Recapping the 4th annual Austin Tile X-Words (ATX)

There was a little bit of a different vibe this year at the fourth annual Austin Tile X-Words (ATX), but an outstanding time was had all around, just the same.

This year, we traded in the hustle and bustle of the UT campus for the friendly confines of the Emerald Tavern, a cafe and board game shop a few miles up the road. Instead of April, we convened in early June. And instead of a booming crowd of 20-plus players, we had a more intimate group of six - five Texan locals and myself, the one interloper in the bunch.

But no doubt, this was an excellent weekend in its own right. First and foremost, kudos are due to the Emerald Tavern, a really great venue. Directors Jesse Day and James Curley found this spot, and it was a beaut - we had a nice private room to ourselves, spacious tables and chairs, and friendly waitstaff delivering food and drink at all hours. We even had an awesome soundtrack playing throughout the weekend, featuring medieval-style covers of famous pop songs. (According to the internet, this is called "Bardcore," and it is the best genre of music that has ever existed. You haven't lived until you've heard a band of lutes, flutes, and banjos do their best impression of the Backstreet Boys.)

As for the Scrabble, we enjoyed a fierily competitive event all the way. When the dust settled on all 14 games, I was fortunate to take home the title, but not without a fight - it was a close race between me and Jesse throughout the weekend, including four tough head-to-head battles. I had the upper hand after the first day, going 7-1 to Jesse's 6-2, but he evened the score when he bested me in two games out of three on Sunday morning. After two more wins for each of us, we were even at 10-3 going into the final round... at which point I chose a good time to draw every bingo in existence. I was able to get down UNSAINT for 73, CLOSETED for 62, GORDITA for 72, VIPERINE for 92, and REMEADS for 87, all within a span of seven turns, and that pretty much decided the tournament. It was a 585-487 final.

I finished first with 11 wins; Jesse was runner-up with 10. James took home third place at 7-7, sealing the deal with a win over Becky Dyer in the final round. A cool thing about this tournament, though, was we honored more than just the top finishers - we also had a "performance prize" table that was decided by a player vote. Everyone picked the players whose performances impressed them the most personally. Prashant Murti was #1 in that category, and rightfully so - he had the highest rating gain of anyone on the weekend, climbing from 1311 to 1353. Ben Weaver was voted performer #2. He had some impressive wins, including a 527-314 whomping he gave me in the opening round and a 482-466 shootout over Jesse in game 4. Kudos!

Kudos to everyone, really. Everyone in the room contributed to making this a great weekend. The local Austin crew of Jesse, James, Becky, and Ben do an awesome job of making us feel welcome every year. And Prashant, who hails from a couple hours down the road in Houston, makes the trip to ATX every year, and it's a joy getting to catch up with him annually.

This new-look Austin tournament was a winner. There's already buzz about reprising this Emerald Tavern event again next year, and with good reason. I for one can't wait for another 14 games of Scrabble and another weekend of medieval-style Lady Gaga tunes. I'm marking my 2026 calendar now.