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Aaron Bader Ends Bryan Benwitz' Winning Streak at 11, Bingos 13 Times, Averages 461, and Probably Also Saved a Bunch of Kids from a Burning Orphanage

1st Aaron Bader was convinced to stay for the fourth round, and it's lucky he did, because he turned a pedestrian 3-0 record into an astounding 4-0 +345 record against a series of tough opponents. He didn't waste any time achieving greatness, snapping Bryan Benwitz' eleven-game winning streak in the first game of the night, 476-332. Aaron had four bingos in that one, a portent of things to come: BANDERS, SEDATES, ECTOMERE, and REFILING. In the next game, word knowledge was brazenly flaunted by Charles Reinke as he played the word of the week, KLEPHTIC (a KLEPHT is a medieval Greek guerilla fighter), but this impudence did not lead to a win, as he fell to Aaron 394-485, mostly due to Aaron's bingos of AMADOUS, BIOPICS (anagram BIOPSIC), and GLITTER. A less-braggadocious win over Lynda Finn followed, but Aaron went right back to his high-scoring ways in the final game of the night, taking out Andy Bohnsack 473-369. Aaron was again ruthless in his pursuit of bingos, and his phony TAXINGS didn't lessen the impact of his valid bingos, EPISTLE, PHENOLIC, and TEENAGER. Andy had SOUVENIR and COURAGES, proving that U's aren't the worst tile ever, except they are (also Andy if you're reading this, YOU DIDN'T WRITE DOWN THE SCORES FOR YOUR BINGOS. SHAME SHAME SHAME)

2nd Lynda Finn didn't quite average 461, but she did average 457 per game, nearly 60 points better than her yearly average. Oh yeah, and she also went 3-1 +342. A score of 557 against Richard Lauder (321) was her highest score of the club year so far, and her 158-point triple-triple of FINDABLE (a very findable bingo for her) was her highest-scoring bingo since we started keeping track of that stuff (that's why it's important to WRITE YOUR SCORES DOWN). Her sole loss was to Aaron Bader, 377-410, and it just happened to be the only game where she played fewer than two bingos (TEMPEST was her only one, whlie Aaron had FRETWORK and TESTUDO). She recovered quickly from that loss by unleashing her fury upon club leader Charles Reinke, beating him 410-375 thanks to her two bingos of SIGNALED and SMUTTILY (see? bingoing more = guaranteed wins).

3rd Thomas Reinke finished with a record of 3-1 +172. He barely got away with a win against Mary Becker, 386-381, then fell to Gail Salm, 393-374. OUTSTEPS, EASEMENT, ELDRESS, and FARADISE were his bingos in those two games. The scoring for Thomas picked up significantly after that point, as Michael David sadly found out; their match ended with a score of 498-331. OVATION was Michael's valiant attempt to stay competetive in the game, but Thomas' GLITTERS, ARTISTS, and LEMONIER were just too much to overcome. The real excitement, however, came in the fourth and final match, as Thomas and Bryan Benwitz sat down across from each other and prepared to do battle. Battle was done indeed: the final score was an insane 538-519 in Thomas' favor! Bryan's 519 is the highest loss EVER at our club, and losing with four bingos must also be a very rare occurrence. Bryan's bingos were EQUALISE, NEOTERIC, AUSTERE, and PAVEABLE; Thomas let PAVEABLE by because it gave him the A he needed for FARMHAND. Thomas' other bingos were AIRFOIL, PELICANS, and AUTOMEN. Let us now have a moment of silence for Thomas' board, which, in response to the overwhelming scoring burden placed upon it, spontaneously burst into flames soon after the game ended, and was reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes.

Bryan Benwitz: "11 Wins in a Row is Just the Beginning"

1st Bryan Benwitz enjoyed his second straight week of undefeatedness, going 4-0 +324, and more importantly, achieved his first-ever ten-game winning streak. Club elders have convened to discuss the disbandment of the club in the face of this terrifying new development, but have decided for now to let the winning streak run its course. The winning streak almost never happened thanks to a too-close 422-414 game against Richard Lauder, whose late out-bingo was not quite enough to pull out the win. Bryan quickly recovered from that scare to take out Gail Salm, 416-367, while playing three bingos of DIATRONS, EXACTOR, and STANINES (study your high-probability bingos, kids). Helen Flores didn't fare much better in the face of the Bryaniac's indomitable might, losing 342-457 as Bryan got down NOSTRIL and FEISTIER (anagrams FIERIEST and FERITIES) to secure that elusive tenth win. The winning streak was lengthened when Bryan outscored, outbingoed, and out-everythinged Andy Bohnsack, 459-308. There was perhaps some high-quality banter going on as Bryan unleashed bingos of BANTERS and VENETIAN. On second thought, yeah, let's just disband the club.

