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Charles Reinke Reaches Twelve Straight, but Mary Becker Makes Sure it Doesn't Become Thirteen

1st Charles Reinke went 4-1 +559 and averaged 484 per game, but the real news was twofold: his winning streak was extended to twelve (or eleven, depending on how 2-on-1s are counted in the streak), and his winning streak came to an end. The disrupter was none other than Mary Becker, who took down the seemingly unstoppable twin by a score of 427-448. Mary's bingos were UNITIES and ENVIOUS while Charles got down SNARFING and RITUALS. Well before that game, Charles soundly defeated Bryan Benwitz 547-344 despite playing just one more bingo than his opponent (Bryan had ALATION and ANTEDATE; Charles, WAFTAGES, PACIFIER, and UNABUSED. Charles improved on that 203-point margin by demolishing Richard Lauder, his 497 easily eclipsing Richard's 268. IVORIEST, INDICTED, and word-of-the-week ENDOSMOS were Charles' bingos in that one.

2nd Thomas Reinke had a suitably identical win-loss record to his brother's, but his failure to find eighteen more points somewhere meant that he was put in second place. Like his brother, Thomas had a pair of devastating wins. The first was a 476-290 victory versus Dave Gilligan (playing LIGHTEN, CONFETTI, and EASIEST), and the second was a 560-337 romp over Dennis Lloyd (upping the bingo output to four with AUDILES, WOMANIST, OVARIOLE, and CENTAURS). As is frequently the case, one brother was the source of the other's only loss; Charles took the win 470-392, playing the exceedingly low-probability ERASION and GASEOUS to counter Thomas' SOLATIA and SIGHTSEE.

3rd Mary Becker finished at 3-2 +8, benefiting from a fifth game just like the other top-three finishers. Her highest-scoring game of the evening, a streak-busting win against Charles Reinke is already chronicled above, but in case you missed it, Mary triumphed 448-427. Her other 400-point game was a 409-365 victory against Dave Gilligan. The bingo situation in that game was exactly equivalent; both Mary's LINGERS and Dave's STONERS score 65 points. In the category of "close losses" was a 318-319 loss to Sue Goldstein which saw neither player get a bingo.

Only two new bingos were played, and they were actually the same word: both Charles and Gail played IVORIEST in the same round. In another bingo-related oddity, Bryan Benwitz had an opening rack of AAILNOT in two straight games, went second in both, and played ALATION in both once it was his turn. Creepy.

Charles Reinke at Eight Straight Thanks to Back-to-Back Undefeated Nights

1st Charles Reinke put together another strong showing, averaging 462 per game and finishing at 4-0 +507. His highest scoring game was a 502-393 win over the tough Bryan Benwitz. Proving his toughness, Bryan played the phony BONELIKE, an especially bold move considering that Charles had let another player play that same phony against him just a few months ago. Bryan also laid down the less-controversial ATONERS, while Charles got ADVISED, REDEFINE, and SURCOAT. Charles also played the role of spoiler by disrupting Helen Flores' perfect-night-in-progress; in the final game, he came out indisputably victorious, having won 490-223, playing bingos of FAUCETS and SATSANGS (n. SATSANG, a type of Hindu spiritual gathering) in the process.

2nd Andy Bohnsack had an identical +507 spread to the player above him, but the presence of an extra lost game relegated him to second place. He continued his quest to lead the club in bingo output by playing thirteen of them in his five games. His one loss was gotten out of the way quickly in a first-round matchup versus Dave Gilligan. Dave played three bingos in his 454-377 win: ENOLASE, PROLIFIC, and JETTING. Meanwhile, Andy "only" had two: SUEDING and OERSTED. A much more postive outcome (for Andy) was attained when he crushed Susan Vergeront 492-249. Susan was held bingoless, presumably because Andy hogged the bingo tiles; his three were ELOINER, REALISED, and THUNDERY.

3rd Lynda Finn went 3-1 +150 to finish in third place, 120 or so spread points ahead of fourth-place challenger Helen Flores. Lynda's big game was a solid victory against Mary Becker, 446-342. Two of Lynda's seven bingos were played in that game, MONGREL and DUETING. Of course, her singular loss had to come against the undefeated Charles Reinke, thereby making him the spoiler of two undefeated performances. It was Charles' win, 417-350, but the bingo battle was ruled a tie with just one for each player: Lynda's TENNIES and Charles' PANINIS.

Helen Flores played a triple-triple HOARIEST for 140 points, her second four-dollar play in three weeks. Plenty of new bingos were played this week: SATINIER (Thomas), PANINIS (Charles), SATSANGS (Charles again), EROTICAS (Mary) and SAPIDER (Gail)

Charles Reinke Sweeps the Table and Mixes the Metaphors

1st Charles Reinke compiled an immaculate 4-0 +454 record to snag first place. He took down Sue Goldstein 493-316 in the first round, thanks to bingos of FAERIES and the odd-looking EPINAOI (plural of EPINAOS, a rear vestibule of a temple). A match against Bryan Benwitz was much more closely-contested; Charles escaped with a 380-365 victory, but was outbingoed in the process, getting down FELLOES (n. FELLOE, the rim of a wheel) to Bryan's DIABOLOS and RESTRUNG. Charles' most devastating win was, callously, against his own brother, 492-302. Thomas found himself unable to bingo, and instead, was forced to spectate as Charles unleashed a torrent of bonus plays: INTERLAY, INTONED, LONGTIME, and DIRTIED.

2nd Aaron Bader also was undefeated at 3-0 +319, but escaped before he could be roped into a fourth game. His highest game was a bingo-laden shootout against Richard Lauder which he won 484-442, good for Richard's highest loss of the year. Richard played DECAIRE to start (DECIARE is valid), but Aaron let it stay in order to play CONVENOR in response. Richard later played CITIFIED, JOINTERS, and INFUSES for a total of four bingos on the game. Aaron, meanwhile, ended up with three thanks to additional finds of PRATTLED and GARBLING. In the immediate aftermath of that game, the bingo well went dry, and only one bingo was played in a 465-240 drubbing of Dennis Lloyd, that being MALICES for 83.

3rd Thomas Reinke had a very strong outing if you take out the encounter with his brother, finishing 3-1 +372 and averaging 497 in his wins. He unloaded four bingos (SPINULAR, YAWMETER, BANQUETS, and NAIVETES) upon the resisting form of Bryan Benwitz, winning their matchup 502-324. Four more bingos were reserved for Richard Lauder, who failed to stymie any of Thomas' plans in a 562-284 demolition session. Richard did get down MONTAGES, but Thomas's AERATORS, ENTRESOL (n. a mezzanine floor of a building), BEAUISH, and MANURERS were more than enough ammunition to get the job done cleanly.

Thomas' CORUNDUM (an aluminum oxide) was chosen as word of the week, but Thomas' YAWMETER and Richard's CITIFIED were also in contention. No bingos from the latest dictionary update were played, bringing an end to a streak that the editor doesn't feel like looking up right now.