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1st Lynda Finn utterly reversed her record from last week, going from 0-4 -286 to 5-0 +186. She got her biggest win of the evening in round one, wiping out Dave Kinzer 403-286, thanks to bingos of EREMITE and DERATION. Held bingoless in the second game against Dennis Lloyd, Lynda still managed to pull out the win, 347-331, proving that bingos are totally optional (but probably still something to strive for). The winning streak continued as she dispatched Ed Nawrocki 396-360, getting down AUDITORS and STATURE to Ed's LATTICE. For the final game, Lynda had two chances to have her perfect night tarnished, but also the chance to achieve a rare 5-0 performance, and she chose the latter option, although it was a close call: she beat Richard Lauder by ten points, 388-378, and John Bialek by just seven points, 372-365.

2nd Bryan Benwitz went 4-0 +298; this trend of undefeated players means we will probably have three such players next week (who wants to volunteer?). Bryan took Richard Lauder to the cleaners in the first game, 462-248, but none of his subsequent games would end up being nearly that comfortable. He managed to squeeze out a win over Charles Reinke, 414-406, thanks to BIRCHEN and ARIOSOS (one of two valid plurals of ARIOSO; ARIOSI is also valid, as well as the adjective form ARIOSE). A 426-392 win over John Bialek hinged on Bryan's phony of NOILIEST*; NOILY is valid, but doesn't compare, because of reasons. Bryan also got down the valid STRIVED, while John had IRONIES and PEWTERS. In the final game, Bryan matched up against the other Reinke, and used bingos of GAVOTTED, INTUBATE, and BALLSIER to take a high-scoring 487-445 victory.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +155. His recent subpar results vs. his brother were corrected in round one as he held Thomas bingoless en route to a 426-338 win. Charles' sole bingo there was AGELESS, subverting the expectation that Collins-lexicon games between experts will feature a lot of bingos. Charles' loss came in the next game, as he was felled by Bryan Benwitz 406-414, despite CENTALS and THERIANS (Ed also played THERIANS in one of his games, but somebody should have played INEARTHS because that hasn't been played yet). Charles fought off Helen Flores in round three, 456-387, withstanding her DIRTIEST and FLOATED with his own ENTREES and triple-triple GOATIEST (at 113 points, tying the club record for lowest-scoring triple-triple). His night concluded with a close 398-392 win against Steve Hartsman, responding to his nice finds of INTROFY and COSIGNER with his own PARASITE.

Steve's stylish EPISTYLE was word of the week.

1st Thomas Reinke began the process of wearing out his welcome at the top of the weekly standings, this time going 5-0 +338 and single-handedly ushering in the era of steroid testing in Scrabble. His perfect night began with a win (who would have guessed?) over Charles Reinke, although at a slightly lower score than expected, 413-371. In round two, Thomas dropped three bingos (ANCESTOR, BURDENS, RESTYLE) on Ed Nawrocki and successfully repelled Ed's TRANCED for a 439-319 victory. A two-on-one opportunity was foisted upon Thomas for the third game, and all went smoothly for Thomas as he cast down Bryan Benwitz 457-355 and came away with a slightly closer win against James Rollins, 409-380. The "all went smoothly" claim was rendered inaccurate as further review revealed that Thomas needed a phony METTLING* to beat James. METTLED is valid, but it means "having spirit", so no METTLING*. Switching to Collins for the final game, Thomas scored another win over Charles, 461-416, getting REALTIE#, RAVINED, and SPRENTED# to Charles' CLARINET, LEGATOS, and FLANNIES#.

2nd Bryan Benwitz continued his trend of strong-but-not-as-strong-as-Thomas finishes, going 3-1 +297 in the latest installment. After a one-point loss to Steve Hartsman the previous week, Bryan came storming back with a vengeful 436-365 win this week, bingoing with FEMALES and BANDITO vs. Steve's PINTLES. For the next game, Bryan went up against James Rollins for the fourth straight week (although for James it might feel like longer than that), and scored another win, 466-337. A loss to Thomas Reinke, 355-457, prevented Bryan from gaining any ground in the yearly standings, but he recovered quickly, punishing Helen Flores 477-278 with bingo finds of ETESIAN, JESUITS, and EPIMERS ("fun" quiz: find the other six bingos in EEIMPRS).

