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My dearest table guests, welcome
back. 

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This is the order of the tile, 
and I am Prim. 

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You are invited to enjoy issue 
#9 and this week your inboxes 

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00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,560
were full of mothers and 
daughters and weekend tables, 

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and Prim has read everyone. 
The best discard is the one no 

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one expects. 
Prim is writing this on the 

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Thursday after Mother's Day and 
the pages of this newsletter a 

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full to the margin with the 
things you sent in over the 

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weekend. 
Photos of mothers and daughters 

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sitting down to play for the 
first time. 

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Photos of sets that were gifts 
from one generation to another. 

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A4 table set up in a backyard in
Tulsa where three grown 

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daughters had surprised their 
mother with the mahjong brunch 

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she did not ask for but 
apparently wanted a single photo

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from a woman in Portland. 
That was just two racks, 2 cups 

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of tea and the caption. 
First game with Mum and she kept

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the extra tile. 
Prim read them all and cried a 

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00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,720
little professionally and then 
got to work on this issue. 

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The thing Prim keeps thinking 
about as she sorts through your 

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weekend is how much of Mother's 
Day at a mahjong table is about 

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the unexpected. 
The mother who had never picked 

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up a tile, who turned out to be 
a natural. 

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The grown daughter who had 
avoided the game for years and 

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finally said yes. 
The sister who was only there to

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watch, who ended up playing four
hands. 

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The game has a way of producing 
surprise, and the community this

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week has been full of it. 
Prim would like that to be the 

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spine of this issue because the 
tagline she has been carrying 

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all week is exactly about this. 
The best discard is the one no 

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one expects. 
The surprise is the point. 

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The game that can surprise you 
can be learnt by anyone at any 

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age, at any table, and can 
surprise the players who think 

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they have seen it all. 
We will talk about the backup 

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hand, which is the single most 
important unglamorous concept on

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the 2026 card. 
We will talk about teaching new 

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players without killing the 
thing that made them curious in 

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the 1st place. 
We will meet one of the most 

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patient and skilled teachers of 
adult beginners in the country. 

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We will look at the arc of tile 
design itself, from bone and 

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bamboo to the acrylic, in your 
case right now. 

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And we will spend a quiet moment
with the designers who are 

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making the sets that will define
this era of American mahjong. 

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Pull up your chair. 
The wall is built. 

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Let us begin. 
Let's get started with what 

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everyone is talking about. 
This is the draw. 

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The weekend was exactly what the
Facebook groups had been quietly

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hoping for, which is to say, 
full of new players and full of 

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patient veterans, and largely 
free of the usual mahjong group 

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arguing, not to mention a little
mahjong movie time. 

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I hope you all enjoyed that 
small bonus of game delight. 

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Prim watch Sunday unfold on her 
phone and on the TV, because a 

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professional mahjong writer has 
professional obligations, and 

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00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,080
what she saw was a community 
doing its best work. 

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Mothers who had never played 
were being taught by daughters 

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who had learned last year. 
Daughters who had avoided the 

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game for years were being 
invited in by mothers who had 

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been hoping for exactly this 
Sunday. 

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00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,480
And the photos kept coming, and 
the captions were unusually 

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gentle. 
And Prim would like to hold onto

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00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,360
the mood of Sunday for as long 
as it will last. 

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One pattern Prim noticed and 
wants to name a surprising 

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number of Mother's Day posts 
this year came from families 

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where the mother was the one 
teaching an adult daughter, but 

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the daughter was the one who had
suggested the lesson. 

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The dynamic was not My mother 
taught me the game, as it has 

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been told for decades in this 
community. 

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It was I asked my mother to 
finally teach me. 

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That is a subtle generational 
shift, and Prim finds it 

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significant. 
The new players coming into this

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game are not waiting to be 
invited. 

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They are knocking on the door. 
The veterans in their lives, if 

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they are paying attention, are 
opening it faster than they used

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to. 
This is how a community grows. 

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It grows because the incoming 
generation asks and the outgoing

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generation answers, and the 
answer is finally, reliably, 

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warmly yes. 
The other major event of the 

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week is a boat destination. 
Mahjong's Mediterranean cruise 

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00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,920
aboard the Celebrity Ascent 
departs tomorrow, and Prim has 

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been watching her social feeds 
fill with pre travel photos of 

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packed tile cases, luggage tags,
and the inevitable last minute. 

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Does anyone know if they have a 
good pusher for the ship tables 

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posts? 
This is the first major 

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00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,720
destination Mashong event of the
summer calendar and for the 100 

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00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,960
plus players who have committed 
prim would like to say bon 

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00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,240
voyage. 
The photos from the 

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Mediterranean Mashong sessions 
will flood your feed for the 

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next 10 days. 
Enjoy them, be gracious, try not

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to get too jealous. 
Save the screenshots. 

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00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,400
The cruise circuit is one of the
most distinctive features of 

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this community in 2026, and 
watching it from shore is part 

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00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,640
of the experience for the rest 
of us. 

