D Magazine will have at least one representative in round 3, as Zac Crain sealed a 440 to 397 win over PR writer Avery Roth thanks to the letter “Z.”
Crazy beginning to the match. I started with DEMOTES for 58, Avery followed with SOMEWHAT for 106 — and it pretty much went on like that for a bit. Even though I scored more than 50 points on my three of my first four turns, I couldn’t get too far past her. Only when I got the Z was I able to get any distance.
And former D Empire employees will also be represented, though Jessica Jones of American Way says she really didn’t deserve her 328 to 321 point victory over first-grade teacher Liz Campbell.
Liz deserved to win. She had me beat the entire game and started to pull away near the end with a 60-or-so point lead. Staring at a bunch of one-point letters – as I had for the majority of the second half – I conceded defeat and wished her well in future rounds. But my game-ending play (ALES/ERAS) scored 33 points thanks to the conjoining S landing on a triple-word score tile. It was just enough to eke out a victory. Liz was a tough but extremely gracious opponent. Can’t wait to play her again!
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