Blog

Bryan Benwitz Has Sworn Off Losing, Perhaps Forever

1st Bryan Benwitz enjoyed a night free from the agony of loss, going 4-0 +436. His big game came against Mary Becker, who he defeated roundly by a score of 506-290. Bryan unleashed four bingos in his winning effort: PICRITES, INGRAIN, OBTUSER, and ENMESHED. Charles Reinke fared somewhat better, but not much, as Bryan handed him his only loss, 471-339. This time around, Bryan had just three bingos (SPOOKED, STOURIE, and PANNERS), but it was easily enough to overcome Charles' singular bingo of LEASHED. The experience and knowledge gained from beating one Reinke was then applied towards beating the other Reinke, and it worked, with Bryan besting Thomas in a close game, 388-385. In contrast to Bryan's other games, there was not much bingoing going on in this one, with each player having just one to their name: LEADERS for Bryan, SOLANDER for Thomas.

2nd Sue Goldstein bested her yearly average by fifty points, averaging 366 points per game while finishing 3-0 +266. She started off by introducing new player Adrienne Kiser to the ways of the world via a 361-276 win. She then reintroduced those same concepts to Susan Vergeront, playing a 72-point bingo of FASTING as part of a solid 344-282 victory. The best was saved for last, however, as she defeated the returning June Scott by a landslide, 377-258.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +261, with only first-place finisher Bryan Benwitz able to disrupt his winning ways. The rest of his games were higher-scoring affairs, the lowest of them being a 447-366 victory over Lynda Finn. Lynda had SHORTIA for 95 points, but three lower-scoring bingos are preferable to one high-scoring bingo; Charles had TENSION, DIPLOMAT, and ETERNITY to ensure the win. Similarly, against Betty Hasselkus, Charles' bingos of PHILTRE (v. to put under the spell of a love potion) and GREAVED more than countered Betty's SOUREST, and he won 488-337. To end the evening on a high note, Charles took down Gail Salm 470-309. Gail had NUTSIER, but a pair of hefty bingos (COZENAGE for 86, PERCIDS for 99) swung the pendulum far to Charles' side.

Dave Gilligan's IFFINESS was chosen as word of the week, narrowly beating Mary Becker's ALPACAS. We had a good amount of new bingos played: ANODISE (Bryan), PERCIDS (Charles), SHERWANI (Aaron), and ANTHROS (Peter). We also welcomed a new player, Adrienne Kiser, to the club. She got her first taste of Scrabble success by defeating Barb Besadny 320-317 thanks to a bingo of JELLIES.

Peter Schmiedicke Throws a Bingo Party and You're Not Invited

1st Peter Schmiedicke averaged a nifty 460 points per game in going 3-1 +379. His twelve bingos on the night easily gave him the Bingo King crown, but he did have to endure some lean racks to get to that point: his 349-426 loss to Helen Flores saw him get only one bingo, DELICATE. Meanwhile, Helen played AGITATED and word of the week RUINOUS to score her third straight win against this particular opponent. All of Peter's games after that point were blowouts in his favor, starting with a 464-337 win over Thomas Reinke. Thomas was held to just one bingo, LANGUORS, while Peter took advantage with three of his own, CODLING, ANLACES, and HERNIATE. Peter completed the Reinke sweep by defeating Charles Reinke 505-378 (the same 127-point margin as before...hmm...). This go-round, Peter upped his bingo total to four by playing TROTTER, PAISLEY, ENROOTS, and SECEDING. Charles got TUMESCE (v. to become swollen) to restore a small measure of his manhood.

2nd Bryan Benwitz also went 3-1, with a slightly inferior +317 spread. Much of that spread total came from a 499-335 walloping of Charles Reinke. In that one, Bryan found LADRONE, BRAISING, SOFTIES (n. SOFTIE, something Bryan isn't); Charles had DRYSUIT as his sole bingo. Another walloping of even greater magnitude was reserved for Richard Lauder, whom Bryan downed 452-246. Only one bingo found its way onto the board, Bryan's DIGLOTS (n. DIGLOT, a bilingual book). Not every game was so easy, however. Bryan found Helen Flores to be a very formidable opponent, and won by a considerably smaller margin, 421-387. Helen got down the monster QUIETEN for 107 points, but was outdone by Bryan's TORSADE (70) and LEPTONIC (80).