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00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,200
One quiet piece of news from the
teaching side of the community. 

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Several of the instructors Prim 
follows have reported a clear 

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bump in class registrations this
week, and the pattern is 

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00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,080
consistent. 
The new students are adult women

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00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,560
who attended a Mother's Day game
on Sunday, loved it, and then 

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00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,720
went looking for a proper lesson
on Monday. 

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00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,120
This is exactly the hand off the
community hopes for between a 

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00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,920
casual introduction and a real 
relationship with the game. 

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00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,640
If you are a teacher reading 
these pages, check your inbox. 

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Your spring class may be about 
to fill. 

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If you are a new player who is 
considering a class, the demand 

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is high and the good teachers 
are booking out move this week. 

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Which brings us to crack the 
card. 

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The backup hand on the 2026 
card. 

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00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,840
Prim has been sitting with a 
concept all week that she has 

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been trying to get into these 
pages for three issues now and 

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she is finally going to do it. 
The backup hand. 

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If you have never heard this 
phrase, it is because most 

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mahjong teaching is organised 
around the single hand you are 

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00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,400
building, the one you commit to,
the one you expose. 

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00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:42,560
On the 1 you close with the 
backup hand is the one you are 

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quietly watching in the 
background, the alternative 

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route your rat could take if the
tiles you are hoping for never 

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00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:54,200
come. 
And on the 2026 card, the 

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players who hold a backup hand 
alive through the middle of the 

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game are the players who win the
most often. 

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Prim would like to walk you 
through this. 

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MMM, number one, what a backup 
hand actually is. 

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00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,000
A backup hand is not a second 
plan you switch to in a panic. 

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00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,840
It is a second pattern you are 
quietly reading into your own 

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rack as the game develops 
alongside your primary hand, and

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it is almost always in the same 
family. 

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00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,920
A backup hand is the cousin of 
the hand you are building. 

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00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,919
If you are committed to a 
particular hand in the 2468 

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section, your backup is probably
another hand in the same section

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00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,000
with one or two different tile 
requirements. 

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00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,799
If you are building toward a 
specific consecutive runs hand, 

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00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,520
your backup is the adjacent 
consecutive runs hand that 

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shares most of the tiles you 
have already collected. 

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00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,120
The backup is not a pivot, it is
a reserve. 

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Knowing the reserve exists is 
what lets you throw unexpected 

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tiles without fear, because you 
are not throwing a tile you need

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00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,360
for any plausible hand, you are 
throwing a tile you do not need 

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00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,600
for either of the two hands you 
are quietly holding open. 

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00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,120
This is the direct connection to
the tagline Prim has been 

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carrying. 
The best discard is the one no 

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00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,680
one expects, and the way you 
become the player who discards 

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00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:26,240
unexpected tiles is by having a 
rack that does not commit 

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00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,360
prematurely. 
A player who has a primary hand 

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00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,280
and a backup hand can discard 
tiles that look random to the 

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00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,160
rest of the table. 
A player with only a primary 

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00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:41,240
hand discards predictably 
because her discards are the 

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00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:46,440
tiles that do not fit the single
pattern she has locked onto the 

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00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,800
table reads her. 
She loses the information game 

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00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:54,800
before the game is half over. 
The backup hand is how you stay 

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00:09:54,960 --> 00:10:01,840
unreadable #2 the 2026 card 
rewards this posture 

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00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,680
specifically. 
Here is why the backup hand is 

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not a universal mahjong concept,
but a 2026 specific skill. 

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00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:17,120
The 2026 card has an unusually 
high number of hand pairs that 

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00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:21,120
share structural DNA. 
Many of the consecutive runs 

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00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,840
hands share a spine. 
Several of the 2468 hands share 

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pairs. 
The singles and pairs section, 

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unusually, has hands that are 
adjacent enough that a careful 

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00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,560
player can hold two of them open
simultaneously through the first

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00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,320
third of the game. 
This is not true on every card. 

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00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:45,320
On some years, the hand families
are more distinct, and a backup 

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00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,160
hand means fundamentally 
changing direction. 

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00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,560
On the 2026 card, a backup hand 
means holding 2 closely related 

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hands in the same pocket, both 
of which are reachable with 

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00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,040
slight variations in what the 
wall provides. 

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00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,200
The practical implication is 
that the player who reads the 

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00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,760
card carefully in advance and 
who identifies the pairs of 

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00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,280
hands that share structure will 
play this year's card with a 

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00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,640
flexibility that players who 
memorized only one hand at a 

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00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:20,600
time will not have. 
This is less a game skill than a

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00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,520
homework skill. 
Before your next game, take the 

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00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:28,680
card out, sit with it for 20 
minutes, and map the pairs. 

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00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,560
Which consecutive runs hand 
shares most of its tiles with? 

170
00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:34,480
Which other consecutive runs 
hand? 

