the plays is easy to follow.

[@MasterAnimit]

Whole game: Brett - *_doing sth_* Josh - *_m e n a c i n g_*

[@JumpingJoJo]

Chef's kiss to such a beautiful way Josh played. He kept the A while also giving Brett no way to get to the spot.

[@irakyl]

The way the Ague threat lingered the entire game and got cashed out in the last turn was awesome to see. By the way Will you're kinda the Tiger Woods of poker

[@TheRealVenusian]

This game was like a Mexican standoff, or a samurai duel. Just two players making calculated jabs at each other, setting up bingos and blocking each other's setups, until one player finds an opening and lands the killing blow. also "let's just focus on the game shall we" hehe

[@evanyurko3640]

Brilliant pre endgame sequence for Josh. Those 2 in the bag endgames are some of the trickiest to permeate and he seemingly did it with ease

[@terror_nightmare9308]

This game, along with your commentary is really impressive. I could say that Josh prepared a very powerful attack, Brett soon realized and tried to interrupt the preparation with various critical hits, but Josh managed to fend off all of that. In the end, the preparation is complete and Brett is overawed, blown into Smithery with the allmighty blast. Also, knowing that you are a very skilled player, why don't you do more of your plays? I'd like to hear more about the thought process of a player in an actual game, and compare it to the optimal play.

[@wanderer15]

Well said! I do have some ideas to spotlight plays and experiences from my own career for sure.

[@bbateson]

I watched this one live and was really pleased with myself for spotting Josh's setup at 4:23 in that Josh had the only remaining A

[@bbateson]

Oh, and you both totally laughed like little schoolboys at JISM

[@SebsTruckStop]

This is one of my favourite games of all time, the demonstration of strategy is insane

[@code_report]

These videos are phenomenal Will! Not just entertaining but educational as well. And your coverage was fantastic. I only watched a few games but I love the live coverage.

[@DarrellSCady]

The overawe at the definition of jism!

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

That was so sick. I think that was the best scrabble game I've ever seen. The strategy in this game was far more impressive than a player just banging out a lot of bingos.

[@chuheiwei]

Loved seeing the reactions from both players, clearly a lot of respect from both sides.

[@Iridescence93]

The level of strategy they use with their setups is so impressive. I'm still just happy if I can find some of these good words even though I have been playing for a long time

[@Firefly256]

Hey Will, I was wondering whether you could specify the lexicons at the beginning of matches for convenience because viewers may not know if it's CSW or NWL, and which update it is

[@kicking222]

​@TheOfficialBlackHole 1) The location doesn't always imply the corresponding dictionary. 2) Regardless, Will asks for thoughts and opinions at the end of the video, and this person's idea is totally valid.

[@ShadowOfCicero]

Any word with a # after it is Collins-exclusive.

[@user-svqmbiv]

I doubt that it would really make much of a difference to most viewers.

[@oren000]

​@@user-svqmbiv many intermediate players (like me) have the 2-letter words memorized and would otherwise be confused by words like GU, OO, and IO that are not playable in US Scrabble.

[@petrie911]

@@ShadowOfCicero Are there any NWL exclusive words?

[@ohishwaddup]

This is your best video yet, Will. Thanks for reigniting my love of scrabble!

[@wanderer15]

Thank you, I’m thrilled to hear this!

[@ohishwaddup]

@@wanderer15 you're gonna do great things for the game. You have the potential to be the Nigel Richards of competitive Scrabble growth and outreach, man.

[@squadxzo]

Watched it live and you didn't even show Josh's reaction via his cam which also definitely was a highlight or the fact that either the game before or after he blew out harshan a pair of amazing games he played which were a treat to watch with my only criticism being the delays to the start of the days but that's wasn't your causing. Also thanks to Austin for casting with you.

[@anyoldactress4078]

Spectacular game and similarly great analysis by you, Will. A thing of beauty.

[@loveyourword]

I really enjoyed your coverage of the event, hope to see more!

[@thegodofpez]

Incredible play on all sides. Applauds! 🙏

[@morrisgreenberg5223]

I think W(E)D might be better to go for OVEREAT or OVERFAT with either an EE or EF draw. Still great inference by Josh, and great board awareness early on

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

Nice

[@Danjnap]

Saw this live on your stream, it was a treat. Only advice I'd have is to include the timezone when you notify when the next games start or breaks end.

[@Headhunter_212]

Great job. That was quite the contest. Never surrender.

