Blog

Bryan Benwitz is at His Witz' End

1st Bryan Benwitz averaged 477 points per game; with that display of elevated scoring prowess, it should come as a surprise to nobody that he went 4-0 with a large spread (+536 in this case). He initiated the massacre with a pair of 500-point games, both of them involving four Bryan bingos (Bryingos?). The first of those games was a 518-378 win over Dennis Lloyd. Dennis tried to stay in the game by playing DETRACTS, but was wholly overwhelmed by Bryan's bingo parade of WEARIER, DOYENNE, STORAGE, and LENTOIDS. He then upped his game even further, scoring a 537-345 victory against Barb Besadny thanks to bingos of FATTIER, REDLINED, TAMARIN, and ETOILES. Against Mary Becker, a score of 414 would end up being his lowest of the night, but still plenty enough to win: Mary scored just 289 in the face of Bryan's unconquerable might. Bryan had ONLY two bingos in that one, WAITRON and RELENTED. It is worthing noting that Bryan also played the role of "spoiler" this night, as two of his opponents (Mary and Dennis) were undefeated save for their ill-fated encounter with Bryan.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +432, the highest spread out of all the 3-1 finishers. Charles wasted no time in doling out his usual servings of "Charles' Scrabble Surprise", taking down Susan Vergeront 493-255. ACEDIAS, VIROSES, and DUNAGREE (also UNAGREED and UNDERAGE) were his bingos in that contest. Three bingos obviously not being enough, Charles played four against Lynda Finn, a game that ended 511-352 in Charles' favor. Lynda found UNTILLED and TEARGAS; Charles had PLEROMA, NUCLEATE, WIPEOUT, and the 101-point STRAKES. In his third and final win, Charles defeated his twin brother/mortal enemy Thomas Reinke by a score of 450-398. Thomas played BADDEST (BAD is an adjective meaning "very good"??? kids and their slang these days dadgummit), but Charles one-upped him with EARLOBES and CAMPHORS.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke compiled a 3-1 +176 record, averaging exactly his yearly average at 410 points per game. His major accomplishment was pulling off the rare "Anti-Reinke", defeating both Reinke brothers, this time back-to-back. He started out by bulldozing Thomas 458-290; the twin was prevented from bingoing entirely while Peter leisurely laid down words like DETAILS, ANGORAS, and BLOWZIER. The next twin matchup would prove to be a bit closer, ending with a score of 416-399. This time, Charles would get down a bingo (PSORALEA), but would still get outdone by Peter's related bingos of MALTOSE (n. a type of sugar) and SUGARERS. Mary Becker would be the person responsible for Peter's sole loss, defeating him 418-376 and temporarily nullifying his unearned "Peter the Defeater" nickname. There were just two bingos in that one: Mary's DENIERS and Peter's GINNIEST.

Thomas played the word of the week, AGUISHLY. There were two new bingos played: Charles' PLEROMA and Gail's GAITERED (the second time she has played that word!).

"Why are We Inside Playing Scrabble When We Could Be Outside Enjoying the Beautiful Weather?" Asks Thomas Reinke, Never

1st Thomas Reinke switched up his tactics just because he could, holding his opponents to a 327 average (well below their yearly average of 372) while going 4-0 +385. Betty Hasselkus, returning from a few-month hiatus, was not afforded any extra mercy in her first game back, as Thomas beat her 407-342. Betty did win the bingo battle in that one, getting two (DUSTERS and SOLARIUM) to Thomas' one (UPSTATE). Following that up, Thomas continued his strong run of play against his brother Charles, this time winning a closely-contested 357-342 game. Somebody should get those guys checked out; worrisomely, only two bingos were played the entire game: TEAWARES for Thomas, word-of-the-week CYPSELAE for Charles. Equilibrium was restored (at least from Thomas' point of view) when he beat the late-coming Lynda Finn 528-267. Lynda, for her part, was at least able to reach her new-bingo quota for the day by playing BEDLINER. Thomas also reached his own quota when he played the new word GAITERED to supplement his other bingos of ESTRONES and MIDSIZE.

