Blog

Thomas Reinke Continues to Close Gap in Yearly Standings

1st Thomas Reinke went 4-1 +403, nudging up his yearly winning percentage, which stood at 72.2% before the night's games and 72.9% afterwards. He got losses out of his system quickly as part of a two-on-one game; while defeating Gail Salm 423-350 one board, the other board was not as friendly, with Peter Schmiedicke handing Thomas a close defeat, 339-350. Peter, in addition to coming out ahead in the score column, also came out ahead in the bingo column, playing TUBAIST and TANNERY while Thomas only got down INSERTS. That bingo deficit would be corrected in a 412-392 win over Aaron Bader; Thomas got down three bingos (SIERRAN, ERGATES, and AMATEUR) to Aaron's two (CUTTIES and NEGRONIS). Thomas took heed of the old adage and saved his best for last, devastating Richard Lauder in the last game of the night, 531-343. Richard had a bingo of TISANES, but it did little to stop his opponent's bingo torrent, which consisted of four bingos: SCOOTER, DWELLING, REPUBLIC, and TERPENES.

2nd Andy Bohnsack, like Thomas above him, went 4-1, but his smaller spread of +214 doomed him to second place. The evening started off eventfully as he entered into a bingo shootout with Richard Lauder, a shootout in which he came out victorious, 447-395. Each duelist had three bingos; SEEABLE, INANEST, and INCOMERS for Richard, TOSTADA, JIGGLES, and DUNGAREE for Andy. Another gaggle of bingos saw their way from Andy's rack to the board when Bryan Benwitz became the next victim, 502-316. Despite a 116-point play of BASKING from Bryan's end, the game ended up being a blowout thanks to Andy's ECHIDNA, PIDDLERS, WHEELMEN, and TRASHIER. Only Aaron Bader possessed the arcane knowledge necessary to overthrow Andy's might, and overthrow it he did, winning their matchup 447-373. Andy had two low-scoring bingos of SUGARIER and UPDATES, while Aaron's bingos were substantially more...substantive...TRADEOFF for 95 and DRONERS for 87.

3rd Charles Reinke also had just one loss, but not having the benefit of a fifth game, had to settle for third place at 3-1 +460. He handily took care of Dennis Lloyd, scoring 497 to Dennis' 315 despite their relative bingo equality; Charles had GOODIES, while Dennis was able to get down EXCITER. A vengeful win over Peter Schmiedicke, 479-359, saw considerably more bingo action, with Peter getting two (LOAMIER and VERIEST) and Charles getting three (MIRLITON, SESTINA, and INFARES). Alas, Charles' undefeated night was spoiled when he encountered Andy Bohnsack in the final game and dropped a close one, 415-418. Andy's monster bingos of REZEROES (118) and ECTASIS (96) towered over Charles' meek attempts of ANTLION (70) and OVERSTAY (83).

Dave Gilligan's 108-point JOINERY was chosen as word of the week. Helen Flores came away from club four dollars richer (two if you subtract the entry fee) thanks to a triple-triple of TRAINERS for 122. The 529 points she scored in that game was the second-highest score of the evening, and allowed her to average 413 for the night despite going 1-3. The list of new bingos was slim, with only Gail's SATINIER making the cut.

Thomas Reinke Thankful For Good Tiles

1st Thomas Reinke celebrated Thanksgiving Eve by consistently outscoring his opponents, thus leading to a perfect 4-0 +218 record. He notched two victories in which he failed to score 400 points, a comparatively rare feat for accustomed scoring in large amounts. He held Bryan Benwitz bingoless while winning 379-325; bingos of LIBATION and VASCULAR were played by the winning side. Andy Bohnsack, meanwhile, was limited to a sole bingo PRESSED as Thomas took him down 381-330. That game saw Thomas play AGONISED and word of the week DOUPIONI (a type of silk). Thomas' highest scoring game came against Richard Lauder, whom he beat 487-432. This was the only game where his opponent won the bingo battle; Richard had DORMIENT, HALITES, and PULICENE (adj. pertaining to fleas) to Thomas' DISTANCE (eschewing the new anagram DANCIEST) and GODHEADS.