[@xSwitchB1ade]

I watched the coverage and saw this one live, you guys did a great job, but since you asked for some constructive feedback, here's what I've got! I would have loved a bit more love put into the overlays, a little extra splash of colour here and there or some changes of font size would go a long way in terms of readability. I am not sure if you ever watch chess coverage, and I know this is a big ask and requires investment both from tournament organisers and even manufacturers, but electronic boards and racks with RFID for the pieces would allow software to seamlessly track the live board state. We have these in chess and they are amazing, and will be needed at some point in the future for scrabble if it is going to grow, so why not try to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. Austin isn't as smooth as you as commentator yet, he just needs to do more volume and he'll be over the jitters in no time. Until then, I find whenever I'm doing coverage with someone who has a lot of knowledge but less commentary experience, moving into more of a interviewer role and asking them leading questions will make their life easier. A round timer could be a great addition for the times between live games. You also don't have to fill all the dead air yourself, you could easily do Q&A with the live chat during those down periods. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into running these. I've organised, broadcasted and commentated a ton of volunteer coverage myself, and I know how exhausting it can be, if it wasn't so fulfilling to do it for the games we love nobody in their right mind would do so. Thanks.

[@wanderer15]

Hugely appreciate these thoughts and your other comment as well.

[@domino14]

RFID won't work, but OCR is very accurate right now and there's some work on doing this (eventually).

[@RickyPurnomo]

@@domino14 where is the love button when you need one ....

[@XanA-l9g]

Josh plays the "somewhat self-descriptive TURD". Is that really how Sokol would describe himself, Will? 😂

[@Muzgrob]

Im so happy for Josh. Great video Will!

[@Alex-vk9de]

Great vid watched you and Austin commentate on it as well. Great coverage with the KZbin vids as well. Only think I can think of that would make the live events better is maybe a post match interview with the winner (or loser) is that something that’s ever done or something the players would be up for?

[@wanderer15]

Thank you! Re: interviews - definitely. It just requires a small amount of extra tech/staff on site, and some of these streams run on a very tight budget.

[@Alex-vk9de]

@@wanderer15 understandable. Would have loved to hear Harshan and Ed’s opinion on that consonant heavy end game sequence.

[@danielzitnik4247]

Great video! I witnessed this live and it was so cool

[@masterboi31]

Hi Josh, I loved the livestream. You both were great, and so were the games. If you're looking for constructive feedback I'd say get a producer if you can. You were distracted a lot of the time trying to get the tech to work, and it got in the way of the conversation and back-and-forth analysis between you both. Love this channel and keep it up!

[@wanderer15]

Thank you! I fully agree - it’s not ideal for me to both produce and commentate, but for the time being, it gets the job done and it’s better than nothing.

[@nerdpiggy]

definitely one of your best videos

[@morrisgreenberg5223]

This is the type of play that I think is underused a lot in current top scrabble, but is a key type of strategy (exploiting a small advantage patiently at an opportune time) in top levels of play in games like chess. It makes me think it can happen more often, but we haven't trained ourselves to recognize it most of the time. Current computer engines also don't do this and my guess is people are too reliant on computers for the post-game analysis

[@davidtydeman1434]

These guys are another level 👏👏👏👏

[@joshuajules1516]

I watched the MGI classics and i was just thinking it might be gd if we brought back the live web cams on the racks? The one in MGI was a tad laggy to update. Other than thst it was AMAZING atw to the commentary and being able to annotate the board as the commentors talked starts with us too !!!

[@klawiehr]

And that’s why you play it through, even if you know (as Josh probably did) that you’re

[@xSwitchB1ade]

I forgot my number one tip for coverage in my other comment. Ask your audience for help. I found such talented people who were willing to volunteer their time over the years simply by asking on stream. I met an amazing ex live-television video production guy who instantly elevated everything I did by 15x the polish by asking the audience and waking up to a DM the next day. Multiple commentators, software devs, VFX artists who did overlays. People love to contribute their professional skills to their hobbies and feel valued for them. You'll be amazed by your audience.

[@emmmmmmma92]

those 3-word daily puzzles proving their worth * bicep emoji *

[@xl000]

The 1:49 TURD is probably the only word I would have found in the whole game Maybe also DORK.., DA, BY and US

[@Aw3som3-117]

Very interesting. Out of curiosity, what would have happened if the combination in the bag was E and F or something else? Did Josh's set up work with any other combinations besides EE?

