Right Side of the Card, 2022

 

Greetings and salutations from Bubbe, looking at the third/right side panel of the new card!

 

Winds and Dragons

 

I just want to tell you all how sad I am that the code I cracked for this section, last year, is completely irrelevant to this year's card. We're just going to have to scramble through a new way for 2023.

 

 

 

W1 Back to the old asymmetry. Three kongs of Winds, with South being the sole pair. Maybe this story will come in handy again.

 

W2 A dragon hand to melt anyone's heart. A pung of Flowers and then all three of the suits of dragons represented--you pick which one is the pung. You can use jokers and/or make as many exposures as needed.

 

W3 Kongs of Flowers, North and South. Instead of a pair to complete the set, you'll need a single East and a single West.

 

W4 It's a Like Numbers hand with a skinnylicious Wind grouping thrown in. Kongs of any number, in two suits, plus pairs of North and South with a single East and a single West. Pay attention during the Charleston and you could very easily land this one!

 

W5/W6 These hands have one simple variation, either pairing the kongs of North/South or East/West. Beyond that, it's a little bit like yesterday's O7 (windy banner): a consecutive run in one suit of a single, pair, and pung, you pick the numbers. 

 

W7 Truly a Winds and Dragons hand!! There are four pungs involved, so you can use jokers for any of them, but remember it's a concealed hand--You can't call for anything but the final tile.

 

The pungs are North, South, and any two dragons. You complete the set with a single East and West.

 

 

369

 

I can't explain it, but I have the biggest mental block on this section. I'm sure if I tallied up all my games over the years, this is the one I play the least frequently. Go figure.

 

31 Simple pung Kong hand. It's sister to either O3 hand. Pungs in the first suit, using the low and middle numbers (36), and Kong's in the second suit, using the middle and top number (69). Easy peasy.

 

32.1 / 32.3 An easier pung/kong variation of the old “369 kongs and a pair of Flowers” hand: instead of having to scrounge for a natural pair of Flowers, you can use jokers or call for exposure. Just remember that the pungs are the Flowers and the 6’s, the kongs are the 3’s and 9’s. This can be all in one suit, or each number in its own.

 

33 We’ve seen this hand before, and it’s physically similar to O1b: a three-suited bell curve, where the ascending pair and pung are in suit A, the “top” kong is dragons in suit B, and the descending pung and pair are in suit C. You can use jokers and/or call for both of the “6” pungs as well as the complementary suit’s dragons.

 

34 All in one suit, with five components: 3, 6, 9, D and Flower. The pairs being used are the 3’s and Flowers; the tricky thing to remember, if you want to think of it as a staircase, is that the pungs are the 6’s and the dragons—save the kong for 9’s. If you’d rather think of it as a bell curve, think of the 9’s in the middle and put the pair of Flowers on the end, beyond the dragons.

 

35 Another hand with no direct analog on the card. It resembles E4 because the first suit shows the numbers ascending most of the way, and then completes the series with matching number in suits B and C—but this time it is kongs of 3 and 6 first, in suit A, then two sets of pung 9s in the opposite suits. Try to think of it as the “pung 9’s” hand, that could help.

 

36 Okay, this REALLY has no analog on the card. It is a two-suited stutterstep hand (all the others had been three suits). Five components, pair/pung, pair/pung, kong. Our first pair/pung is Flowers and 3’s, then 6’s and 9’s—ALL IN THE SAME SUIT—and then for your completing kong, you can choose 3, 6, or 9 in either of the two remaining suits. I guess you could call it a stutterstep potluck hand? The good news is that it’s an exposed/open hand.

 

37 Hey, we’ve seen this pattern before in O7—flag pole Flower pair, two suits of banners waving but this time it’s 369 ascending, twice. Don't forget that it's concealed.

 

 

Singles and Pairs

 

I know there are some of you who never use this section. You worry about not being able to call for exposures; you think it’s harder to make them. Especially if you pick up a joker, you hate to waste it. I get it.

 

But sometimes the tiles talk to you, showing you that you can make this hand—TRY IT! We are, after all, gambling!

 

S1  A variation of W7. Couldn’t be easier to remember: pairs of every Wind and every dragon.

 

S2 Another old familiar hand. It’s all about the odd numbers. You need pairs of each odd, in suit A, and then matching odd pairs in suits B and C. Very straightforward—and no 2’s required!

 

S3 Hearkens back to CR8—more waltzing, except easier to remember. A pair of Flowers, and then three consecutive pairs, repeated in two suits.

 

S4 Did someone say consecutive pairs? This is as simple as a Singles and Pairs hand can be, all in one suit. I recommend going for 3 through 9 (then you don’t have to deal with the 2’s!)

 

S5 Here she is, the original skinnylicious hand. It’s two Flowers, and then a couple of pared-down “2468” sandwiches—pairs of 2’s and 8’s with a single 4 and 6—in two different suits. Once again, this involves two pairs of 2’s so I don’t think it’s going to be too easy to get.

 

S6 This is the style of hand my old tablemate (in the book, I called her "Sylvie") used to call “number vomit”—you just spew the numbers out there in all three suits. There’s a more polite way to say it, but I think the imagery will stay with you.

 

The first suit grouping is small—a pair and a single; the second suit uses two pairs and a single; the third suit has the full three pairs. This time, the NV hand uses 369 section. It’s a mess, and yet it’s worth 50 cents!!

 

 

So we’ve seen all the hands. Some of them are familiar from old cards, some of them are completely new (to me, anyway). Most of them are related to other hands on the card, but there’s no one overriding theme this year.

 

If you have any questions or comments, you can always contact me at bubbefischer@gmail.com

 

I’m going to post next about illegal exposures—look for it over the weekend! 

 

Bubbe