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00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:40,320
Which 2468 hand is 1 tile? 
Swap away from a different 2468 

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00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,280
hand. 
Build a small mental library of 

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00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:47,680
adjacent hand families. 
When the game begins, your rack 

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will start to sort itself into 
these families on its own, and 

175
00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,080
you will find that you are 
naturally holding two options 

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00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,200
longer than you used to. 
That is the backup hand 

177
00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:04,000
technique in action #3 when to 
commit and how to commit. 

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00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,600
The backup hand only works if 
you eventually let one of them 

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00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:10,880
go. 
The player who tries to hold 

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00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,320
three options through round 8 is
not playing flexible mahjong, 

181
00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:18,360
she is playing indecisive 
mahjong, and the difference is 

182
00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:22,320
real. 
The rule of thumb Prim uses, and

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00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,400
which she would recommend to 
you, is that by the end of round

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00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,720
five you should have narrowed 
from two hands to one. 

185
00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:33,360
Round 5 is usually when the wall
is tight enough that exposures 

186
00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,120
are starting to land and discard
patterns are starting to signal 

187
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,040
what the rest of the table is 
doing. 

188
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,400
By round 5, the information has 
arrived. 

189
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,120
Read it. 
Pick a hand. 

190
00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,000
Commit. 
The commitment is not a 

191
00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,280
ceremony. 
It is quiet. 

192
00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:55,600
It is internal. 
The tiles in your rack that 

193
00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,480
belonged only to the backup hand
become immediately eligible for 

194
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,680
discard. 
The tiles that belonged only to 

195
00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:07,960
the primary hand become tiles. 
You will defend your rack Titans

196
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:12,800
in one invisible motion, and 
from round six forward, you play

197
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,480
with the certainty that marks a 
real player. 

198
00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,280
The player across from you will 
not know the moment the 

199
00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,400
commitment happened. 
That is part of the beauty of 

200
00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,240
it. 
She will only notice in 

201
00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:29,040
retrospect that your discard 
suddenly stopped making sense to

202
00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,320
her because they stopped fitting
the pattern she thought you were

203
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,560
in. 
The best discard is the one no 

204
00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:39,040
one expects. 
The backup hand is how you earn 

205
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:44,240
the right to make them #4 the 
cost of the discipline. 

206
00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:49,360
Prim will be honest with you. 
The backup hand approach costs 

207
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,520
you something. 
It costs you the early feeling 

208
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,320
of certainty. 
It costs you the satisfying 

209
00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,200
moment in Round 3 when you look 
at your rack and say, I know 

210
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:03,680
exactly what I am doing now. 
It replaces that moment with a 

211
00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:07,480
longer, more ambiguous middle 
game where you are carrying more

212
00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,440
in your head. 
Some players love this. 

213
00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,960
Some players hate it. 
If you are a player who enjoys 

214
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,360
the ceremony of clean 
commitment, the backup hand will

215
00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,400
feel like clutter for the first 
few games. 

216
00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,640
You try it, stay with it anyway.
After five or six games of 

217
00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,680
running a backup, the discipline
becomes background. 

218
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:33,120
Your rack will feel lighter, not
heavier, because you will no 

219
00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,520
longer be afraid of what you 
cannot control. 

220
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,320
You will know that whatever the 
wall gives you, you have a path 

221
00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,680
through it. 
The game rewards players who can

222
00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:47,360
hold complexity without anxiety.
The backup hand is the training 

223
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:53,960
ground for exactly that. 
Now this publication receives 

224
00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:59,160
questions, many questions. 
And this week the question 

225
00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,080
arrived from teachers, not 
students, and it came in a dozen

226
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,040
forms that all pointed at the 
same anxiety. 

227
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:11,800
This is the table is asking. 
I finally got a new player to 

228
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,720
the table. 
She is interested, she is 

229
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,760
nervous, she is trying. 
And I cannot figure out how much

230
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,200
to teach at once without 
overwhelming her. 

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00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,920
And I cannot figure out when to 
correct her, and I cannot figure

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00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,440
out whether to let her lose or 
to steer her toward a win. 

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00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:33,240
What is the actual method? 
Prim has a method and she is 

234
00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,520
going to give it to you because 
she has now taught enough adult 

235
00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,000
beginners to be confident in 
what works and what does not. 

236
00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,120
This is not the method you 
learnt from your own teacher 

237
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,240
necessarily. 
It is the method Prim has 

238
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,000
refined from teaching Nan and so
many others, and from watching 

239
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,240
the best teachers in this 
community work with their own 

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00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,480
students and from her own 
mistakes. 

241
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:03,240
There are 4 principals. 
Follow them in order for 

242
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:07,920
principle one, teach only what 
the current hand requires. 

243
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:12,560
The single most common mistake 
experienced players make when 

244
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,040
teaching a new player is trying 
to teach the whole game in the 

245
00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,720
first session. 
The Charleston, the card, the 

246
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:27,920
hands, the jokers, the scoring, 
the etiquette. 6 systems, none 

247
00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,560
of which anyone absorbs on 1st 
exposure. 

248
00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,920
All delivered while the new 
player is trying not to drop her

249
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,960
tiles. 
Stop. 