[@wanderer15]

Great question. For completeness, I could have mentioned that when Josh played TED, WED in the same spot would have been slightly better. His AORTV leave would then have become a bingo with draws of either EE (OVEREAT) or EF (OVERFAT). Additionally, Brett would’ve made things tougher on Josh on his ROIN turn by spotting the tricky extension to ZOA on the board, ENTO(ZOA). I felt that the video was getting long enough without these clarifications, but maybe I should’ve included them.

[@axcertypo]

Will is too kind. The play of ROIN telegraphed that the remaining letters in the bag were EEEFF exactly, since no other rack for Brett seems to make ROIN a viable option. That means that only one draw loses for me after WED: FF. After TED, 7 draws lose, since there are 6 ways to draw EF. So TED was 3/10 and WED was 9/10 to win

[@user-Aaron-]

Constructive criticism: Austin's audio was a bit muffled, echoey, and quieter than yours, so I think him having a mic and you two normalizing your volumes would've helped a lot. Also, there were times where your audio would shift in overall volume (I noticed this particularly in the day 2 video, for example at 24:30). Other than that, just the obvious UI and camera glitches and the issues with slow updates and whatnot. Thanks for your coverage of the event!

[@wanderer15]

Yes, I definitely need to do better checking audio levels. Appreciate the feedback!

[@DrewLevitt]

It also seemed like your and Austin's audio would briefly fade out and back in when you would cut to the analysis board, like there was an audio transition associated with the visual transition, which there probably shouldn't be. Wasn't a huge deal but might be worth looking into.

[@denelson83]

You are describing these like chess matches, Will. And of course, Scrabble is like chess, but with words.

[@ronaldcredo2689]

Just wondering if MIN(Y) instead of JISM, could have deflected that A-GUE setup. But according to the Quackle engine, JISM was way above the best choice.

[@AmaranthRBY]

Engines don't necessarily have a concept of preserving the setup and/or keeping the A on your rack through several turns where it might be tempting to dump it instead (the X turn, or the OVARY turn for example), so I wouldn't trust the number blindly. It's probably impossible altogether to accurately evaluate other plays against JISM. Also a play like MIN(Y) is technically only a partial block, as 8s with the (AM) substring would still play through it, granted of course there aren't many words that would fit

[@brett211]

I didn’t want (or need…) to go all out blocking at that point. It wasn’t unreasonable for me to assume I’d get another go at playing down there next turn (and I planned to) I preferred to take a bigger lead and kill another opening. PYX was pretty much the perfect move for Josh and a real pain in the butt!

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

By the way, this game had a lot of parallels to chess. Often in chess you can create a positional weakness on the board that is difficult or impossible for your opponent to defend. That's exactly what happened here - Josh created a weakness on the AGUE line and kept pressuring until it was un-defendable, which allowed him to cash it in at maximum value.

[@mimicranch]

Thanks for another great video Will! Have you played Balatro? It's based on poker, but in playing it I realized it might have just as much in common with Scrabble. Would love to hear if you have any thoughts

[@wanderer15]

I’ve only watched it being streamed. It looks amazing!

[@QuarkTwain]

Never overlook the dorks hook

[@NickFerns]

I wonder if ERHU/AH should have been considered when HURL was played to try and address the AGUE threat

[@johnwardknox]

loved and appreciated the coverage of the classics. The only thing I'd suggest is that the audio was really sharp and hard to listen to at points. Not sure if this is a mic quality or an audio mix issue. Regardless, looking forward to more!

[@wanderer15]

Yes, I had hoped I caught this after the first day, but I need a better approach to my audio levels. Thank you!

[@Frank_E_Scialdone]

I love watching the streaming videos. I watched most of them. I would've liked to see a camera showing the racks. Normally, you have that. But maybe this time there was some technical difficulties?

[@wanderer15]

It just takes a little bit more setup on site with dedicated cameras and such. It can also kind of get in the players’ way as they play. That being said, I always prefer to have the rack cameras so you can follow along with what the players may be thinking when they shuffle their tiles.

[@LRXC1]

I’m overawed by this video

[@lasagnahog7695]

A lot of cool 4 letter words in this one

[@bernmahan1162]

That's sad when TURD is your best move. Great game.

