Blog

1st Lynda Finn headlined a Reinke-less top three with a 3-1 +358 record, ending the 2024 club season on a high note (Christmas and New Years falling on Wednesdays means the 12/18 session was the final session of the year). A first-place finish seemed like a distant dream after a around-one loss to Bryan Benwitz, 322-383, but Lynda quickly rebounded (and then some) with a meticulous dismantling of Dennis Lloyd, 483-420. Her bingos were STANDEE, MINORING, and the phony WINDLIKE* (joining such creative attempts as BOARLIKE*, BONELIKE*, and WHEATLIKE* in the club's illustrious history of phony -LIKE words). In round three, Lynda managed to snatch a tightly-fought win against Richard Lauder, 372-358, despite being outbingoed two to zero (Richard's bingos were SALUTED and PATRONAL). Lynda finished the 2024 season by defeating newcomer James Rollins 425-263, getting down MEDUSAL and RESITES.

2nd Andy Bohnsack continued his recent run of solid play with a 3-1 +187 record. His usual bingo-happy style was not so evident in game one, but his single bingo of FEASTED for 91 points was enough to get the victory against Dennis Lloyd, 411-345. In game two, Andy reversed a four-game losing streak against Bryan Benwitz with a comfortable 457-360 win, finding GOATISH, SAUTERNE, and GRIEVES to Bryan's LAYERAGE and PEAFOWL. A 363-431 loss to Charles Reinke derailed Andy's unstated plan to go undefeated, but a 442-350 triumph over Karl Armstrong in the final round at least gave Andy enough spread to prevail over two other 3-1 finishers for second place. NEURONAL, DARNERS, and STRAWED were Andy's bingos in that one.

3rd Bryan Benwitz wrote the final chapter of his second-straight club championship with a 3-1 +133 record, although his 75% wins, 410 average, and 1.75 bingos/game on the night were all lower than his yearly averages. Things started off decently enough with a 383-322 win over Lynda Finn (playing HIREABLE), but a 360-457 loss to Andy Bohnsack meant that Bryan's total of 4-0 performances in 2024 would remain at fifteen, rather than the marginally more impressive total of sixteen. Bryan got back into his groove with a 431-305 win against Karl Armstrong, 431-305 (including an anomalously low-scoring QUIETENS for 59 - either the Q was a blank or all of UIETENS were blanks and Bryan counted the play incorrectly). His final game was a typically high-scoring 466-423 win against Thomas Reinke, where Bryan's MEDIATED, GYNOECIA, and NEUTERS matched up nicely with Thomas' FRANCIUM, BELCHING, and OLDSTER.

We welcomed two new players, James and Nalina, for the year's final session. James enjoyed uncommon success for a first-timer, going 2-2 with five bingos (including a nice find of OFFSIDE). Nalina did not have as much success against our club's tough level of competition (this writer remembers going 0-2 and not cracking 300 in his first-ever club session).

With the 2024 club season now over and finished, the club championship can now officially be awarded, although the outcome has been basically known for at least a month now: with a 75.3% winning percentage, a 443 per-game average, and 2.14 bingos per game, Bryan Benwitz is club champ for the second year running! All of those stats are improvements over last year's winning % of 74.8%, 438 average score, and 1.97 bingos per game. This latest achievement proves that Bryan's result last year was no fluke, and that years of Reinkeatic tyranny in the Madison Scrabble scene are over (or at least temporarily on pause), to be replaced with a cruel reign of...Bryranny? Okay, that wordplay sucked, but regardless, everybody should be bringing their A-game in 2025 to prevent a Benwitz three-peat.

In second place in the yearly standings was Charles Reinke at a 69.7% win percentage, a club-leading 453 average, and 2.21 bingos/game. Third place was Thomas Reinke, winning 66.4% of his games, averaging an even 450, and playing a club-leading 2.37 bingos/game. Thomas had the highest game of the year with a 651 against Mark Kenas (who had a 650 game of his own), Mark had the highest loss (and the only 500-point loss) with a 515 against Thomas' 525, and Bryan got both the highest-scoring word AND highest-scoring phony with a 212-point MARZAPAN* (he was looking for MARZIPAN there). The highest-scoring real word was Charles' 194-point QUINTALS. The club played 3096 total bingos; ISATINE was the most commonly played, hitting the board six times, with ATONIES and ERASION close behind, getting played five times each.

1st Thomas Reinke crushed his opponents in what some might deem an excessive manner, averaging 507 per game while going 5-0 +754. He showed no hospitality to the long-absent (and now maybe even longer-absent) Aaron Bader, sweeping their set of games by scores of 513-369 and 509-460. Eight total bingos, four in each game, did a significant amount of damage: LISSOME, AFFAIRE, ARSENATE, BOWERED, WORRITED, NUTHOUSE, LARGESSE, and CABALLED. Thomas had another four-bingo game in a win over Lynda Finn, 544-332; his bingos there were OVERLAID, RECLINE, AZOTISE, and the phony DIRHEMS* (it's good in Collins; DIRHAMS is the valid spelling in NWL). In the final round, Thomas slowed down his bingoing, but his scoring didn't slow down appreciably as he took advantage of a two-on-one game to pick up two more wins. Late arrival Dennis Lloyd was punished for his tardiness as Thomas won going away, 511-283, finding LUREXES and TARDIES (very appropriate) vs. Dennis' SMARTIE. And the sometimes-unbeatable Bryan Benwitz was felled as well, 338-459, despite a 104-point phony MISSERS* from the losing side (Thomas had RADIATOR and TONSILAR).