250
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,360
The new player does not need to 
fully understand the card on 

251
00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,320
game one. 
She does not need to understand 

252
00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:47,200
all joker nuances on game one. 
She doesn't need to do the 

253
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,840
Charleston yet. 
She needs to understand the 

254
00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:54,000
tiles, the letters and numbers 
on the card and how the two tie 

255
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,000
together. 
And finally, how to follow the 

256
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,200
rhythm of a turn. 
Teach her those three things. 

257
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,280
Play an open face hand. 
Everything else will be 

258
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:09,440
introduced 1 concept at a time 
over sessions. 

259
00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,680
The patience here is not virtue,
it is technique. 

260
00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:19,119
Principle 2. 
Expose your own thinking, not 

261
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:23,200
hers. 
When you are teaching, narrate 

262
00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:24,960
what you are doing with your own
rack. 

263
00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,560
Say out loud what you are 
considering, what you are 

264
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:33,640
choosing and why. 
Do not hover over her rack and 

265
00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,720
offer suggestions about her 
tiles. 

266
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:38,440
Do not ask her what she is going
to do. 

267
00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,160
Do not quiz her on what she 
should do. 

268
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,120
Chances are she couldn't tell 
you at first anyway. 

269
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,680
The new player learns by 
watching a confident player 

270
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,480
play, not by being coached 
through her own moves. 

271
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,880
Your narration is a window into 
strategic thinking. 

272
00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:00,560
Her private struggle with her 
own rack is where she develops 

273
00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,360
her own judgement. 
Respect the privacy of her rack 

274
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,120
as you would respect the privacy
of a veteran's rack. 

275
00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:11,840
She will figure out more faster 
if you let her figure it out. 

276
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,720
Principle Three. 
Let her lose early and often. 

277
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,200
This is the principle most 
teachers resist, and it is the 

278
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,080
one that matters most. 
The new player must be allowed 

279
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,760
to lose games. 
She must be allowed to make 

280
00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,720
wrong calls. 
She must be allowed to walk into

281
00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:36,120
the obvious trap, to expose too 
early, to fail to spot the 

282
00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:39,400
Charleston strategy that any 
veteran would have seen. 

283
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:45,560
The losses are the teaching. 
Every loss produces a question, 

284
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,640
and the question is the thing 
she will bring to you later, in 

285
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,480
her own words, at a moment when 
she is ready to hear the answer.

286
00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,920
If you steer her toward a win on
game three, you have stolen the 

287
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:04,440
loss she needed to have. 
You have also subtly signalled 

288
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,800
that winning is the measure, and
the new player will spend the 

289
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,320
next year playing fragile mAh 
shong because she is afraid of 

290
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,800
losing. 
Let her lose. 

291
00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:19,640
Tell her you also lost many 
times and that losing was how 

292
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,240
you got good. 
Then play the next hand. 

293
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,920
See Principle 4. 
Answer the question she actually

294
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,840
asks. 
When a new player asks a 

295
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,640
question, answer only that 
question. 

296
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,160
Do not take the question as an 
invitation to explain 6 adjacent

297
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,000
concepts. 
Do not use the question to teach

298
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,440
a mini lesson. 
The new players attention span 

299
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,480
during a game is short and 
precious, and the question she 

300
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,200
asked is the thing she is ready 
to understand. 

301
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,000
If she asks why you threw a 
tile, explain that single 

302
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,520
discard. 
Do not explain defensive 

303
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,240
discarding as a concept. 
Do not explain the history of 

304
00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:06,040
the game. 
Do not explain the 2026 card she

305
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,400
asked about 1 tile. 
Give her one answer. 

306
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,080
The next question will come when
she is ready. 

307
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,440
Prim will close this section 
with the hardest thing to say to

308
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:20,400
teachers, which is that the goal
of teaching is to produce a 

309
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,960
player who eventually does not 
need you. 

310
00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,280
The teachers Prim most admires 
are the ones whose students are 

311
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,360
playing confident, independent 
mashong within a few months. 

312
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,080
The teachers whose students are 
still deferential to them five 

313
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:39,120
years later have, however, 
warmly failed. 

314
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,920
Let your new player become her 
own player. 

315
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,640
The best gift you can give her 
is the confidence to walk into a

316
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,160
table of strangers and hold her 
own. 

317
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,200
That gift takes patience. 
The patience is the method. 

318
00:20:54,800 --> 00:21:01,520
The rest is details. 
Now, this publication makes it a

319
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,840
point to recognise those who 
distinguish themselves in the 

320
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,160
community. 
Not through volume. 

321
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,080
Heavens no. 
Through substance. 

322
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,040
This is who's talking. 
And this week we are talking 

323
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,400
about a teacher whose voice is 
the voice of the patient table. 

324
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:23,680
Her name is Toby Salk, she is a 
long time American Ma Chong 

325
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,360
teacher with a substantial 
online following, and her 

326
00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:31,560
teaching voice is as close to 
the ideal Prim has described in 

327
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,120
the table is asking as any voice
in the contemporary community. 