[@bruceyuchuanyu]

A moment of awkwardness passed around my room when Will made the AHHHH on live blasted out at full volume

[@wanderer15]

Hahaha. Sorry to make things awkward for you :)

[@bruceyuchuanyu]

@@wanderer15 It's relatable though, I would probably make the same voice if I were commentating

[@vitex198]

Video number 2 of asking you to continue with Better Know a Letter (if you want a suggestion for the next letter, do Y)

[@wanderer15]

Definitely on my to-do list…thanks for the suggestion!

[@vitex198]

@@wanderer15​​⁠​⁠​⁠ No problem! Here’s my personal star grades for the last 9 letters: A - 4 B - 2.5 D - 3.5 N - 4 P - 3 R - 4.5 S - 5 T - 4 Y - 3.5

[@SasmithaXD]

Will kicked in while I got my coffee, *Perfection*

[@asdfasdf4924]

Josh is a very strong player, and he has a very strategical style. I hope to learn from it

[@TheGuyCalledX]

QIN is only in the international version right?

[@Zoogleas]

Well, Brett certainly didn't play the pre-endgame all that well I thought. There was no good in letting Josh fish for a bingo if he didn't already have one, so (R)OIN leaving two in the bag just doesn't seem worth it. He *knows* Josh has the A, but he can't know whether he has a bingo, but regardless, giving him one extra turn almost never helps when you can do nothing to block the spot he's looking to bingo in. I'm sure Brett came to the same conclusion upon examination after the game that playing NOISE hooking HURL with the S for 26 was the best chance of winning; if Josh hasn't drawn a bingo, he's unlikely to overcome the deficit by making an out in two sequence, and if he does have a bingo, then 9 times out of 10 Brett is lost in any case, unless it's some crazy bingo not using a V, and he can stick Josh with that tile, but that's bound to be in the 1 out of 10 game scenario. I have a sneaking suspicion if Nigel were in Brett's shoes, we would have seen a different play, but Nigel operates on some advanced computer system that we've yet to hack, though my instinct was that leaving two in the bag was not a particularly good choice while the game was going on. Mind you, I wasn't sitting under the lights, with the clock running, etc. ROIN simply accomplishes very little from what I can see, aside from blocking a semi-decent place to play WAVED or something, which still shouldn't threaten Brett's lead or chances of victory after he pulls whatever out of the bag. I'm sure if Brett had a multiple chances to replay this pre-endgame, he would choose differently, but alas that's Scrabble and life, after all.

[@brett211]

My logic at the time was that the bag looked extremely strong for Josh to have a bingo right there and then. If he did, then the letters he didn’t have could well combine well with my IEST to give me a counter play - OWRIEST, VERIEST etc etc. For some reason I was strongly inclined towards him having FOVEATE. ROIN had a logic, but admittedly it probably wasn’t the best. Sometimes it’s tough to pull the trigger and empty the bag when you feel you have a strongish shot at winning even if the opponent does have the dream rack. I tossed a three sided coin between NOISE/TOISE, ENTOZOA and something like ROIN, and it fell the wrong way.

[@jenniferjimenez3235]

3:34, isn't ZE invalid?

[@wanderer15]

If you're used to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in North America, it might look weird. This tournament was in the UK, meaning the players used the Collins dictionary featured in the rest of the world. That one does contain ZE (I denote unique Collins words like this using the # symbol in my videos).

[@jenniferjimenez3235]

@@wanderer15 oh ok, good to know, thank you!

[@sensei256]

Constructive Feedback of the livestreams (my first time following an event in livestream form): * there was a weird volume ducking when switching between the main view and the analysis board * it was a bit difficult for everyone to follow when the tile racks were not being updated quickly (everyone commented on this) Great Things: * the absolute joy in Will and Austin's voices, even though the feed starts at 6am/5am in their timezones, they were glad to be here and glad to commentate * the detailed analysis for possible moves, "can he/she find this word", and outlining possibilities * if there was a blowout game, the commentary was still good to follow and entertaining without devolving into irrelevant tangents: this is not easy Best Highlight: * Will's impression of @dweebovision

[@xwddydfy_3]

JISM was the final stroke that made me burst out. And Will finally seeing it in OVERAWE also made him burst out! What a really great game overall! (If yall somehow don't know, JISM is a slang term for the white stuff)

[@wizzyard7170]

that was mind blowing

[@Hottodoggu.]

The gothamchess thumbnail elements are kicking in, and I am all for it

[@pro-11-brawlstars68]

3:40 whatttt since when is ZE valid???

