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Winter Is A Curse That Shall Never Be Lifted

1st Bryan Benwitz triumphed over a significantly weather-reduced group of Scrabblers, going 3-0 +138. He narrowly defeated Charles in the first game, 404-381, taking advantage of his opponent's late-game consonant-itis. Bryan got down UPRAISE and SAVIORS in that contest, while Charles played STALLED and word-of-the-week WISEACRE. Bingos were harder to come by in his next game, with the sole rack-clearing play being Bryan's REQUINS. Bryan's stifling defense in that game led to a 369-287 win against the normally high-powered Thomas. Major props must be given to Helen who, in the third (and final) round, played one-on-two against Dave and Bryan, winning against Dave and nearly beating Bryan until a late DISINTER foiled her plans. As it stood, Bryan secured his undefeated record with the 399-366 win.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +235, good for second place or for the pessimists, fourth-to-last (preantepenultimate) place. He dispatched Helen and Dave both in the first round, 498-289 against Dave and 452-353 against Helen. His scoring dropped off suddenly against Bryan, but it rebounded again in the third round as he defeated Charles, 430-421. Thomas won the bingo battle 3-1, playing OUTGROWN, AIRLINER, and NIGHTIES against Charles' CARRIES, but only won by 9 points? Come on Thomas. Geez.

Thomas Reinke Mourns Recent End of Win Streak With Another First-Place Finish

1st Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +289, a rather pedestrian performance for him given his recent results, but nevertheless good for first place. He started the night off on the right foot with a 516-359 victory over Gail Salm. Gail did get down two bingos in her losing effort, one easy (EASIEST) and one not-so-easy (word of the week VIADUCT); Thomas's, meanwhile, were all sourced from the "high-probability sevens" section of the dictionary (RETITLE, FRONTES, UNHORSE). Thomas followed up that win with another high-scoring victory, this time 478-350 over Andy Bohnsack. Andy got away with the phony EGOTISED (EGOTIZED is a new addition to the dictionary); Thomas punished him duly with another three-bingo barrage: THIOUREA, ENCHANT, and RESPIRE. The bingo spigot couldn't keep flowing forever, though, as Thomas found out in a 316-451 loss against Bryan Benwitz where he only got down one bingo of SCARLETS (Bryan had EASTERN, BOUNCERS, and MISTRALS).

2nd Bryan Benwitz finished with a record of 3-1 +188. His best game by far was the previously mentioned three-bingo game against Thomas Reinke; he didn't score above 400 or get more than one bingo in any of the rest, a strange occurrence given Bryan's high-scoring, frequently-bingoing tendencies. He took down Dave Gilligan in the first round by a score of 388-346, despite getting outbingoed two to one (Bryan had STRIDENT; Dave had PARLAYS and SPEARING). A game against Andy Bohnsack was even lower scoring than that, ending at 358-285. I thought these guys averaged over 400 a game and two bingos a game? What happened to that? The only bingo on the board when all was said and done was Bryan's INVITES.

3rd Mary Becker beat two of the club's top players on her way to a 2-1 +81 record. Before those exciting games are recounted, however, her opening-round loss against Helen Flores, 346-386, should be mentioned. Helen bingoed with PHONIES for 90 points, a much-needed infusion of points that lead to her victory. Mary came back from that loss with a strong 435-373 win against Bryan Benwitz, largely thanks to her bingo of BIALIES, which drew a challenge from her opponent (the likely source of confusion being another way to pluralize BIALY: BIALYS). Not being one to rest on her laurels, Mary went on to beat the club's second-place man, Charles Reinke, by a score of 393-334. The bingo-happy Charles was prevented from bingoing even once, whereas Mary got down MINISTER and a late CLAUSES to guarantee victory.

Roads Icy; So is Thomas' Demeanor as Streak Comes to End at Twenty Wins

1st Thomas Reinke took first place among a reduced group of only the hardiest Scrabblers, going 3-1 +252. However, first place was little consolation to him as his prodigious twenty-game winning streak was halted by Charles Reinke. Thomas scored just 369 (a low score in the context of his streak) to Charles' 420, despite both players getting two bingos (INGRESS and TEGULAE for Thomas; CITEABLE and HANDIEST for Charles). To ease the crushing despondency which overtook him as his monumental run came to an end, Thomas followed up with a 484-417 win against Aaron Bader, playing GROUCHED, REOPENED, and TOTALIZE (Aaron had PIETISMS, IDOCRASE, and VENTURE). Meanwhile, the final game of his streak, a 542-330 win over Dave Gilligan was made notable by his five bingos of SLATTED, EPIGONE, KEROSINE, REPANELS, and ASSOILED (v. ASSOIL, to pardon).

2nd Charles Reinke went 2-1 +313, the missing game due to an acute board shortage. After acting as a coach/observer to Helen Flores in round 1, he faced off against her in round 2 and won handily, 558-288. Helen was able to play a bingo of RESTATED; Charles flaunted his high-probability bingo knowledge with ALATION, INTRORSE, and AGONISE. After defeating his brother in glorious and proud fashion, Charles went face-to-face with Bryan Benwitz and was humbled, losing 422-430. He got outbingoed three to one in that game, getting down a lone BEERIER while having to contend with Bryan's LINURONS, RETAPES, and GRADATES.

3rd Aaron Bader also finished at 2-1, but his smaller +153 spread put him firmly in third place. He needed a little bit of luck in his game against Helen Flores as a late post-bingo draw of IIIIILL nearly snuffed out his chances, but he managed the victory anyway, 397-391. His bingos were NAUSEATE, UNBOOTED, and SPELEAN (adj. living in caves, also SPELAEAN). A game against Dave Gilligan was not quite as taxing; Aaron won easily, 465-251 thanks to some high-scoring power tile plays as well as his two bingos, DURIANS and SENHORS.