2nd Charles Reinke had a session-leading 479 per-game average, finishing at 3-1 +419. Fortune was quick to smile upon Charles as he roundly trounced his first round opponent, Aaron Bader, by a score of 539-349. Aaron had just one bingo of INTONER, while Charles was blessed with four of them: RETAPING, REOVIRUS, LEALTIES, and VAMOSES. A game against Andy Bohnsack was likewise a very lopsided affair, with Charles winning 512-292 thanks to bingos of BRISANCE, SORDINI, and GAITERS. Charles' one loss came against Thomas Reinke, who defeated him 478-420. Both players had two valid bingos (RANCHING and ARTIGIS for Charles versus APIARIAN and ACIDOSES for Thomas), with the victor tacking on a phony bingo of SEARNESS for good measure.

3rd Aaron Bader fared decently despite not playing in his preferred dictionary, going 3-1 +229. After his first-round loss against Charles Reinke, every other game saw his score eclipse the 450-point mark. Richard Lauder took the most serious beating, losing by 166 points, 342-508. STEADILY and ANISOLE were Richard's bingos, but Aaron one-upped him with OUTRACED, BUTANES, and VERATRIA. A 165-point victory over Betty Hasselkus was just as dominant, with Aaron holding a bingo monopoly in his iron grip, playing NAUSEATE, SKIDDING, and a 126-point SEXTETS.

New bingos this week were limited to two: Charles' ARTIGIS and Gail's OATIEST.

Gail Salm Sets All Kinds of Personal Bests

1st Gail Salm waltzed through four games of Scrabble combat without so much as a scratch to show for it, finishing 4-0 +189 for her first-ever undefeated performance in the expert ranks. Her eleven bingos through four games and her 426 average were both personal bests. She took down Lynda Finn by a score of 416-381, playing GRITTIER, BRUISED, and NEEDIER to great effect. She repeated that three-bingo performance with another trio of bingos in a clean 448-348 win over Helen Flores. In that one, her bingos were INGRATES, INQUESTS, and VIOLATE. Showcasing nerves of steel, she did not waver in her final game against the similarly undefeated Andy Bohnsack, and notched the upset victory, 409-381. The normally bingo-happy Andy was denied any chance to bingo as Gail, yet again, had three of them: DENIALS, ROASTING, and RIVETERS.

2nd Andy Bohnsack enjoyed a 3-1 +247 record that was rendered slightly less enjoyable when he lost the "championship" game against Gail Salm. He defeated Oshkosh club regular Terry Hope, 434-355, proving once again that good old-fashioned Midwestern hospitality has no place in Scrabble. Andy played bingos of ATONIES and AGNOSTIC in the win; Terry, meanwhile, got down INVADES. Andy's defensive side was displayed in a bout with Bryan Benwitz which Andy won, 391-332. No bingos were to be had for Bryan, while Andy got down two low-scoring bonus plays: ENROOTS for 63 and MANAGERS for 59, the latter of which must have had at least one blank in it.

3rd Thomas Reinke finished at 3-1 +182. His singular loss came courtesy of Andy Bohnsack, who cleaned Thomas' clocks quite thoroughly, 305-442. Thomas managed the sole VENENATE as a bingo, while Andy had EGOISTS and SUNDIAL. However, Thomas did enjoy some big wins of his own, the biggest being a 493-316 victory over Mary Becker. TEARERS and VEINOUS were Thomas' bingos in that contest. A 490-371 win over lifelong nemesis Charles Reinke may have been Thomas' most enjoyable win of the evening, as the tile gods saw fit to bestow upon him bingos three: VENTAILS (later hooked to make AVENTAILS), TURFSKI, and LIPREAD. Charles did manage to get the nine-letter AERATIONS down, played through the second A and the N.

Richard Lauder's VAQUEROS was chosen as word of the week, played in a loss to Helen Flores. Richard also receives the "bingoing in the face of adversity" award for playing a bingo with a V and a Q in it. Any bingo with a U in it is also eligible for this award, which pays $0 to its winner.

The only new bingo played this week was Thomas' VEINOUS. It has two anagrams, ENVIOUS and NIVEOUS.