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-2, or more accurately, "3-and-brother", with a +396 spread. His games against non-Reinkes were all convincing victories. A two-on-one match vs. Dennis Lloyd and Ron Malzer saw Charles come away with a 398-325 win against Dennis and a 454-285 win against Ron. In the latter game, Charles got MOFETTES, ANELING, and AERATES, which was a seven-letter underlap underneath ANELING (some other letters were in play, as GS* is clearly not a word). Upping his bingo output even further, Charles played four of them (HEADIER, PHOEBUS, NAILERS, COXALGIC) when defeating Helen Flores 518-277. COXALGIC was a strong contender for word of the week, had Dennis not found DWARFISM with two blanks in a separate game.

1st Thomas Reinke continued his extended run of dominance by going 4-1 +727, averaging 511 points per game, and getting an unbelievable 18 bingos across five games. His scores of 597 and 590 are the two highest scores at our club this year. He suffered his only loss in round one, when he fell to Charles Reinke, 456-495, despite four bingos: TUNEUPS, COMBINGS, TERRAPIN, and WATERLOG. As that loss was in progress, Thomas defeated Bryan Benwitz 469-380, getting DETRAIN, TOLEWARE, and CANDIES. Thomas' lowest-scoring game came in round two, as he scored a lowly 441 to Richard Lauder's 309, and only bingoed twice: REUSING and INOSITOL. In the third round, Thomas made up for his earlier loss and then some, as he convincingly creamed Charles 590-332, getting ARMIGERO, BOUVIERS, ELUANTS, and a triple-triple STRAWHAT for 167 points (STRAWHAT looks like a noun, but is actually an adjective, and doesn't take an S). Saving this best for last, Thomas came tantalizingly close to a 600-point game as he defeated Andy Bohnsack 597-310. His excessively large bingo list in that game consisted of ASSIGNEE, INDECENT, FROTTEUR, EXCISES, and AERATION.

2nd Andy Bohnsack had a huge night of his own, finishing 4-1 +484, getting fifteen bingos, and averaging 527 points in his wins (his single loss dragged his overall average to "just" 484). He began with a 533-403 win against Steve Hartsman, playing four bingos (TITRABLE, SOURNESS, HEAVIEST, TAVERNER) to Steve's two (REFUTING, LEWISON* [LEWISSON and LEWISITE are valid]). Even more bingos were flaunted in game two, as Andy was outbingoed by Charles Reinke 3-4, but still won, 494-475. Andy had MOTTLING, TRUEING, and CAPONIER, while Charles had COENURI, JARVEYS, FLOATERS, and INERTIA. Playing two at once in the next round, Andy prevailed conclusively in both, beating Dave Kinzer 531-301 (BIGHEADS, NEURONES, AREOLAE) and Richard Lauder 550-335 (BEROBED, TREACLES, NARDOOS, EGLOMIZE*). EGLOMISE is valid, but is an adjective describing glass, not a verb. Andy's run of 500-point games (and the attendant runaway ego inflation) came to a screeching halt in the final game, as he barely cracked 300 in a 310-597 loss to Thomas Reinke.

3rd Bryan Benwitz snuck into third place with a 2-2 +175 record. Things didn't start off well as he lost to Thomas Reinke 380-469 in the opening game. Squaring off against Steve Hartsman in the next game, Bryan suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss, 417-418, countering Steve's SCANNING and REGULAR with his own TIERCELS and MEDIATOR. A well-timed scoring error could easily have swung the game in the other direction (just kidding, don't do that). Bryan's match against Carol Ormand concluded with no bingos on the board, but still Bryan's win, 341-247. In round four, Bryan somewhat got back to his "normal" self, and easily took down James Rollins, 447-286, thanks to DELTOID and EGESTION.