2nd Charles Reinke went 4-1 +390 with a 471 per-game average. He started nicely with a 514-408 win against Andy Bohnsack, countering Andy's AEROSOL and RETINAL with BORNITES, TEIGLACH, and AVOWERS. In round two, Charles beat Aaron Bader in a Collins-lexicon match, 432-345, despite Aaron's nifty nine-letter find of ENDOCRINE. A two-on-one bout in round three saw Charles suffer his only loss of the evening, and it was quite a big one as Lynda Finn trounced him, 491-328. Lynda's bingos of DARNEST and BRASSIER were countered by...nothing, revealing that the secret to beating Charles is to somehow stop him from bingoing. At the same time that loss was occurring, Charles defeated Ron Malzer 531-328. Charles finished up with a blowout 550-393 win over Aaron Bader (who was heard muttering "this game sucks"); the star play was Charles' 194-point triple-triple QUINTALS, which is tied for 7th-highest-scoring bingo in our current statkeeping system, the other 194-pointers being Jim Frankki's STARCHES and Dave Gilligan's INVEIGHS. Bryan's ZIPPIEST and Thomas' MOBILIZE, both for 248, are highest, although some old-timers may remember Andy's LALIQUES for 293, which was played several years before the current statkeeping system was introduced.

3rd Lynda Finn went 4-1 with a lesser spread of +186. Displaying remarkable strategic acumen, Lynda picked up two wins in round one, vaulting her ahead of all the simpletons who saw fit to only play a single game in the first round. Lynda's 415-295 win over Sara McLaughlin was bolstered by a 102-point CHERRIES, while her 438-373 victory against Richard Lauder was bolstered by a pair of phonies, ALLEDGE* and NOSERING* (looking for NEGRONIS there). Some sort of karmic justice was meted upon Lynda in the next round as she did not get a bingo in a 332-544 loss to Thomas Reinke, but in round three, she refused to let herself be intimidated by the other Reinke, and the result was a 491-328 win. A 415-365 win versus the returning Karl Armstrong, with bingos of REAPERS and UNITARDS, secured Lynda's spot in the top three.

Richard's find of SCAPULAE was word of the week.

1st Bryan Benwitz finished in first place for the third week in a row with a pristine 4-0 +503 record, ensuring a repeat performance of last year's club championship. He started off with a big 461-331 win over Helen Flores, finding MATELOTE, SIGNIORY, and the phony-but-believable DISHERS* for his bingos. Three more bingos, this time all legit, led Bryan to a no-doubt-about-it 505-300 win against Richard Lauder; Richard got down PURITIES, but Bryan's MANTUAS, SATURATE, and SORICINE were just too mucuh. Bryan played another phony in round three, leading one to speculate whether his nickname should change from Bingowitz to Phonywitz, but the result was still a win as he easily took down Thomas Reinke, 539-391, playing SIERRAN, LEMONISH, and MATTIEST* (MATIEST is good). In round four, Bryan finally ran out of gas, but he still managed to clinch the perfect record by beating Andy Bohnsack 375-356.

2nd Thomas Reinke grabbed second place by going 3-1 with a smaller than usual point spread of +97. Game one saw Thomas get brotherly vengeance against Charles Reinke, 422-388, an act which is basically equivalent to punching a mirror. Thomas had ASSUMED and WINNERS (appropriate word) vs. Charles' BOEHMITE and OVERWET. Thomas then picked up a low-scoring 348-311 win versus Lynda Finn, finding RENOWNS to Lynda's DECANTED. Facing off against Bryan Benwitz turned out to be a significant impediment to winning Scrabble games (as it so often is), as Thomas suffered his only loss, 391-539, but redemption was soon achieved when Thomas finished his night with a 450-276 win against Richard Lauder.

3rd Andy Bohnsack crept into third place, going 3-2 +375. A two-on-one game in round one was a mixed bag, with a 466-315 win against Sara McLaughlin being offset by a 334-375 loss to Lynda Finn. Lynda managed to get that win despite not getting down a bingo; Andy had one bingo of CRIMPLED for all the good that did him. A strong 458-411 win over Charles Reinke followed, with Andy finding SNORTER and MILTIER to Charles' INDIGENE, ROUSTED, and LATICES (three cheers for high-probability bingos). The highlight of Andy's evening was a 524-287 win against Helen Flores, but that triumph was short lived as Andy's lofty dreams of a first-place finished were flattened by a 356-375 loss to Bryan Benwitz in the final round.  Bingo finds of ELECTRIC and NEONATAL reportedly did little to ease the pain.

We welcomed new player Melody Brown into our ranks, and while she didn't win a game (a tragically common fate for first-time clubgoers), she did well and we hope she returns!