2nd Charles Reinke did not establish or lengthen any winning streaks, but still had a strong 3-1 +443 performance while averaging 467 per game. He built up a large, comfy cushion of spread in the first round with a 526-329 win over Dave Kinzer, thanks in part to a torrent of bingos including FINEABLE, BROMATES, ANTIWEED, and LUSTRATE. He then applied a major beatdown to his own brother, Thomas Reinke, by an outlandish score of 524-251. Thomas didn't manage to bingo, but Charles made up for that by getting down CONNOTED, GLITZES, and word-of-the-week VERRUCAS (a VERRUCA is a wart and can also be pluralized VERRUCAE). After a misstep against Andy Bohnsack, he finished up his night by beating Lynda Finn 427-389. Lynda played ROTARIES and RETITLE, but was matched by Charles' SLOSHING and CORELATE (apparently a British spelling of CORRELATE).

3rd Andy Bohnsack went 3-1 +60, his small spread total still being enough to place in third ahead of Helen Flores, who went 3-1 -7. The first of his victims was Lynda Finn, whom he defeated 410-367, thanks mostly to his 96-point BEDUINS (how does that word even score that much? seriously). He also played the word FIFTIES (paradoxically for 83 points), while Lynda had THUNDER and STERLING as her bingos. Andy then took a win over Dennis Lloyd, 419-316, playing LARGEST and UNHOLIER to Dennis' CURLIER. On the topic of streaks, Andy reversed recent trends against Charles Reinke, ending the latters' five-game winning streak against him by winning their matchup 455-390. Charles was held to just one bingo of PRESALES, while Andy enjoyed a relative bounty by playing IMBRUTE and UREIDES.

Bryan Benwitz Plays Words that are Worth More than His Opponents' Words

1st Bryan Benwitz, fueled by peanut butter granola bars, enjoyed his second undefeated club session in three tries, going 4-0 +401. He started off strong by beating Gail Salm 451-313, nailing the super-high-probability ARENITE to bolster his winning efforts (as well as the not-quite-as-high-probability STRAYING [anagram STINGRAY]). The large winning margins didn't stop there as Bryan downed Mary Becker 485-278; again, Bryan dipped into his knowledge of high-probability bingos with TENORITE and AIRSIDE. But those two wins, while impressive, weren't quite as impressive as defeating the two top players in the club back-to-back, a feat Bryan achieved in rounds three and four. The first victim was Charles Reinke, who lost by a score of 381-434. Bryan had SANDPIT, OVERSEE, and FUNCTORS (shades of last week's FUNCTOR by Bryan), easily trumping Charles' sole BATARDS. The next and final victim, Thomas Reinke, made the game considerably closer, losing by only three points, 442-445. Bryan again had a trio of bingos (GLOOPIER, PALTRIER, and STRANDS) to bring his total up to ten for the evening; Thomas had WEAKENS and ARBELEST (a medieval crossbow, also ARBALEST and ARBALIST).

2nd Charles Reinke finished with a 3-1 +317 record. Other than a disappointing round three loss to Bryan, he enjoyed relative success against a strong field of players. Michael David tried to make it personal with his bingo of UGLIEST, but Charles overcame adversity to win their match 420-367 (playing BRINIES and DINKIEST). Andy Bohnsack suffered the same fate as Michael before him, but wasn't even allowed the dignity of a bingo as he got shut out in a 316-538 loss. Charles, meanwhile, had DEAERATE, MACULES, and TENORITE, and has now won ten of eleven against "Mr. B". Such a bingo disparity was absent in a game against Aaron Bader (DERINGER and METAMER for Aaron, SINCERE and BIOGENIC for Charles), but it didn't matter as Charles emerged from the fray with a solid 485-390 win.

3rd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +117, winning three close-ish games before falling to Bryan in the final round. His largest win was by 67 points over Aaron Bader, 450-383, a game that saw Thomas play a Reinke-esque three bingos of ESTRAYED, ALGINATE, and TROILISM. Aaron exacted some small measure of revenge by getting away with a phony ODORISED. DEODORISED and ODORIZED are good, but there is no third category for "words that are similar to other, valid words", so a phony it must remain. After that came two closer games for Thomas, the first being a 381-355 win over Dave Gilligan where each player just had one bingo (Thomas' APERITIF vs. Dave's ROASTED). The second, against Richard Lauder, was higher-scoring, but just as close: 446-419 was the final. Richard utilized all ammunition available to him with INDUSIA, FRISKETS, and VARIANTS, but just couldn't break through after Thomas' find of ECCLESIA (missing FASCICLE, but who cares?).

Andy Bohnsack also went 3-1 but his +5 spread means that he only gets one little sentence here at the end rather than an entire paragraph.

Helen Flores' great find of VAGABOND was chosen as word of the week.