328
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,040
Toby has built her practice 
around the adult beginner, which

329
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,080
is the demographic this game is 
attracting in the largest 

330
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:48,440
numbers right now, and the 
pacing of her instruction, the 

331
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,160
patience of her explanations, 
and the warmth of her presence 

332
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,680
make her exactly the right 
feature for an issue about 

333
00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:00,840
teaching without overwhelm. 
She teaches at the speed the 

334
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:07,000
student actually learns. 
What sets Toby apart for Prim is

335
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,360
that her teaching respects the 
actual absorption rate of a new 

336
00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:13,600
learner, which is slower than 
most teachers want to admit. 

337
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,880
Most beginner instruction is 
calibrated to how fast the 

338
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,080
teacher wishes her students 
would pick it up. 

339
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:25,360
Toby's instruction is calibrated
to how fast they actually do. 

340
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,680
This means more games where the 
goal is not to close a hand, but

341
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:35,080
to practice the pacing of play. 
This kind of teaching looks on 

342
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,080
the surface less impressive than
a high speed curriculum that 

343
00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,040
claims to produce tournament 
ready players in a month. 

344
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:48,480
It is in practice, significantly
more effective because the 

345
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:52,120
students who learn at their own 
speed stay with the game. 

346
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,360
The students who are rushed tend
to quit within the first year, 

347
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,680
and the community rarely notices
they were there. 

348
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,960
The online footprint is doing 
quiet work. 

349
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,200
Toby's Facebook presence and her
broader online teaching 

350
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,560
footprint have become, over the 
last several years, a resource 

351
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,280
for adult beginners who are not 
near a local instructor and who 

352
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,320
needs somewhere to go with their
questions. 

353
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,240
Prim would describe what she has
built as an accessible 

354
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,840
classroom, available in the 
kitchen of any woman who has a 

355
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,320
phone and a beginner's 
curiosity. 

356
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,320
This is the kind of 
infrastructure the game needs 

357
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:36,480
more of, not less, and Prim 
would encourage any reader who 

358
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,000
is either teaching or learning 
to spend some time with Toby's 

359
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,800
content. 
You will find, even if you have 

360
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:46,400
been playing for years, that her
framing of a concept you thought

361
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,760
you understood will produce a 
fresh way of explaining it to 

362
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,720
the next new player at your 
table. 

363
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,640
Find her, follow her, send her 
your beginners. 

364
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,680
If you have a new player in your
life who is not ready to sign up

365
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,640
for a formal class but who wants
a lower stakes way to start, 

366
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,960
Toby's material is a gentle on 
ramp. 

367
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,160
Her approach is the opposite of 
the January learner problem. 

368
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,960
She does not deliver confident, 
bad advice. 

369
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,560
She delivers patient, correct, 
sequenced instruction. 

370
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,000
And she does it in a voice that 
feels like the voice of a friend

371
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,320
who happens to know the game. 
The community is better because 

372
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,120
she is in it. 
If you have benefited from her 

373
00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:36,120
work, Prim would encourage you 
to say so publicly where she can

374
00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:39,680
see it. 
Teachers who do this work rarely

375
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:41,600
hear back from the students they
helped. 

376
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,400
A few words from you this week 
would not be wasted. 

377
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,920
And now a brief indulgence 
because this author believes 

378
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,360
that one cannot play well if one
does not play beautifully. 

379
00:24:55,720 --> 00:25:00,480
This is Tile Envy, where we 
cover it openly and without 

380
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,200
apology. 
Prim would like to spend this 

381
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,560
section with the people who are 
designing the tile faces that 

382
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,280
you will be playing with for the
next 10 years. 

383
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,480
Because the face of the American
Mahjong set is in the middle of 

384
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,960
a quiet reinvention and the 
community has not quite named 

385
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:24,000
what is happening. 
For most of the last 50 years, 

386
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:28,360
the American Mahjong set looked 
more or less like the American 

387
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:33,280
Mahjong set had always looked 
Traditional carvings, standard 

388
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,800
colours, recognisable but 
unremarkable. 

389
00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,160
The last five years have changed
this. 

390
00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:44,400
A generation of designers has 
started treating the tile face 

391
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,240
as a canvas and the results are 
some of the most aesthetically 

392
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:51,440
rich game objects on the market 
in any category. 

393
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:57,120
Southern Sparrows Shih Noiseri 
work under Jessica Rose Creative

394
00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:00,800
direction is probably the most 
visible example of this shift. 

395
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,440
The tile faces carry hand 
illustrated floral and botanical

396
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,000
elements that feel at once 
traditional and completely 

397
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,760
contemporary. 
Prim would argue that Jessica 

398
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,080
has done more than any other 
single designer to demonstrate 

399
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,720
that a tile face can be a small 
work of art without losing 

400
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,160
readability. 
At speed. 

401
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,560
The tiles are fast to read, the 
face is beautiful. 

