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Charles Reinke Enjoys Racks Full of Bingos, Face Full of Cookies in Closing Out 2014

1st Charles Reinke went 4-1 +570 to top a small field of seven players (everybody else missed out on the champagne fountain). He poured in the bingos like so much alcohol into a glass, getting fourteen through five games. Eight of these came in a pair of 500-point games which both featured four bingos. Against Mary Becker, Charles played ADVISOR, TAENIAE (remember that one, it comes up often), PUERILE, and DEPORTS; he went on to win 512-269. Against Gail Salm, the bingos were slightly less prosaic: CANZONI (plural of CANZONE, a type of poetry), ARMIGERO, CALIFATE, and TONGUES. The score of that game was also an improvement; Charles set a new yearly record for himself with his final tally of 583.

2nd Bryan Benwitz also had a strong bingo showing, playing ten on his way to a 3-1 +206 record. He reeled off three tri-bingoed games to start the night before being halted by Charles Reinke, 347-431. In that game he was sadly limited to a sole DEPOSITS; Charles had SCALENI and TITTERED. Bryan's best game was a bout against Leslie Seltzer which ended strongly in favor of the Bryaniac, 473-327. Leslie did not bingo, but Bryan made up for it by playing DROSERA (double-double for 90 points), MINTIEST, and CREAMING. Bryan also took down club leader Thomas Reinke, 434-337. There he played DRAINING, NATIONS and ENDOSTEA (another one to remember); his opponent found the odd-looking but perfectly valid DISMALER.

3rd Thomas Reinke lost a small amount of ground in the club leaderboard, going 3-1 +174. He made Richard Lauder suffer a weighty 481-354 defeat despite both combatants finding and playing two bingos: INSECTS and SANGRIA for Richard, KNITTER and LISENTE for Thomas. A brother-on-brother matchup was somewhat closer, but still ended in a convincing Thomas win, 452-401. In his "only" three-bingo game, Thomas played MEUNIERE, MISDIAL (anagrams: MISLAID and MILADIS), and OSSATURE. His similar-looking but non-bearded opponent found DUNGIER as well as the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, RELAXING for 98 points. 

Holiday Cheer Noticeably Absent for Thomas Reinke as he Romps

1st Thomas Reinke. The well-decorated Christmas Tree, shimmering with white lights and golden baubles, formed a stark contrast with his stony visage as he mercilessly defeated his opponents. A second-round matchup with lifelong foe Charles Reinke ended with him the victor, 570 to 331. Thomas' score, while impressive, was made impure with the playing of the phony EXIGETE*, a creative combination of the valid words EXEGETE and EXIGENT. His other three bingos in that game where a little more reasonable: DAMMARS (n. A hard resin, also DAMMER or DAMAR), HARPIST, and SEAFLOOR. His only scare came in the last game, against Peter Schmiedicke, a contest he won by only two points, 444-442, featuring his play of CROUPIER(n. An attendant in a casino, or adj. resembling croup). A complicated endgame sequence proved to be the downfall for Peter.

2nd Andy Bohnsack for the second consecutive week lost his first game to a Reinke, became enraged, and reeled off 4 straight. His 354-437 loss saw Charles play MOONRISE but saw neither play SUNRISE or EARTHRISE. His largest win came against Helen Flores, 528-373, with Andy getting down the 131-point triple-triple DUALIZES. It would have been more impressive had he not used a blank for the Z; as it stands, the council of club elders has convened and decided that the 4 dollars triple-triple prize he was awarded shall be unawarded, and the money instead used to fund public infrastructure projects.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke returned from Missouri, ready to win some Scrabble games and eat baked goods again provided by Leslie Seltzer. His opening 406-401 match against Dave Gilligan was a nail-biter, thanks to Dave's 122-point JIGGERED (adj. Damned, also v. to jerk up and down), not to be confused with REJIGGED. Against Helen Flores he came close to the fabled "play the same bingo twice in the same game" achievement, playing SANTERO and then TREASON. Sources say that he started putting down SANTERO again, thought those sources cannot be verified as of press time.

The hardy members of the club will have to wait an extra week for their scrabble fix; there will be no meeting on the 24th. The composer of this writeup would like to politically-correctly wish everyone happy holidays, but not a happy new year. That one can wait.

Thomas Reinke Thwarts Bryan Benwitz - And Everybody Else Too

1st Thomas Reinke made easy work of his opponents, going a perfect 5-0 +459 despite only scoring above 400 in two of his games. He ended Bryan Benwitz's winning streak at nine, leaving Bryan agonizingly close to the coveted ten-in-a-row. The final score of that game was a decisive 545-376 despite each player getting three bingos: NEURONS, ESPALIER, and SIENITES for Bryan, WAVIEST, DIORITE, and a 105-point TRUANCY for Thomas. Gail Salm was the closest to defeating the T-Twin, with only four points separating the winner and loser, 363-359. This time around, both players were limited to just one bingo apiece: SANGERS (n. SANGER, a temporary fortification) for Gail and DENATURE for Thomas.

2nd Andy Bohnsack went 4-1 +183, losing his first game to Thomas Reinke 248-486 and then reeling off a series of increasingly angry wins. He got the highest-scoring bingo of the night, a 110-point SQUARISH (also word of the week!), in the course of defeating Dave Gilligan 478-294. Andy also got GRANDER and ENTASIA in that whupping; Dave found PURLOIN. A game against Charles Reinke was a little bit closer, ending 457-436. Again, Andy had a trio of bingos: STAGIER, YEASTING, and PERCOID. Charles managed TOADIES and OUTGNAW, the latter of which takes an N for OUTGNAWN.

3rd Richard Lauder finished at 3-2 with an unfortunate -51 spread. He wasn't his usual high-scoring self, but managed to parlay his defensive skills into some wins. The cagy veteran defeated Barb Besadny 395-339 for his highest game of the night, playing HISTONES and INERTIA along the way. Simultaneous to that game, he took down Helen Flores 374-355 with nice finds of CHATTIER and WATERMAN. Chris Vergeront was more resistant to defeat, unleashing the expanding power of his word knowledge to win 440-273. He held Richard bingoless while playing three for his own nefarious purposes: ADVISED, PETALINE (anagram TAPELINE) and BLOTTED.

We were happy to see newcomer Jane Woods enter our midst. She managed one win against June Scott and also got two bingos of SAINTED and ENTAILED in her four games, a better showing than many newbies. We hope she comes back!