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Charles Reinke: "4-0 isn't Good Enough"

1st Charles Reinke one-upped the theoretical "perfect" 4-0 record by going 5-0 +531. He also average 460 points per game, which somehow is not that much higher than his overall average this year. During a two-on-one matchup with him as the one, Charles paradoxically unleashed his two largest wins, 438-288 over Joe Horowitz and 552-355 over Gail Salm. He had five bingos across those two games: TEARILY, DEAFENS, RELAPSED, RANTINGS, and URANIDE. Perhaps the adversity of playing two games at once gave Charles anagramming powers beyond what his brain is normally capable of. In any case, Charles was enough on his game to resist a strong challenge from Andy Bohnsack, whom he defeated 474-411. Both players were able to play nine-letter bingos (RESTRAINS for Andy, VALERATES for Charles), a very rare occurrence considering how infrequently nine-letter bingos get played in the first place.

2nd Thomas Reinke failed to improve on his 4-0 record going into the "stoppage time" fifth round, finishing at 4-1 +298. His opponent in that final round? None other than his own brother. Their matchup progressed not in their usual high-scoring fashion, but instead, in a more somber way; Thomas was held bingoless in a 356-366 defeat. Charles, meanwhile, got down two high-probability bingos, ROSEATE and ANTLERED. Excluding that game, Thomas had a very productive night, including his own two-on-one against Dennis Lloyd and Helen Flores. Dennis fared quite well, losing 432-460 despite getting outbingoed four to one (the one being FINDINGS, the four being TWANGLE, LAVATION, REGRINDS, and RADULAS). Helen did not fare quite so well, but put up a fight in her 349-453 loss, playing REMOUNTS. Meanwhile, Thomas added three more bingos to his substantial collection: UNAKITE, ROBORANT, and CLAUSIVE (PLAUSIVE is valid).

3rd Aaron Bader scanned the horizon for any sign of Mark Kenas' return; finding nothing but blowing tumbleweeds, he reluctantly turned back to the playing room to play four games using the neutered dictionary. Despite his disappointment, he put together a solid 3-1 +273 record. Aaron started off strong, beating Barb Besadny 426-294. However, his win was tainted by a phony of EUPHROS, played in addition to the perfectly valid RUSTLED. UPHROES and EUPHROES are both acceptable spellings of that word, which is a part of a boat. Only valid bingos were played in the course of a 503-357 drubbing of Lynda Finn: CHORINE, PLACATER, FORESTS, and MODERNLY. The single blemish on Aaron's scoresheet (other than the miscalculated spreads [just kidding, Aaron didn't do that this week]) was a loss to Thomas Reinke, 349-423. Aaron got down the strange-looking EOBIONTS, but received no extra points for playing an uncommon word. In the same vein, Thomas was not deducted any points for his prosaic finds of REWAXES and DRIVELS. New rule proposal: if nobody in the room knows the definition of the word you just played, you get ten extra points.

New bingos played this week were RANTINGS (Charles), EENSIER (Gail), and DANCIER (Joe). Barb Besadny only played one bingo, but made it count, with a 122-point triple-triple of RETIREES against Susan Vergeront.

Bryan Benwitz Repeats

1st Bryan Benwitz followed up his victorious session last week with an even more dominating performance this week, going 4-0 +219. He flexed his bingo muscles early in his 396-297 win over Susan, wasting little time in playing the vowel-heavy Word of the Week, FILARIAE (n. FILARIA a parasitic worm). A close endgame in the second round resolved in his favor against Thomas, with him winning 411-406. His bingos of REPLETE and EPSILONS were helpful, but a late high-scoring J play sealed the deal. An abnormally low-scoring 345-333 over Aaron was aided by his dual phonies of CORDOBAN (an erroneous combination of CORDOBA (n.a monetary unit of Nicaragua) and CORDOVAN (n. a fine leather)) and SLOTHED. I figure that once one knows as many words as Bryan does, some are bound to get corrupted in the archives. Bryan's perfect night was on the line against Joe, but, showing supreme poise and confidence, he again came out the winner, 452-349. It is known amongst the club membership that losing to a Reinke constitutes getting "Reinked". Perhaps it is time to coin a new term, "Benwitzed"? Just something to think about.