402
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,560
Both things are true at once, 
which is harder than it looks. 

403
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,000
And the rest of the industry is 
studying her work, whether they 

404
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:38,080
will admit it or not. 
The Mahjong line has taken a 

405
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,360
different approach. 1 rooted in 
colour palette rather than 

406
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:46,480
illustrated detail. 
Their spring collection this 

407
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,760
year, and the Ranch Dusty Rose 
line in particular, has shown 

408
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,000
that the emotional register of a
tile set can be shifted 

409
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,640
dramatically by chromatic choice
alone. 

410
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:01,200
A set in the right tones does 
not feel like a traditional set 

411
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,480
in a new wrapper. 
It feels like a different kind 

412
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,800
of object. 
Prim has played on a Mashong 

413
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,400
line set recently and can report
that the effect on the table is 

414
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:15,000
real. 
The game feels softer, warmer, 

415
00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,280
slightly less competitive, 
entirely without losing the 

416
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,360
rigor of the tiles themselves. 
What the brand has done with 

417
00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:27,520
colour is design thinking, and 
Prim recognises it. 

418
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,760
Oh my mAh Shong has been doing 
something subtler, which is 

419
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,000
reimagining the geometry of the 
tile face itself. 

420
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,000
The proportions, the typography 
of the numbers, the negative 

421
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,480
space around each symbol. 
These are choices most players 

422
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,280
never notice consciously, but 
that register in the reading 

423
00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,800
speed and the tactile 
satisfaction of the set. 

424
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,560
A well designed tile face is the
difference between a set you 

425
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,080
enjoy playing on and a set you 
barely register. 

426
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,920
Oh my Ma Shong has been pushing 
the baseline of what a modern 

427
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,360
American tile face can look 
like, and their spring and 

428
00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:15,760
summer drops this year have 
continued that work. 1/4 name 

429
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:20,840
Prim wants in Your head Bespoke 
Garden has been doing custom 

430
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:24,640
Commission work on tile faces 
for clients who want something 

431
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,800
genuinely specific to their 
family, their home, or their 

432
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,280
taste. 
The commissioned sets run in the

433
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:36,440
high 4 figures, which is not a 
price for everyone, but the 

434
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:40,320
craftsmanship is serious and the
client base is growing. 

435
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,600
If you have ever thought about 
commissioning a set as an 

436
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:49,160
heirloom object, Bespoke Garden 
is the conversation to open. 

437
00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,880
The common thread across all 
four of these designers is that 

438
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,720
the tile face is no longer being
treated as a neutral, functional

439
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,360
surface. 
It is being treated as the 

440
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,920
primary design object of the set
and the secondary design, the 

441
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,640
case and rack and accessory 
design, is being built to 

442
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,880
support the tile face rather 
than the other way around. 

443
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,400
Prim finds this development 
extraordinarily encouraging. 

444
00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,000
The game is finding its 
contemporary visual voice, and 

445
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,320
the players who are buying these
sets are voting with their 

446
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,600
dollars that they want the game 
to look like them, not like 

447
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,120
their grandmother's mahjong 
closet. 

448
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,280
Both are valid. 
The range is healthy, pick the 

449
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,520
set that looks like the table 
you want to play at and do not 

450
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:42,560
apologise for the choice. 
Now to matters of the calendar. 

451
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,120
Where shall one be seen this 
season? 

452
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:50,840
This is set your rack. 
Mediterranean boarding is 

453
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,720
tomorrow. 
Destination Mahjong's 

454
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,240
Mediterranean cruise aboard the 
Celebrity Ascent boards 

455
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,960
tomorrow, and by the time you 
read the next issue, the first 

456
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,040
tournament sessions will be 
underway. 

457
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,960
For the players going Prim 
wishes you smooth seas and 

458
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,520
steady tiles. 
For the rest of us, watch the 

459
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,600
hashtag. 
The photos will be unreasonably 

460
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,200
beautiful. 
The wall in the Mediterranean 

461
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,040
shot is already a genre, and 
this year's crop will set the 

462
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:29,680
new standard for what a mahjong 
cruise looks like on social. mAh

463
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:36,400
Shong Fever Las Vegas 3 weeks 
later The mAh Shong Fever 10th 

464
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,400
anniversary event in Las Vegas 
finished three weeks ago, and 

465
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,960
the community pulse on it has 
settled enough for Prim to say 

466
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:48,720
something substantive. 
The consensus is that the event 

467
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,720
honoured its decade well. 
The fields were large, the 

468
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,480
format ran cleanly. 
The anniversary programming, 

469
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,280
including the recognition of 
long tenured Fever participants,

470
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:04,760
struck exactly the right note. 
The community seems to be 

471
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,200
particularly appreciative of the
way Fever has maintained a 

472
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,920
warmer, less intensely 
competitive culture than some of

473
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:16,160
the other major tournaments. 
Several players Prim heard from 

474
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:21,040
described it as the one where 
you actually make friends, and 

475
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,920
that is a reputation worth 
having in this community. 

