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Thomas Reinke Gaining Ground in Club Standings, Much to the Dismay of a Certain Player Who Does the Write-Ups

1st Thomas Reinke's 4-0 +686 record was far-and-away the best performance of the night, given that he was also Bingo King, as well as possessor of the highest average (493).  His first three wins were all blowouts of a grandiose scale, with only his brother Charles managing to put up much of a fight.  That game ended 406-388 in Thomas' favor, with three bingos for the winner (ANDESITE [n. a volcanic rock], SNARLING, and TALIPEDS) and two for the loser (DACITES [n. DACITE, a light gray rock] and ABREACTS).  His highest game (and the highest game score for the whole evening) was against Lynda Finn, 556-318.  AERATION was Lynda's attempt to stay in the game, but her effort was effortlessly overcome by Thomas' three bingos: INSECTS, DELIRIA, and the triple-triple EARNINGS.  In the one game where Thomas was outbingoed, he still won by almost 200 points, which just shows you what kind of night he was having.

2nd Bryan Benwitz had a 3-1 +1 record, identical to that of Peter Schmiedicke's.  Luckily, they did play each other, with Bryan winning the tiebreaker by bingoing out with a triple-triple ORIGINAL.  The final score ended up being 515-404, with Bryan getting an additional two bingos (BUILDERS the 9-letter DREARIEST) and Peter responding with three bingos of his own (GARPIKE, PARTITE [adj. divided into parts], and INDENTS).  Continuing the trend of high-scoring games, he took down Betty Hasselkus 451-425, resulting in Betty's highest losing score ever!  She had two bingos, MEASLIER and JINGLES, but again, Bryan was one with the tiles and played three bingos: RIVULETS, ACETOSE, and the phony ROTUNDER.

3rd Peter Shmiedicke, as mentioned, went 3-1 +1, not putting up the insane scores of the two above players, but continuing his run of solid play.  He has now won 25 of his last 30 games and has overtaken Andy Bohnsack for third place in the club standings.  In a portent of things to come, he took down Andy 391-367, a relatively low-scoring game that featured only two bingos: Andy's TEARING and Peter's SADIRONS.  In a more typical bingo-happy contest, he defeated Chris Vergeront 422-404, using NITRILES and EASIEST to overcome Chris' REEDITS, GRANULAR, and REFUTALS.

Sue Goldstein Trounces Opponents Without Regard For Their Feelings

1st Sue Goldstein held her opponents to a lowly 301 points per game while averaging 375 for herself.  Thus, her 3-0 +223 record should come as no surprise.  Helen Flores was just one of her many victims, losing 308-340 and playing the phony bingo UNEASING to counteract Sue's perfectly valid BROWNING.

Peter was absolutely unstoppable and dominated every category. He was undefeated in 4 games, had the most bingos, with 3 per game, had the high average of 453 and high game of 501.

Thomas Reinke Harnesses Newly-Acquired Beard Power to Supplement his Scrabble Talents

1st Thomas Reinke was one of three player who finished 3-1, with his superior spread of +426 being the deciding factor in netting him first place.  A large portion of his cumulative came with a pair of 500-point games.  The first was 512-321 against Andy Bohnsack, with three bingos: ELAPIDS, GOLIARDS (n. GOLIARD, a medieval-age wandering student), and DURIONS.  Andy, as his sole bingo, played LOOMING, as in "looming sense of dread at the coming Scrabble onslaught".  The second was a 520-335 win against Bryan Benwitz, this time with FOUR bingos: INTERNES, SATIABLE, DILLIES, and word-of-the-week candidate VERMOUTH.  Thomas was bingo king with 12 such plays.

2nd Peter Schmiedicke finished 4-1 +337, coming in second place.  He was truly the anti-Reinke, defeating both twins to secure two of his wins.  Charles Reinke was vanquished first, losing 401-440 in the face of three bingos: STEADIED, ANTIAIR, and the winning out bingo of BEARING (Charles himself got down BIOFUELS and SORNING).  Then, at the end of the night, Peter struck again, felling Thomas Reinke 390-357, again winning the bingo battle with FELDSPAR (another word-of-the-week candidate) and SALIENT (Thomas played STRANGE).  The unlikely Helen Flores was the only opponent of Peter's that found the secret formula of success, holding him bingoless and winning 330-307 with the help of her bingo DROWSING.

3rd Andy Bohnsack's 4-1 +204 record easily beat out other challengers for the third place spot, although his eleven bingos was only good enough for runner-up bingo king honors.  Andy methodically dismantled Mary Becker 462-337 through his tri-bingo attack of LEPROSY, CASEATE (adj. to become like cheese, used of diseased tissue), and RAPISTS; Mary played CLEANING, which was later extended to the phony CLEANINGS.  He again enlisted a trio of bingos to get his highest score of the night and a revengeful victory over Charles Reinke, 465-369.  Those three bingos were STARLIT, JENNIES, and COULEES.  Charles got the 106-point CAKINESS after phonying the previous turn with SACKIES (the valid word SEASICK having nowhere to play).

Charles also got the word of the week with his play of IONICITY, the state of existing as an ion.