UVSC Session Report
Monday, July 29, 2019 (Session #238)
(authored by BJ)

Margaret and Marilyn each swung by for a single game after other
commitments, joining Ellen, Iliana, David and I, who played four or more
games apiece.  David and I had our second tie game of the month, a
highly unusual event that seems to be getting more common lately.  We
tied at 395 last time, and 397 this time.  Iliana led the way at 3-1
with the top two high bingos of QUOTERS for 106 and FINDERS for 100.  I
was pleased to find MESQUITE for 92 myself.  I had heard of mesquite
barbecue, but didn't know that mesquite was a kind of tree or shrub.  It
can also be spelled MESQUIT, MEZQUITE, MEZQUIT, and, weirdly, MUSKIT.
That last variant seemed significantly different from the others so I
started looking deeper.  Neither Merriam-Webster nor Collins nor any of
several other mainstream online dictionaries had entries for it.
Checking the OED, it did not disappoint: there were no fewer than
22--yes, 22--other spellings in addition to those already mentioned!  It
provided one citation for the muskit spelling: "1831 M. Holley Texas
(1833) vi. 69 The pasturage here..called Muskit grass, (pronounced
Muskeet) bears a strong resemblance to the blue grass."  The OED also
lists muskit as an alternate spelling of musket, also with many other
alternate spellings.  If everything in the OED were valid in Scrabble,
even the Collins lexicon would look puny.

Other bingos played this week: SEAGIRT (surrounded by the sea),
ACIERAGE# (the process of coating the surface of a metal plate with a
thin layer of iron), RESILES (to RESILE is to return to a prior
position), BANDIES, ANTHERS, CATALYST, LACTASE (an enzyme that helps
lactose digestion), MONTIES (MONTY means the full amount, as in "the
full monty"), DEFINERS, TRANNIE, IDEALIST, ORDINATE, CHIGGERS (a CHIGGER
is a parasitic mite), DARNEST (one's utmost, also DARNDEST), AIRTING (to
AIRT is to direct or guide), WILLERS, OVERNEAR, REPENTER, OUTLANDS,
SPURNER, GABOONS (GABOON is a soft reddish-brown wood), and ATOMISE.
Margaret had a very nice find that I regret to say is not yet valid in
Scrabble: tie-dyed is still apparently a hyphenated word.

The board photo below is from the (TWL) game between Ellen and Marilyn
in which Ellen played KNITTED and GABOONS and Marilyn found ATOMISE.