2nd Thomas Reinke, after failing to place last week, returned to Attic Angels with vengeance on his mind, going 4-1 +673. His first-round matchup against Joe was marked by a 3-0 advantage in bingos, with him winning 440-342. (Joe had the same thing happen in his next game against Gail, but managed to win himself, so maybe bingos aren't everything? Nah, they're everything.) Enraged by his loss to Bryan, Thomas took out his frustrations on Lynda and Barb in the third round, winning the games of the two-on-one by a combined 504 points. On a night of prosaic bingos for Thomas, his play against Barb of ERRHINE (n. a substance that promotes nasal discharge, GROSS!!!!!) stands out. The traditional "fourth round brother battle" ended in his favor, 446-380. The most notable occurrence of that game was an early board configuration (apologies for formatting):

  A
AJEE
   I

I don't know, I thought it was neat. Or something.

3rd Charles Reinke followed up his 2rd place performance last week with a 3rd place performance this week, marking the start of a disturbing trend which clearly signals a deterioration of his game. Pulling double duty in the first game, he distributed his bingos unequally, playing 3 against Gail and none against Dave, resulting in a loss. Dave found the nice word APLOMBS to help ensure the win. A total of 6 bingos were played in his 519-370 win against Lynda, OUTRIDER (n. a mounted attendant who rides beside a carriage), STIMIED, ALIENATE, and MELTONS for Charles, BEPAINT and INTONING for Lynda. He then stimied David's chance at a perfect night, defeating him 488-268. Charles' play of ETIOLATE (v. to whiten) made a large difference; bingoing without having a "bingo rack" can swing games quickly.

No new bingos were played this week, but a whole bunch of old bingos were played, so no biggie.

Bryan Benwitz: "Fear the Beard"

1st Following in the proud tradition of great bearded sportsmen like Brian Wilson and James Harden, Bryan Benwitz used the power contained within his facial hair to go 3-1 +325 and seize first place. It was no coincidence that in his first game, matched up against a beardless Susan, that he came out on top, 454-327. Nor was it pure chance that, when faced with Thomas' inferior goatee, he was victorious again, 437-337, aided by a bingo-bango-bongo of ADVECTS, NUTTERS, and PALINODE. The pattern continued in the third game, where Charles' five o'clock shadow was overcome by Bryan, 454-348. Bryan's opener of HISTORY (not to be confused with HERSTORY) was, sadly, not extended to PREHISTORY, though both combatants had the opportunity. A chance for an undefeated night was foiled by Gail, 404-412, proving that playing with the spirit of the beard, as Gail did, is sometimes just as good as possessing the genuine article.

2nd Charles Reinke encountered a "murderer's row" of opponents and managed to cobble together a 3-1 +205 record, a result befitting the club's win-percentage and average score leader. A normally explosive matchup between him and Aaron ended in Charles' favor, 394-297, with only two bingos being played, UDOMETER (n. a rain gauge) and KAOLINES. The bingo count was more impressive in his next contest against Andy, with Charles playing 4 to Andy's 2 in a 467-376 win. As mentioned above, his game with Bryan did not end well for him, but he made up for it by defeating his doppelgänger Thomas in the final game, 482-358. His play of SQUIRREL in that game would win a hypothetical "cutest word of the week" prize, unless you think CANINES are cuter.

3rd Gail Salm calmly won her final 3 games to come in 3rd place, 3-1 +140. Her night got off to a bad (although how could any night be bad when it's spent playing Scrabble? Am I right?) start, with her losing to Sue 343-366 despite a nice find of UNTONED (adj. lacking muscular definition). Things picked up for her starting in the second game, a 428-340 win over Helen, a win that featured the double-Y word-of-the-week-winning ENTRYWAY. An impressive play for someone who, and I quote, "normally hates Y's!". In the third game of the night, victory was earned against Barb, 420-353, with her ENSUITE and TENNERS (n. a ten dollar bill, FIVER is also good) besting Barb's ROADIES (new anagram RADIOES). As previously stated, she managed to squeak by the then-undefeated Bryan, her play of SPINDLER (n. one who spindles, how helpful) drawing a challenge in a deciding moment of the game.

A bunch of new words were played this week: STINGES (Charles), UNTONED (Gail), ENSUITE (Gail), DUDETTES (Thomas), TOUPIES (Thomas).