2nd Charles Reinke took the opposite route of his brother, averaging 469 points per game to go 3-1 +439. Helen Flores, in her words, scored a "win" against Charles when she lost 416-371. She had two of her three total bingos in that game, playing LANTERNS (66) and WEENIEST (86) for some timely scoring punches. However, Charles played the 91-point LAYOVER and eventually claimed victory. The bingo tiles would manifest themselves even more abundantly on Charles' rack during a matchup against Gail Salm where he played five such plays: TALIPED, AGNOSIA, ORIGANUM, SHEETER, and OCEANAUT. Gail played INLIERS (anagram: RESILIN) and COASTED, the latter for 94 points, but still fell well short of her stated goal of winning the game; the final score was 598-349. After that triumph, Charles again scored 500, this time against a drowsy and Collins-addled Aaron Bader. One thing's for sure, the deathlike caress of sleep would have been more pleasant than a 518-358 loss. Aaron played RATTLIER for some good points, but Charles' SENTINEL and triple-triple OVERSTAY (at 185 points, tied for highest bingo played at club since we started keeping track) were insurmountable.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke perhaps did not get as many bingos as he would like, but he still finished strongly at 3-1 +152. At the conclusion of his 383-370 victory against Andy Bohnsack, just one bingo could be found on the board, Peter's UNITIES. Andy had won seven out of ten against Peter, so this win was certainly welcome. In the next game, Peter played INSIDES in a losing effort against Richard Lauder, who won 370-363 thanks to his superior bingoage of BESTING and LENGTHS. Peter finally picked up some scoring steam when he cruised by Dave Gilligan by a score of 471-330. Dave got down RIVALED and STEEPEN; Peter had FETERITA and ETHANES, the latter for a game-changing 98 points.

A fair number of new bingos were played: RATTLIER (Aaron), NONANES (Aaron), GAITERED (Thomas), DEIONISE (Richard), and BEDLINER (Lynda).

Charles Reinke Pummels and Punishes

1st Charles Reinke switched up his tactics and played defensively the whole night, going 4-0 +336 mostly thanks to his opponents' average score of 327. Against Bryan Benwitz, Charles pulled out a 370-330 victory despite Bryan's bingo (TARGETS for 83) scoring more than Charles' LEAFMOLD for 72. In the next game, Richard Lauder's score of 335 would end up being the highest of any of Charles' foes, but it was not enough; Charles scored 394, playing CHLORINS and ELONGATE on his way to the win. He would temporarily suspend his low-scoring ways for his game against Susan Vergeront, bypassing 400 and going straight to 500 with a 529-315 victory. Despite the large gulf in scores, both players had two bingos: LONELIER and SPACING for Susan, CASEINS and SCUTTER for Charles.

2nd Lynda Finn went 4-1 +152 with a better-than-average average of 416 per game. She emerged victorious from a high-powered shootout against second-time player Dennis Lloyd, with the final score being 483-452. Dennis played DIARISTS and the triple-triple VEXINGLY for 185 (it would have been more had the X not been a blank), but it was sadly not enough. Lynda had RENVOIS and TAUNTERS as her own bingos, although neither was a triple-triple. She then upped her bingo output to three against Helen Flores, playing IRONERS, ENTRANTS, and DIVAGATE on her way to a 472-376 win. That game must have depleted her bingo reserves, as she only got the low-scoring ROTENONE for 58 points in her 347-394 loss against Aaron Bader. Aaron, meanwhile, had IMITATES for 90.

3rd Aaron Bader, in the absence of Mark, finished 3-1 +266. He averaged 473 in his first three games (all wins) before suffering a bingoless 329-352 loss against first-place finisher Charles Reinke, who played STRINES. The first of those wins was a 518-323 win against Helen Flores. Aaron had three bingos in that one: UNTRENDY, BODEGAS, and INTIMAE, while Helen was held bingoless. An additional trio of bingos was deployed against Thomas Reinke (LIBIDOS, GERONTIC, and AMIDONE), which resulted in a 508-461 victory despite Thomas' own collection of bingos (ANGSTROM, ROTTENLY, and TRENDIES).

Dave Gilligan also went 3-1. He defeated Thomas Reinke in a 449-446 contest which was the most closely-contest game of the night. While we're on the subject of Thomas, he had a staggering 640-point game against Barb Besadny which saw him play five bingos: RENEGUES (60), STANHOPE (101), PEAFOWLS (110), WOMANISE (90), and ERGASTIC (80).

A few bingos from the new dictionary were played: SWIPERS (Susan), RENEGUES (Thomas), SHIRTED (Gail), STRINES (Charles), and LEAFMOLD (Charles again).