Round 13 David Acton (GBR) opened his game with Joel Sherman (USA) with PRIG, which Joel immediately extended to PRIGGERIES! 45 points! The eagle-eyed Jan Dixon caught that one. If only Joel wrote larger, though. When I watch his games, I try to unobtrusively peer at his scoresheet to see who is ahead and I can never tell! Some of we non-participants aren't as enthralled with the goings on in the ballroom as others. Susi Tiekert and Marlon Hill are on Game 6 of their mini-tournament in the hotel lobby. Susi is 1-4, but Marlon thinks she has this game in the bag. :) Back in the tournament room. The judge table staff has sustained its first injury. Rich Baker stabbed himself in the face with a pen and had to be replaced by American alternate, Jim Kramer, who stepped into the breach nicely while Baker took care of his wound. All is better now. :) However, I did take a moment to do a sideline interview with his grieving spouse, Kath Baker. Initially she, like the rest of us, was gravely concerned. :) WINGNUT was attempted on a board and was ruled unacceptable. We have had our second challenging of the word UBERTIES#. John Chew says it take a P, as if we didn't know. On Table 1 this game, Joe Edley (USA) faces Mark Nyman (GBR). Table 2 has Russel Byers (GBR) against the Feltster (USA). I know this is a serious moment and I should be focusing on things like plays and scores, but I can't miss the chance to mention that Bob Felt is sporting a really great haircut. When he and Edley stand side by side, you'd think you were talking to two Fortune 500 VPs! :) Howard Turkenkopf has been entertaining himself between Big Board duties with David Brin's Earth. By the progress he's made today, I suspect he would recommend it highly! John Chew is getting punchy. He saw JJ Jonah's tally sheet and misread the signature at its bottom to be S. Spade. He thought it was kind of clever of Jonah to use the signature of Sam Spade. When I, less frazzled than he I think, pointed out that the signature was actually that of Sheila Spate, who was acting as Jonah's helper during the Sabbath, he turned crimson. Here he thought Jonah was playing with him, when all along it was actually Sheila. Matt Graham (USA), not slowing down at all in antipation of his standup job this evening, just beat Akshay (THI) 436-366. On their board I spot ASSAILER, SATURATE, BONEFISH, and REZONING. In the game between Ron Tiekert (USA) and Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn (THI), Ron fished for an S, got it, and bingoed out with TEABOYS for 113 points for the win. Charnwit was at that time leading by over 100 points. The game ended with them 436-453 in Ron's favor. Charnwit played BEMIXED for ;63, not a bingo. pRESIDED went down by Charnwit. John Luebkemann (USA) had these plays made on him: CERVElAT, 194 IDeOLOGY, 158 He played STRAPPERS onto an ST for 92 points. Jere Mead (USA) just a win over Lynne Butler (AUS). He had EVERYTHING and the score was: 415-308. He says he needed that everything. He is 7-6 after two days of competition. +667 He reminds me of his 630 over John Grayson (GBR) in Round 10. The field is a lot of fun to play with, he says. Everything he'd hoped for in terms of meeting and talking to peopel from all ove the world is coming true. Cappelletto (USA) scored 639 in Round 11 against Kiat Ho (SIG). who scored 257. In the Table 1 battle, Joe Edley (USA) pulled out a win with a 404-399 victory over Mark Nyman (GBR). He is now talking with CBS radio. Joel Sherman (USA) tells me that in a game against David Acton (GBR), that after the PRIGGERIES play, later in the game, he played a 9-letter bingo through OR for INCORPSES (anagrams to conspires). He won by 88 and he is now 10-3 +515. Way to go Joel! In his win over Nyman, Edley says near the end he thought he would win. There ws an x, s, blank out. HE opens up with COUP, leaving an E hook. Joe has a nice rack, He could play BOYED for 45 points. Joe hallucinates that DOBY is good. He played it, it came off. He was upset. And so... he thought Nyman had a good chance to win. He took a 20 point lead then. Joe had another place for BOYED for 41. Needless to say, that phoney hurt Joe, but he managed to make it by having 3 places for his remaining two tiles RY. At the end, Joe missed the 17 point out play, but then he found it and played it.