476
00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,800
If you missed Vegas, the Fever 
calendar has additional events 

477
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:32,560
throughout the year, including a
late summer resort event that is

478
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:38,040
currently open for registration.
The next Fever on the calendar 

479
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,880
The next major Mahjong Fever 
event on the public calendar is 

480
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,160
a destination weekend in early 
fall, and Prim will say now what

481
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,640
she said about the Mediterranean
cruise last week. 

482
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,360
The good destination events fill
faster than you expect. 

483
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,840
If Fever's warmer culture sounds
like your speed, and if you have

484
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,360
been circling a destination 
event this year, the full Fever 

485
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,080
is 1 to prioritise in your 
registration queue. 

486
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,920
Full details on the Fever 
website. 

487
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,640
The summer local circuit is now 
visible. 

488
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,880
Prim wrote about local JCC 
tournaments in Issue 7 and 8, 

489
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,400
and this week the spring and 
summer schedules are posting in 

490
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,960
larger numbers across major 
metro areas. 

491
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:27,360
Specifically, the Philadelphia 
mainline circuit has opened for 

492
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:32,440
spring and summer dates, the 
Atlanta area JCCS have announced

493
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,480
a joint tournament weekend in 
late June, the Bay Area Jewish 

494
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,840
Community Centres are running 
coordinated sessions through 

495
00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:43,360
July, and South Florida is 
publishing its annual summer 

496
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:47,640
charity tournament calendar. 
The pattern Prim flagged in 

497
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,880
earlier issues is holding. 
The local circuit is robust. 

498
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:58,480
The destinations are the Spires.
Both matter. 1 Quiet note on the

499
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,800
tournament economy Prim has been
watching the price points of 

500
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,320
tournaments this year, and she 
wants to note a gentle trend. 

501
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:11,400
Entry fees at major destination 
events are edging upward, while 

502
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:15,640
entry fees at local JCC events 
have held remarkably steady. 

503
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,480
This is not a crisis and the 
destinations are still worth 

504
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:23,640
their prices if the destination 
is the draw. 

505
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,920
But the widening gap between the
two tiers is worth being aware 

506
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,760
of, particularly for players on 
a fixed budget who might 

507
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,400
otherwise default to a 
destination event without 

508
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,200
realising how much more 
accessible the local circuit has

509
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:43,040
become in relative terms. 
Prim will keep an eye on this 

510
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:47,760
and report as it develops. 
Boarding tomorrow. 

511
00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:53,200
Destination Mahjong 
Mediterranean Cruise Celebrity 

512
00:33:53,200 --> 00:34:00,960
Ascent May 15th through 25th 
open destination Mahjong San 

513
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,320
Diego. 
Double tournament June 5th 

514
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:10,880
through 7th, Open Shriners 
Mahjong tournament Austin, TX. 

515
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:17,440
June 20th open destination 
Mahjong Atlantic City August 

516
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:23,159
16th through 18th open mAh Shong
Fever fall destination event 

517
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:29,199
open Mahjong World Championship 
Paris Las Vegas October 16th 

518
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:34,600
through 18th Check your local 
JCC spring and summer local 

519
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:38,360
tournament circuit Full event 
calendar at the order of the 

520
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:43,600
tile.com. 
And finally, because this author

521
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,840
believes every player deserves 
at least one piece of knowledge 

522
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,920
that makes her the most 
interesting person at the table.

523
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:52,679
We close with crack 
intelligence. 

524
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,440
Here is a fact that Prim has 
been saving for the right issue,

525
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,640
and this one Is it. 
The tile you are holding in your

526
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,840
hand right now, whatever it is 
made of, is the most recent 

527
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,680
chapter in a material history 
that goes back nearly 400 years.

528
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:16,040
Mashong's predecessor games, and
later Mashong itself, have been 

529
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:21,040
played with tiles carved from 
bone, bamboo, ivory, horn, 

530
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:29,120
shell, glass, bakelite, catalin,
celluloid, polystyrene, urea, 

531
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:36,640
ABS, plastic, and finally, in 
most modern American sets, 

532
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:40,920
acrylic. 
Each of those materials changed 

533
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,320
the game in ways the players who
adopted them did not fully 

534
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,760
understand at the time. 
Prim would like to walk you 

535
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,200
through the arc because the 
material is not incidental. 

536
00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:53,640
The material is part of the 
play. 

537
00:35:55,560 --> 00:36:00,080
The earliest mahjong tiles, in 
the game's late 19th century 

538
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:05,680
Chinese form, were carved from 
bone, often in two layers, with 

539
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:08,240
a bamboo backing glued to the 
bone face. 

540
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:11,800
The craftsmanship was 
painstaking. 

541
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:15,000
A single set could take a 
skilled artisan weeks to 

542
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,840
produce. 
The tiles were heavy, 

543
00:36:18,240 --> 00:36:21,920
beautifully tactile, and 
extraordinarily expensive by the

544
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,720
standards of the time, which 
meant that the game was 

545
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:28,560
initially a pursuit of families 
who could afford artisan made 

546
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:32,840
goods. 
The bone and bamboo aesthetic is

547
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,960
what the Western imagination 
still associates with authentic 

548
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,600
Mashong, and there is something 
to that association. 

