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Thomas Reinke's Streak Ends, But He Dominates Anyway

1st Thomas Reinke averaged over 500 points per game (specifically, 506) in his four games, but only went 3-1 +706 as Peter Schmiedicke ended Thomas' win streak at 12 games. That game was a low-scoring 377-350 affair, with just one bingo for each combatant: KIDNAPS for Peter and LIZARDS for Thomas. After that game, Thomas violently turned on the bingo spigot and would not shut it off, playing ten more bingos through his three remaining games. He absolutely smashed his brother Charles Reinke, 571-347, playing ENTOZOA, DECIARES, VELARIUM, and PUPATION. Thomas' three-game streak against his brother has the lifetime series deadlocked at 49 wins apiece. Lynda Finn would be a victim of even greater magnitude, losing 350-577. She played ETOILES and GRIVETS, but was outmatched by a 176-point trip-trip WANNABEE from her opponent. Thomas also played DRAWERS and FEDERALS to add injury to injury. The yearly standings are now struggling under the weight of his 456 per-game average.

2nd Peter Schmiedicke went 3-1 +430, impressively holding his opponents to an average under 300 points. He also won five bucks for ending Thomas' streak, so it was a great night for Peter overall. It was also a record-setting night: he notched his largest winning margin ever, beating Leslie Seltzer by 333 points, 557-224. INFLATOR, OREIDES, and SETTLED were his bingos in that one. Dave Gilligan was held to a similarly low final score, with a final of 247-366. Peter just had one bingo in that game, a word that may have described his opponent after the game: SADDEST.

3rd Lynda Finn finished at 3-1 +38, putting her above the other 3-1 finisher, Richard Lauder. She handed Peter Schmiedicke his only loss of the evening, 367-318. Peter had OVERDOSE, but Lynda's FLINDERS cleanly counteracted that scoring attempt. Lynda took a more ruthless approach against Helen Flores, walking away with a 431-266 victory. Helen was limited to a grand total of zero bingos as Lynda found two that materialized on her rack: PENTAGON and DIARIST. Helen did later have the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, a 185 point triple-triple BREATHED. Aaron Bader also found himself invited to the triple-triple party, playing the super-useful ANEROIDS for 131 and bankrupting the club in the process.

Sue Goldstein First in Intermediates, but Also Second-to-Last

1st Sue Goldstein finished 2-1 -20. Both of her wins were against June Scott, and both were somewhat low-scoring: 339-288 (okay) and 280-278 (that sounds painful). However, a win is a win no matter how much or little you score!

Thomas Reinke at Eleven In a Row (it Would Have been Twelve but for the Late Start)

1st Thomas Reinke cruised to his third-straight undefeated session, going 3-0 +339 and averaging 485 points a game. There was no shortage of bingos in his matchup versus Lynda Finn; Lynda played RONDELS and WIDENESS (98), but Thomas laughed in the face of a mere two bingos, playing four of his own: NEATENED, FLATTING, MULTIAGE, and EQUATOR. The final total was, as expected, very high scoring: 515-416. Another 500-point score was in store for Gail Salm, who lost 305-505. TERRARIA and UNDERPAY were Thomas' bingos; Gail played TARSIERS (it should be noted that tarsiers remain as cute as ever).

2nd Peter Schmiedicke stuck around for just two rounds, but made the most of his games, going 2-0 +238 and holding his opponents to a club-low average of 324. Finds of ETAGERE and LOOPIEST gave Peter the upper hand against Susan Vergeront, a 458-359 victory coming despite Susan's RARITIES and UNIFORMS, the latter for 98 points. Peter's other win was against Helen Flores, 428-289.

3rd Charles Reinke ended at 2-1 +325, averaging a not-quite-as-good-as-his-brother 461 points per game. The highest individual total of the night was played by Charles against club veteran Richard Lauder, 522-325. Richard upped his flagging phony percentage by getting away with AFTSOON (just EFTSOON with some AFTOSAS mixed in). Meanwhile, Charles stuck to valid words of MINIONS, NITTIEST, and RESIDER. However, not every game was so effortless for Charles; he lost to his brother 395-435 in the third and final round. A high-scoring FATBIRD for 92, as well as UNCIALS (n. UNCIAL, a style of writing) got him close, but Thomas' plays of TRIVIAL, AEOLIAN, and INHERED were too much to handle.

Mark Kenas played the word of the week, CARNAUBA, which is a type of palm tree.

It Seems Like Thomas Reinke's Winning Streak Just Ended, And Here He is at Eight Again

1st Thomas Reinke won all four of his games for the second week in a row.  He made quick work of Dave Gilligan, 448-318, despite just one bingo of MORGENS for 94 points.  Dave played BOULDER for a fair share of his own point total.  He put together a similar performance against Andy Bohnsack, again playing fewer bingos than we are accustomed to seeing from him (just REBOOTS), but snagging the win anyway, 439-337.  The bingo train got back on the rails when he unleashed four of them against Charles Reinke (no relation), easily walking away with victory in hand, 471-372.  Those four bingos were NOISOME, DANEWORT, VALETING and NONWORD (is that irony?); Charles played ALGICIDE for a helpful 94 points.  With this undefeated performance and Aaron Bader's absence, Thomas is now in first place in the yearly standings.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +339, amassing plenty of spread points even after a near-100 point loss to his similarly-named nemesis.  He started off his evening with back-to-back 500-point games, guaranteeing a successful outing.  Against Bryan Benwitz, he pulled out all the stops, delivering a sizable walloping with a final score of 566-308.  Bryan got NERVOUS in his losing effort; Charles played STAIDER, GAUFFERS (anagram SUFFRAGE), and the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, METALIZE for 108 points.  Then, versus Peter Schmiedicke, the score was a slightly less dominant 502-342.  Peter got fancy with REALIZER and DEVIANTS, but it was no use: Charles played ADEEMING, TRIHEDRA, and ISOLATE.

3rd Bryan Benwitz took the anguish from his first-round loss and used it as fuel for his future Scrabble conquests, ending at 3-1 +145.  Helen Flores was not spared, and suffered a 467-304 loss brought about by Bryan's SENARII, BLINDER, and MANIFEST.  Bryan's cumulative, which remained negative through the first three games, was finally pushed back into positive territory following a severe whupping brought down on Peter Schmiedicke, 560-354.  Peter played STEARIN (one of the less-popular of the nine words in AEINRST), but it hardly mattered as Bryan coolly laid down four bingos of his own: FANCIES, RETCHING, URANITES, and word-of-the-week YEOMANRY.  Bryan and Charles were tied for Bingo King with ten each.

Sue Goldstein: Undefeated, Perhaps Undefeatable

1st Sue Goldstein easily swept her three games, finishing 3-0 +272, her highest spread total since a +397 in 2012.  Sharlie Miura came closest to defeating Sue, but the nature of the word "undefeated" indicates that it wasn't meant to happen, with Sue pevailing 310-293.  A much bigger score was needed after that low-scoring affair, and the tile gods agreed, with Sue defeating June Scott 422-267.  A bingo of TRAINERS for 74 points certainly helped in that regard.

2nd Aki Miura went 1-1 -22.  Sue Goldstein beat him by an even hundred, 264-364, but redemption was partially achieved in his defeat of June Scott, 313-235.