Word Power Marathon
A chilly evening at Como saw six of us gathered to play Word Power followed by a quick two rounds of Uno. We were lucky to get to Uno at all as the main game lasted about two and a half hours, seemingly longer than usual despite two of us being absent – Nicole in Canberra and Tara with Covid (hope you’re feeling better Tara). It might have been the unusually high amount of non-game conversation that made us go a bit late, but at least it was mostly interesting chatter.
We had to decide how to determine the minor placings for Word Power – the instructions are silent on that subject. After a robust discussion it was decided to award first place according to the rules – first to graduate University wins, then minor placings according to the point scores at the time the winner is declared. An alternate method was discussed in which the order of players along the educational pathway would show the placings, but this was eventually rejected on the grounds that it was possible to get an ambiguous result depending on how far along alternate paths the remaining players were placed. The chief proponent of that proposal, Louise, who won the game, remarked that if her proposal had been adopted she probably wouldn’t have got a placing.
In the end, after Louise won, it turned out that Genelle and Rob were tied on 330 points – the top score including Louise‘s 290 points – so a Quiz-Off was held in which the combatants had to answer one spelling test each followed by one “moderate” card each. Sadly for Genelle, the only errors she made in the entire game were in the Quiz-Off! Apparently she has a mental blank on the spelling of “necessary”. Peter was struggling a bit with spelling tests and word pronunciation, but he has been a dyslexia sufferer, so I reckon he did pretty well considering.
The competition graph shows me overtaking both Tara and Genelle to grab the top spot thanks to two helpings of points. Louise – also with two helpings of points – jumped up the ladder overtaking Nicole, Wayne and Matt. We must expect big things from Tara at her next appearance, seeing as she has been flatlined since the May meet. Apart from absentees, it was Peter and Matt who WHP this month.