[@leonhardeuler675]

10:18 What the hell is YRIVD????

[@minirop]

2s google search would tell you it's an obsolete past participle of rive

[@maxallison4435]

Past tense of rive

[@stupidgaycatboy]

i know about this! you might have heard the word YCLEPT; its a shakespearean word that means basically the same thing as "clept" (called, named), but they tacked a Y onto it. edmund spenser was another pretty significant poet in the 16th century who also made a bunch of words that were just "past tense verb with Y in front of it": YRAPT#, YBORE#, YRAVISHED#, YTHUNDERED#, etc etc. they look crazy, because they are, but that was a pattern around the time, and they were significant enough to be added to collins. YRIVD# is a past tense of "rive", which is still kinda weird given that the e is missing, but it's not too far from YRAPT# or YCLEPT. i had about the same reaction, but the history of the word is pretty cool :)

[@lucas29476]

Reminds me of "yclept" (the only other such word I know). Now I'm curious of the history of such past participles.

[@maxallison4435]

@@lucas29476 there are many such words in the scrabble dictionary e.g YTOST, YDRAD, YCLAD, YRENT, I believe it’s related to German where they form past tenses by starting with ge-

[@ticksunbs4944]

amazing vid

[@DrewLevitt]

Josh plays TURD followed by DORK; subsequently wins

[@romajimamulo]

How is the first move 16? I count 7 points. Even if the starting square is double, that's only 14

[@wanderer15]

Don't forget the double letter scores in that row - the O is landing on one of those, increasing its score from 1 to 2. So LADINO scores (1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2) x 2.

[@romajimamulo]

@@wanderer15 oooh I see

[@ADeadlierSnake]

It's easy to see why Josh is a champion

[@TheFuddy19]

Dork and turd… sounds like my scrabble games haha

[@HazhMcMoor]

I thought jism is another Arabic derived word that means physical/body

[@282mmmmm]

I searched what jism means lmao

[@KevinMcFlying]

Some scrabble expert please help me understand this! Why do the players always awkwardly hold the bag over their head when drawing tiles?

[@axcertypo]

The most common form of cheating in Scrabble is players looking into the bag and putting tiles they draw back if they don't like them. Holding the bag over eye level is therefore required unless you have a physical limitation.

[@KenIwase27]

Hi Will! Can you also do a video about a female scrabble player? Thanks in advance!

[@reality3166]

jott sotheral

[@ohtani2024]

Is JISM a suboptimal play for not blocking the A lane? Quackle 99% win rate did not consider the fact that Josh had the case A. Also wanna know what does Josh feel when he realises he missed the Collins bingo😂😂😂

[@Speedster___]

The definition lol

[@socksygen]

Hamburger

[@jerryAAAAAAA]

gud vid willian👌👍

[@jerryAAAAAAA]

nice jism description

[@EltWilder]

Guuuuuuuueeeeee.

[@louisng114]

I like how Google translates "Guuuuuuuueeeeee." to "Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu "

[@DismalRiver]

@@louisng114 I like how google translate just adds a u

[@harryjones5260]

i thought 'ague' was pronounced 'aig'

[@SG2048-meta]

I literally JUST turned off the stream before this happened! Maybe I should’ve stayed a little longer

[@Robinsekto]

Ayo it's the Gotham Chess of Scrabble

[@PelumiOTE2B]

HE QUOTED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i AM OFFICIALLY FAMOUS😇😇😇😇😇😇

[@wanderer15]

Of course!

[@PelumiOTE2B]

@@wanderer15 you are the best. Keep the flag of Scrabble flying high 💯💯🔥🔥

[@Hookokokkokoko]

AA, AAL, OE, OO, IO. It's like watching Scrabble be played in a language you don't speak. Hard pass on international games, too many cooks.

[@HopUpOutDaBed]

AA, AAL, and OE are all in the NA dictionary as well. But yeah collins is crazy

[@meta04]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHvNfomwoL13ock

[@cukka99]

The first three of those words are good in the North American dictionary too

[@meta04]

one man's normal word is another man's "what is this", though some of those are admittedly a bit of a stretch to include in a dictionary nowadays

[@dmytronazaryk681]

Lexicons have about 300k words while regular people use about 20k words and understand about 40k. So yeah, it's more than ten languages you don't speak

[@Camman18family]

9:01 uhhhhhhhhhhhhh what is that horizontalword