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Thomas Reinke Is Not To Be Messed With

1st Thomas Reinke made quick work of his opposition, winning each game by over 100 points on his way to a perfect 4-0 +588 record.  An average game score of 467 effortlessly eclipsed that of all others present.  Thomas hit the ground running with a 519-364 victory over Susan Vergeront, holding his opponent to a lone bingo of INTEREST while himself playing three: COARSEN, OUTBULGE, and ELAPINE.  Another three-bingo effort was in store for Andy Bohnsack, who was probably wishing to be anywhere else but that Sunday School room as Thomas laid down the smack, 526-334.  DARTLES was Andy's contribution to the bingo pool; Thomas had UTENSIL, MARTINIS, and PEONAGES (n. PEONAGE, the condition of being a peon).

2nd Charles Reinke pummeled opponents not with his fists, but instead with the power of his word knowledge, ending the night at 3-1 +442.  Barb Besadny took the most punches from that word knowledge, with Charles playing four bingos (AUREOLAE, BRAINIER, INTRIGUE, and EDITION) en route to a 556-260 rout.  Andy Bohnsack was the one person who managed to interrupt Charles' winning ways, the two word warriors dueling to a high-scoring 469-450 final.  Charles played OVERTIPS and NIGELLA, but Andy one-upped him with DECEASE, TANGRAM, and SUSPENDS, the last one for a juicy 92 points.

3rd Bryan Benwitz finished with a 3-1 +284 record to land in the coveted top-three.  He defeated fellow up-and-comer Peter Schmiedicke 422-335 in a game that featured less bingoing than would be expected: Peter got GRANTORS to Bryan's TOWARDS.  Uncountable riches awaited Bryan when he played the triple-triple ALIENATE for 131 points, part of a 508-358 over Andy Bohnsack (boy, that guy gets mentioned a lot, doesn't he?  I want some kickbacks).  Bryan's single defeat came at the wrathful hands of Betty Hasselkus, 369-361.  Betty's FOLDERS for 91 proved to be just enough to overcome Bryan's RENEGADO (60) and COMBINE (81).

Bonus 4th paragraph: Mary Becker was 3-0 going into the last game, an impressive feat that earned her a matchup against the fearsome Thomas Reinke.  That game didn't quite go the way she wanted, but she still finished at 3-1 +136.

Mark Kenas played the word of the week, PROGNOSE, meaning "a smelling organ who is a fan of progressive rock".

Sue Goldstein Triumphs Again

1st Sue Goldstein went 2-2 -32.  She took down both members of the Miura duo, Aki 339-263 and Sharlie 303-293.  However, she lost a fair amount of spread when she faced Gail Salm and lost 394-301.

2nd Sharlie Miura split her two games for a 1-1 +21 record.  Her win came against June Scott 279-248; sympathy cringes are in order.

Aaron Bader: "My Assimilation Into Their Club is Complete; Next Step: Total Domination!" [maniacal laughter]

1st Aaron Bader strengthened his iron grip on the yearly standings, going 4-0 +475.  He is now at eight wins in a row - we are all hoping that Mark Kenas shows up and smacks some British-style sense into Aaron before it is too late.  Mary Becker attempted to do some smacking of her own, but fell just short, 351-374.  Aaron had the high-scoring DIPNETS for 92, but Mary had the even higher-scoring INQUIRED for 103, the highest-scoring bingo of the evening.  Aaron followed up that too-close-for-comfort win with a more decisive win against Leslie Seltzer, 525-201, a match that saw Aaron monopolize the bingo tiles for ACROTISM, SNOOPED, and VEALIER.  Three bingos were again in store for Aaron in his deciding bout against Bryan Benwitz, but two of them turned out to be phony: AUDIOED and METAFILE.  He did play the valid YEASTING to leave his phony percentage for the game at a brazen 66.6%.  Bryan played RATOONS and NEARSIDE, but his triumph in the "number of valid plays" category was not enough to secure the win, with Aaron prevailing 414-349.

2nd Bryan Benwitz averaged a club-leading 438 per game on his way to a 3-1 +268 finish.  He pulled off the elusive "Anti-Reinke", defeating both members of the high-powered duo.  Against Charles, even the twin's flagrant phony of ROBUSTO (only ROBUSTA) could not stop the Bryaniac, who won easily, 458-376.  Bryan's bingos of UPLANDS, RESTRUNG, and TAENIAE were instrumental in locking up the victory.  Domination even more ruthless than previously displayed was reserved for Thomas Reinke, with Bryan cruising to a 466-327 win.  Thomas had JILTERS, but it was no match for LOGIEST and PATINAS from the other side of the table.  Lynda Finn, despite not being a Reinke, was not spared, losing 365-477.

