Codenames 34

[superdeath]

hmm

[Lewwyn]

This was a really tough board on both sides. The skyscraper/tower split made all sorts of problems for me. Kiwi made a ton of problems. Really we got really lucky that T-Hawk went Cyberwarfare 4 instead of 3. 3 would have sunk us. As it was I played it aggressive on the first clue with the intention of going conservative on later clues. First clue was dangerous because calf was the assassin. But it got part out of the way and it left all the words that could possibly conflict with T-Hawks clues. After the Cyber clue I decided I would just 1 clue kiwi and Skyscraper and hope red couldn't clear it in 3. I had a plan for TUBE TRIANGLE WIND with tornado 3, in case Red didn't hit tube. But I had no plan or way to clue the whole board in 3 so I knew I had to go conservative and play defense.

[superdeath]

Triangle tornado? Hmm

[T-hawk]

Yeah, we were so close, but Cyberwarfare just missed its last target, which was Sub.

Cyberwarfare 4 = Bug + Screen + Spy + Sub
Ides 2 = Rome + Date
Belfry 2 = Bat + Tower

After blue started with a correct 3-fer, I knew I certainly had to finish in 3 turns total, they'd do it in 4 going first.  So I went with that 4+2+2 plan because I had ironclad clues for the remaining two pairs.  I could only hope you managed to guess Cyberwarfare -> Sub somehow given several tries.  I saw two possible ways to get there, either as a submarine for the -warfare part, or through a conceptual connection like "subterfuge", which Thrawn did mention right at the end but nobody else picked that up.  I saw Lock as an acceptable risk (didn't think it would save blue a turn), discounted Boom on the neutral list because cyber- pointed away from an actual explosion, and never thought of a connection to Tube at all.

After our first miss, Lewwyn very smartly just went with Kiwi 1 to let my team keep stumbling, rather than clear out any of my problematic words Tube or Skyscraper (vs my Tower.)  I knew he had it locked in two more turns from there so all I could do was continue with the original plan and hope.

I almost thought of a way out, to link Sub into the other words, Parmigiana 3 to try to connect ROME + SUB + a fancy DATE... but oh fuck that would hit CALF the assassin by way of veal parmigiana.

Let's pick our preferred +1 before T-hawk gives us the next clue but after blue have made their moves.

You guys never did this!  I was waiting all day but nobody came back to the thread to think about it.

If I were in this situation I would have probably gone for JULY 2, since ROME-JULIUS is a very strong connection and doesn't risk no one knowing the word.

I was actually thinking about Augustus, which as a word more uniquely identifies a Roman emperor and I think points to the month a bit more strongly.  But for either emperor name I was worried about hitting Alps before Date.

Yes, Ides is obscure, but it only takes one person to know it and then it's ironclad obvious, and Grillo did.

Also if he knew we were on the wrong track and about to hit another let's say grey (BOOM) and blue (TUBE), would he have intervened earlier?

I couldn't intervene in round 2.  You would read "unlimited" then as needing multiple +1s from Cyberwarfare (meaning one of the original three hits got lucky.)  I also couldn't spend a turn for a 0 clue.  Round 3 was the only time I could intervene with the unlimited, which you read correctly, although didn't work.

[El Grillo]

Tricky board indeed and well played Lewwyn. SUB was just a few too many words down on the list of likely candidates, but I agree that the strategy you picked was the best one available.

[Azoth]

Very interesting game! I had a feeling Red was on the wrong track with Cyberwarfare as soon as we were given Zealander 1 (indicating that Lewwyn was not feeling pressured). I actually thought that TOWER might be the last Cyberwarfare word (for radio/cell towers), so I wouldn't have been surprised to see a 3-word reclue in that last round. As it is, maybe something like Sonar/Broadcast/Emitter 3 would have worked for BAT+TOWER+SUB(marine)?

[sunrise089]

I'm sorry Dave, I though El Grillo was on our team and was just making a somewhat off-topic observation in his spoiler post

[Lewwyn]

Yes, a tough board and good planning on both sides. In retrospect, for blue, I would have probably tried for 3 rounds with GREENTHUMB 3 for KIWI, NAIL, and FOOT, then LEGO for PART, LOCK, and SKYSCRAPER with risk to give TOWER, and AERODYNAMICS is a possible alternative to TORNADO for TUBE, TRIANGLE, and WIND.

Aerodynamics might work I think. Triangle might not get there though. Greenthumb is interesting I don't know if it would get Foot though, probably hit Date another fruit. Yeah anything that clued Skyscraper would clue tower, though there are things that could clue tower without cluing skyscraper since tower is more general and less specific. I considered Eiffel for Skyscraper, Wind, Triangle, but only after Tower had gone off.

[Lewwyn]

Triangle tornado? Hmm

I also considered Funnel for Triangle Tube Wind

[WarriorKnight]

Let's pick our preferred +1 before T-hawk gives us the next clue but after blue have made their moves.

You guys never did this!  I was waiting all day but nobody came back to the thread to think about it.

While optimal, I don't think it's worth holding up the game for considering everyone is in multiple timezones just to decide on a +1 after blue's turn. A quick game is a good game after all. Not to mention there was nothing you could do at the time if our +1 was incorrect on the 2nd turn.

Otherwise GG, and indeed tricky board.