3rd Andy Bohnsack rounded out a Reinkeless top three with a 3-1 +79 record. He flaunted his knowledge of high-probability bingos in a game against Barb Besadny, getting down COARSEN, ATONIES, and SORBENT in a 461-297 victory. He also played the role of "dream crusher" by handing Bryan Benwitz his only loss, gift-wrapped and with a ribbon on top, 438-351. Both players had two bingos, with Andy getting down RUNNIEST and OUTMOVED to Bryan's ROSTERS and DEWIEST. However, in the game for all the marbles, Andy was the one having his dreams crushed when he collided with the brick wall of Peter Schmiedicke. Peter displayed absolutely no inclination towards normal human concepts such as mercy and generosity as he dismantled Andy by a score of 523-321. By Peter's decree, Andy was not permitted to bingo, while Peter himself was allowed to play REUNIFY, TEREDOS, AIRBASE, and EDITION.

Two new words were played this week: DRYSUIT (Charles) and AIRBASE (Peter).

Thomas Reinke Halts Brother's Streak in Furious Fashion

1st Thomas Reinke put together a rather dominating performance, going 4-0 +634 and averaging 485 points per game. The best was certainly not saved for last when he devastated Dennis Lloyd in their first-round matchup, 549-310. Dennis got down BERATING, but a flood of bingos from his opponent (DEODARS, INSANER, PRERADIO, and SESTINE) swept away any changes of winning. Thomas then applied similar amounts of rage on Andy Bohnsack, just squeaking over the 500-point barrier with a 501-303 victory. Andy did attain Word of the Week honors with GHERKINS, but it was no consolation at the time as Thomas was able to play SAUCIEST, VIRELAY (n. a medieval French verse used in poetry, also VIRELAI), TRENDOID, and TROPICS. The 500-point barrier was just out of reach when Thomas met up against his brother Charles, but it didn't matter; a 499-349 final score is decisive enough as it is. Both combatants got down two bingos: SILTIER and PRAEDIAL for Charles, PACIFIER and FAINTER for Thomas.

2nd Charles Reinke won his first three games to build up an 11-game winning streak, but his luckless encounter with his brother in the fourth game put an end to that. for displaying the heroism necessary to end the streak, Thomas now has a fat wad of five one-dollar bills taking up space in his pocket, while Charles was awarded $6 for his efforts (10 wins = $5, each win after 10 = $1). Helen Flores might also be deserving of some money after losing a high-scoring game against Charles, 433-462. In a change of pace, she out-bingoed Charles, playing AUREOLE, ATONIES, and GELATIN to Charles' SUNBELTS and RETRACE. Charles' bingo mojo was restored, however, when he faced off against Andy Bohnsack and unleashed a firestorm of bingos upon him, winning 569-362 thanks to WAITERED, ISATINE, LOGGIAS, RIBANDS, and FLEECING. Andy contributed to the abundance of bingos by playing OUTEARNS and RELOANED.

3rd Gail Salm departed early due to work obligations, but made the most of her three games, going 2-1 -100. Things did not start of well for Gail, with a 275-477 loss to Andy Bohnsack putting her in a 200-point hole. However, she bounced back with a convincing 500-433 victory over Dennis Lloyd. A trio of bingos (FANTAIL, DEVOUTER, and SPONGER) was vital to securing the win, while Dennis' UNLEASED helped him snag one of his two losing scores over 400. Gail's second win came against Richard Lauder, 374-339. A pair of mid-game bingos (WINTRIER and TEENIEST) gave her a lead that would turn out to be insurmountable, even after Richard's LANCERS.

Two new bingos were played this week: HALIOTES (Thomas) and GATCHED (Charles). It is also worth noting that there were no phony bingos played for the entire session. It's easier to do with only 10 people, but still not very easy.