549
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,560
Many of the most beautiful 
vintage sets in collectors hands

550
00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,920
today are bone and bamboo, and 
the feel of those tiles on a 

551
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,520
table is distinctive. 
They click differently. 

552
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:54,960
They warm to the hand 
differently. 

553
00:36:55,560 --> 00:37:01,400
They are, in a word, alive. 
The transition to American 

554
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,800
mahjong in the 1920s coincided 
with a broader material 

555
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:09,360
revolution. 
Bakelite, one of the first 

556
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:14,360
synthetic plastics, had been 
invented in 19 O 7, and by the 

557
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:18,560
1920s it was being used in 
everything from telephones to 

558
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:22,680
jewellery to, yes, mahjong 
tiles. 

559
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,080
The American market in 
particular embraced Bakelite 

560
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,800
tiles because they could be 
produced faster, coloured more 

561
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,600
boldly, and sold at a price 
point that let the game move 

562
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,200
from a curiosity to a mass 
market phenomenon. 

563
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:44,280
The Abercrombie and Fitch sets 
from the 1920s boom, which Prim 

564
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,280
covered in letter three, were 
often Bakelite. 

565
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:51,520
The look and feel of those tiles
defined what a modern American 

566
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:56,040
set was supposed to be. 
Chris Lloyd, based in 

567
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,880
Providence, RI, became one of 
the most important American 

568
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:04,000
producers of Mashang tiles in 
the mid century period and 

569
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,400
remains A notable manufacturer 
today. 

570
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,800
They're tiles made from a modern
resin that descends 

571
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,600
aesthetically from the Bakelite 
era, have the density and 

572
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,600
clarity of colour that longtime 
players associate with a serious

573
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:22,000
American set. 
If you have a set that feels 

574
00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:26,040
slightly heavier than a standard
acrylic set, and if the colours 

575
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,920
have a certain saturation that 
is hard to replicate, there is a

576
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,320
good chance you are holding 
something in the Chris Lloyd 

577
00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:35,080
family or something inspired by 
it. 

578
00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,760
Prim would like more players to 
know Chris Lloyd by name. 

579
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:42,640
The company has been shaping the
American tile aesthetic for 

580
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,480
longer than most contemporary 
brands have existed. 

581
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,800
The shift to acrylic, which 
dominates the current market, 

582
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,840
happened gradually over the last
40 years. 

583
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:59,240
Acrylic is lighter than the 
older resin based tiles. 

584
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,240
It is easier to manufacture in 
high volumes. 

585
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,160
It takes paint and engraved 
detail well. 

586
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:11,240
It is importantly cheaper, which
has allowed the modern custom 

587
00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:14,880
design Renaissance prim 
discussed in Tile Envy above. 

588
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,640
The designers working today can 
afford to iterate, prototype, 

589
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,400
and release limited runs 
precisely because the underlying

590
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:28,040
material is accessible. 
The trade off is that acrylic is

591
00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:31,520
slightly less weighted in the 
hand than the older sets, and 

592
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:34,840
some players prefer the feel of 
the older tile. 

593
00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:39,440
Both preferences are valid. 
The point is that the tile in 

594
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,760
your hand is the product of 100 
years of material choices, and 

595
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:47,360
each choice has changed the play
of the game in ways that are 

596
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:51,560
worth noticing. 
The thing Prim wants you to take

597
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:56,360
away from this section beyond 
the history, is a small ritual. 

598
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,160
The next time you sit down to 
play, pick up a tile and hold it

599
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,080
for three seconds before you set
it in your rack. 

600
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,720
Feel the weight, feel the 
surface, feel the temperature, 

601
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:11,720
which will always be slightly 
cooler than your hand. 

602
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:16,120
You are holding a small piece of
the long history of human craft.

603
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:20,480
Miniaturized into a 2 inch 
rectangle and pass through your 

604
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,640
life as part of a game that was 
being played before your 

605
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:28,280
grandmother was born. 
The tile has a history. 

606
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:34,000
The history is part of the game.
The best discard is the one no 

607
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:37,920
one expects, and the tile you 
are about to throw is older than

608
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,720
any of us and will outlast most 
of what we do with it. 

609
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,480
Play with that awareness, it 
will change how you hold your 

610
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:51,640
rack. 
You're welcome until next week. 

611
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:56,600
May your rack be blessed and 
your Charleston ruthless. 

612
00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:02,880
This has been the order of the 
tile issue #9 the best discard 

613
00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:06,760
is the one no one expects. 
Do forward this to your favorite

614
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:09,200
4th. 
Everyone deserves a seat at this

615
00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:13,760
table, and everyone deserves to 
be properly informed before they

616
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:17,520
take it. 
Until next Thursday, dear 

617
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,320
listener. 
Prim as always.