Lisa’s Report from Under the Bridge: May 22, 2012
Hi all,
Woke up in the middle of Monday night and the Burt Bacharach/Hal David Gershwin Prize tribute at the White House was playing on TV. Dionne Warwick got played in my house a lot growing up so I could sing along with ease. My all time favorite is “Alfie” which Stevie Wonder covered at the event. I hated his singing on this particular song–the word caterwauling comes to mind–but when he transitioned to the harmonica, it was amazing. Sheryl Crow was surprisingly good, first in a duet with Lyle Lovett (I’ll Never Fall in Love Again) and then on her own on Walk On By. Her singing wasn’t perfect but it felt so sincere and she looked terrific in a simple white sleeveless a-line dress festooned with rows of ruffles at the hem. I also enjoyed Michael Feinstein’s clever piano segue into Close to You from Rhapsody in Blue. But on to the obligatory Scrabble content: What bingos can be extracted from BURT BACHARACH? As a kid, there was a brief period when I thought his last name was BACCARAT– which is in there:
BACCARA (n) a variation of BACARA BACCARAT (n) a card game AUTARCH (n) an absolute ruler CATARRH (n) inflammation of a mucous membrane RHUBARB (n) a perennial herb CURRACH (n) a coracle (a small boat)
Attendance
26 bodies under the Bridge
Undefeated Record & Avg Score
Vincent Van Dover 4-0 465
Winning Record & Avg Score
Scott Jackson 3-1 431
Lisa Odom 3-1 427
Joe Gaspard 3-1 417
Jason Vaysberg 3-1 389
Harmony Kuller 3-1 386
Richard Johnson 3-1 379
Bob Lundegaard 2-1 386
Greg Edwards 2-1 367
Melissa Brown 2-1 357
Sue Rhea 2-1 354
500 Games
Nadine Jacobson 544
VIncent Van Dover 514
Scott Jackson 508
Dennis Fenichel 505
Lisa Odom 501
Who won a dollar?
Prizes by Lisa
6:00 ROUND
MLI SOPHIA – Jason for ETESIAN (3) 74 (SOPHIA is the #1 girl’s baby name in 2012)
BEST WORD RELATED TO OUTER SPACE – Lisa for ABOVE
7:00 ROUND
MLI JACOB – Lisa for AEROBIA (3) (JACOB is the #1 boy’s baby name in 2012)
Score closest to Lisa’s first round score of 368 – Sue H with a 370
8:00 ROUND
MLI DONNA SUMMER – Joe for ONEROUS (6)
BEST BACKYARD ANIMAL WORD – Steve for OX
9:00 BINGO ROUND
1. Joe G
2. 3 x 3 – No winner. Prize will be $2 next week.
Tidbits
• By going 4-0, Vince moves into second place between Joe (3-1) and the absent Rob. Vince was very hot at the beginning of the year but had fallen back. Now, he’s a man on a mission.
• Nice to see Harmony in the bevy of 3-1s last night.
• Unluckiest draw of the night? Joe reported that after Carl bingoed with DANDLER with 7 tiles remaining, he was gifted with GKMPRTZ.
• Does improv have Scrabble content? The ABC exercise that Dawn and Diane’s improv group performed had them starting with a letter of the alphabet and creating a conversation where each successive line of dialogue had to start with the next letter until they went full circle. The Z line started with ZOUNDS. I enjoyed watching their performance at a church in South Minneapolis.
• Going Bye Bye: Pete B then Michelle A then Steve P then Nadine J then Greg E then Bob L then Diane W then Carl V then Dawn G then Vince V
Anamonic of the Week
Anamonics are phrases or words in which all of the letters combine with the stem word to form legit words. The best ones are those which are easy to remember because they relate to the stem word in an obvious way. Also, the more concise, the better, though concision should not supersede the memorability of the phrase. (BTW, anamonic is not a legit word).
Some of the best anamonics are ones that define the stem word perfectly since it makes them easy to remember.
SERENA = Look down on common grotto L - LEANERS O - ARENOSE (o) K - SNEAKER D - ENDEARS (o) W - WEANERS N - ENSNARE RENNASE (o) (n) C - CASERNE CAREENS RECANES (o) M - MEANERS RENAMES (m) (o) (n) G - ENRAGES R - EARNERS REEARNS (o) T - EARNEST EASTERN NEAREST (t) (o) created by Greg
Greg explains: I picture Serena Williams at her hotel window looking down on a grotto during a break at the Italian Open. (Italy seems more grottoey* than other locales.)
More on SERENA aka EANERS: Dennis came up with this phrase many years ago–a different kind of mnemonic because only the first letter of each letter in the word applies to the word that combines with AEENRS:
Can
Dick
Gregory
Kill
More
Nazis
Or
Reduce
Tremendous
Waist
Lines
EANERS was how AEENRS was listed in our bible of old, Mike Baron’s Word Book. Waistline is one word but it is split into two for this purpose since LEANERS was added in a later revision of the TWL. Dick Gregory, a social activist and comedian, used to hawk a diet drink called Bahamian Diet and once helped a 600-pound man lose a “ton” of weight. It’s long but evocative in its subversiveness.
YTD Highs
| CATEGORY | MARK | PLAYER | DATE(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Bingo | 176 (GYNOECIA) | Dave Herfel | 3/13 |
| High Non-Bingo | 84 (SCURVY) | Greg Edwards | 2/21 |
| High Non-Bingo | 84 (FRIZ) | Joe Gaspard | 3/30 |
| High 3-game Series | 1697 | Greg Edwards | 2/21 |
| High 4-game Series | 2050 | Greg Edwards | 2/21 |
| High Game | 642 | Greg Edwards | 2/21 |
| High Loss | 462 | Greg Edwards | 2/14 |
| Win Streak | 12 | Lisa Odom | 2/28 |
– Lisa O
