Triple threat

More tips from the archives today. We’ve cautioned before about combinations like SS, LL and TT, but here we throw all that to the wind. We stretch the double-letter envelope even further by putting three Ss together. The drawbacks of bunched-up triple letters are none too few, but we managed to skirt flopping in these two games. Bold type below indicates our own formed words.

In the first game, we just ended up with the three esses together by happenstance. The adjacent Es, with outlying Rs and a D, did add some plusses to balance out the risks: Cresses, cusses and cusser all racked up points. We might have cussed if we hadn’t gotten the late U, which is a letter we don’t so often wish for. There are good ways to use Us.

Maybe we pressed our luck with the U, even getting ficuses. A wished-for T would’ve made us happy because it would’ve made us saddest, but that’s the way the bubble bursts. Happily, the fourth S did make us sad twice. Speaking of sad, we had hope for depressed, oppressed or repressed, but as time went on we decided to err on the side of caution and sacrifice that branch.

In the second spill, we also didn’t plan the triple-S from the start. The less set in stone the better. It just worked out that way as we were playing loosely, something we recommend doing from time to time if you’re open to it. The Ss didn’t even account for much scoring. And the nearby outer I came late and was a completely wasted asset, the protestations of International Space Station fans notwithstanding. But we assert that 367 points overall is nothing to sneeze at.

We did grow grass, and grain branching from that. Speaking (loosely) of grasses, we farmed nori seaweed, which never fails as a source of iron. Nor does it rot easily or need rain to grow. Good for your red blood cells and all the rest. It’s available in more and more stores these days.

Plenty of words we didn’t know rose up on the roster, including seston. It’s the tiny particles floating in fresh or sea water, like plankton, minerals and decaying matter. Pretty important to marine life, though in large quantities it can cause algae bloom. Moderation is important. We don’t condone rote memorizing obscure words like this, but looking up a new one once in a while and taking notes can be fun.

Stringing three Ss together may have kept us from getting an even higher score, but there was not a lot of stress in this game, mainly because we were just fiddling. But even fiddling has its place. Don’t be afraid to try it sometime. You never know what you might learn.

 strategy tips