3rd Chris Vergeront continues to make the most out of his limited appearances at club, going 3-1 +153.  I bet that kickball team doesn't even do writeups.  Anyway, Chris improved on his yearly average by averaging 395 over his four games (scoring 400+ in each win), but hindered his bingo average by only playing four.  The scorecard tells no lies, and his told tales of big wins, not-so-big wins, and even a 345-417 loss against Helen Flores.  Dave Gilligan was the target of Chris' vengeance, the final score being 402-272.  Chris had SETTLES and EASIEST in that one.  Gail Salm was the recipient of Chris' highest-scoring output, their game ending 434-354.  Gail won the bingo tally, playing UNRAISED and TABORINS to Chris' TERMING, but sometimes bingos aren't enough by themselves.

Lynda Finn played OXAZINES to score word of the week.  An oxazine is a heterocyclic compound containing one oxygen and one nitrogen atom.  Thanks Wikipedia!

Sue Goldstein: "Losing is for Losers"

1st Sue Goldstein took all three of her games, finishing with a 3-0 +178 record and pushing her current streak to five wins, halfway to the magic number of ten.  She got her highest score of the year, as well as her highest winning margin, when she put the hurt on Aki Miura, 390-251.  A subset of that hurt was SALUTER for a cool 79 points.  June Scott was also made to know Sue's wrath, falling 311-293. 

2nd Sharlie Miura came back from a few-week absence, reminding us that she still knows how to play with a 1-1 +80 record.  She was merciless in her dismantling of June Scott, 344-235.  A score that high seemed unattainable in her matchup against Sue Goldstein, with a closed board resulting in a 250-271 loss.

Charles Reinke Plays Scrabble Good; Thomas Reinke's Streak Ends at 12

1st Charles Reinke averaged 478 a game over the course of his 4-0 +464 evening.  He started off strong with a decisive 530-276 victory over Gail Salm, playing BROIDERS and LIVELONG to Gail's INTONATE.  His high-scoring tendencies again manifested themselves when he defeated Andy "Bonestorm" Bohnsack in a high-scoring shootout, 524-473.  Their combined score of 997 is the ninth-highest since 2011, and Andy's losing score is the tenth highest lost since that same date.  Andy played CREATORS (a 90-point double-double), ELOIGNER, and ENDITER (combination of INDITER and ENDITE), but his three bingos were outshone by Charles' four: MARTENS, STYLITE, ABIDING, and MODIOLUS (n. a bony shaft of the inner ear).  Lynda Finn was closest to defeating Charles, but even that game was not truly "close", as it ended in a 407-330 Charles victory.

2nd Aaron Bader stayed for only three games, but made the most of his abbreviated evening, finishing 3-0 +289.  A sizable helping of smack was unleashed against Helen Flores in a game that ended 477-322, Aaron's win.  He played OFFERED (later extended to PROFERRED to a TWS) and RONIONS; Helen had LAMINATE but may have had more success playing its anagram, ANTIMALE.  That win may have been a moderately pleasant experience, but it paled in comparison to the $5 that Aaron was awarded for defeating Thomas Reinke 440-392, thus ending Thomas' winning streak at twelve games.  Thomas, meanwhile, was awarded $7 ($5 for ten wins plus $1 for each game won past ten), an amount that may have somewhat eased the agony of not making it into the top three.  Aaron pulled out the big guns to secure the win, playing the uncommon words BRONCHUS and ORTHICON while Thomas was stuck with the prosaic TAENIAE and LEISURE.

3rd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 +228, edging out the only other 3-1 finisher for an appearance in the top three and his very own paragraph.  He held two of his opponents to under 300 points, defeating Leslie Seltzer 447-269 and Andy Bohnsack 453-299.  In the latter game, Bryan had the nice find of EMISSARY as well as SOLOING; Andy was unable to bingo the whole game, a rare occurrence for a player who is widely acknowledged to be a bingo-finding robot.  However, not all was peaches and cream for Bryan, as he himself was held under the 300-point mark by none other than Richard Lauder, who whupped him 448-273.  Richard had three bingos: WINIEST, SOPRANI, and BLEACHED.  If it's any consolation, Bryan still has the edge in the lifetime series, 11-10. 

Richard also played the word of the week, UGLIFIER.

Today's Forecast: Chilly, with 100% Chance of Susan Vergeront Domination

1st Susan Vergeront went 2-1 +158 before calling it a night, thus guaranteeing a plus-.500 record for the night.  Bingos were absent from the menu when she defeated Sue Goldstein 298-287, a game that maybe wasn't as fun as a higher-scoring game would have been.  However, fun times were had by all (or at least one person) when Susan crushed June Scott 458-224, playing VIEWINGS for 68 points to further the cause.

2nd Sue Goldstein's 2-1 +65 record left her at an exact 50% winning percentage on the year.  She had the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, SQUARER for 99 points, while also securing the win against Barb Besadny, 347-314.  Sue's phony of ELIXERS (real spelling: ELIXIRS) stayed on the board against June Scott, a blight on an otherwise solid win for her, 364-321.