Ep 434: Simon Walton, Mark O'Carrigan (April 26, 2012)

Rounds: Here.


Simon once competed in a 24-hour Scrabble tournament.  It started at midday, and it was going quite well -- he did not have his first coffee until around one or two in the morning -- but in the last couple of games he started to feel a bit sleepy.  Fatigue really set in once he was in the tram afterwards as he started to doze off, but fortunately he woke up before the end of the line.

Tonight's challenger is Mark O'Carrigan, a carpenter and builder.  He is wearing a leather cap that he made himself a long time ago; he says that he does not often take it off because people always ask him if he has had a haircut.  Mark owns a property in the Blue Mountains that includes a natural sandstone cave that people can stay at; he has set up a small tourism business around it that enables him to stay there and gives him a lifestyle that he enjoys.  Pictures and some details are at his website.


Simon got off to an early lead in the first round, and extended it in the first numbers round.  Mark regained some of that ground when Simon tried an eight that the Macquarie does not list, but again conceded ground in rounds six and seven.  That guaranteed Simon the win, and he needed all of that advantage as Mark found a late rally to win the final two rounds and close the gap to four points.  But Simon was still the winner, 47 to 43.

I had another very good game, again just one round short of optimal.  That was a word that I might have found on a better day, but I definitely was not anywhere near it today.  The only other blemish was a slightly slower conundrum solve than I would have liked on that mix, but it was still acceptably fast.  I'm hoping I can keep this form up tomorrow to round out an excellent week!