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1st Bryan Benwitz regained his typical top spot in the weekly standings with a 3-1 +257 record, although his stats weren't as eye-popping as they usually are, with a "mere" 412 points-per-game average and "only" seven bingos. He faced a tough opponent in round one, but needed little time to warm up as he got the win over Thomas Reinke, 419-384, finding STOMATE and NEROLIS in the process. In round two, Andy Bohnsack discovered that if you prevent Bryan from bingoing so dang often, your chances of winning drastically go up; their contest ended 405-349 in Andy's favor, with Andy getting two bingos (TINGLED, GLIMPSE) to Bryan's one (RELOADER). The rest of the evening went quite smoothly for Bryan, as he made easy work of Lynda Finn, 439-317 (playing RAMOSELY and DUNITES), then made even easier work of Ron Malzer, 440-284 (playing TOASTIER and TAPERERS).

2nd Charles Reinke finished at 3-1 +34, a good enough record to keep him in first place on the yearly standings after two weeks (this writer will refrain from hoping for a premature end to the club season, as that feels dangerously like summoning another COVID). The source of Charles' small spread total was a somewhat disastrous first-round game against the capable (too capable) Mark Kenas; in the end, Charles was knocked flat by Mark's grand total of 592 points, compared to Charles' paltry 354. Mark played RARITIES, PENNERS, MUENSTER, and a 176-point 3x3 SLABBERY. For future reference, SLABBERY means "abounding in slabber (drool)", not "a place where slabs are made". Charles was a bit shellshocked going into round two but managed to secure the win against Sara McLaughlin, 369-343, finding DOTIEST against Sara's SANDERS. Sweet, sweet revenge was savored in round three as Charles got a win in a rematch against Mark Kenas, 469-445. He then finished his night by defeating Lynda Finn 552-330, thanks to bonus plays of OZONISER, NEGATING, and a low-probability nine-letter CABOCHONS.

3rd Thomas Reinke went 3-2 +159, finishing ahead of the other 3-2 player, Lynda Finn, on spread. Thomas had mixed success in round one as his two-on-one win over Ron Malzer, 460-385, was counteracted by his loss to Bryan Benwitz, 384-419. He then sunk further into the negatives with a tough 450-474 loss to Mark Kenas, where his ACEROLA and BASTIDE# fell short against Mark's VIRGULES and TENSING. In the third round, Thomas faced off against noted bingo fiend Andy Bohnsack, and while Andy did win the bingo battle (BOOTEES, LAMINATED, STEARIC vs. YESTERN, TARRIER), it was Thomas' win by a decently-sized margin, 481-406. Thomas concluded his evening of wordy warfare with another Mark Kenas rumble which he won 468-400, finding the nifty FROSTNIP in addition to the more prosaic PALTERED.

Many Word of the Week candidates were present in players' bingo lists, among them Mark's SLABBERY and MAGMATA, Thomas' FROSTNIP, and Lynda's SHOWGIRL, but Word of the Week went to Charles' CABOCHONS.

1st Charles Reinke started the new club season with style, finishing 4-1 +486, playing 16 bingos, and averaging 489 points per game. The year couldn't have started any better as he prevailed mightily in a two-on-one game, defeating Mark Kenas 498-435 and crushing his brother Thomas Reinke 561-319. Both games saw Charles play four bingos: PETIOLED, RAVIOLIS, REENACTS, and HEDERAS# against Mark, BONNIER, ANGORAS, INSANITY, and SAVOYARD# against Thomas. In round two, Charles felled last year's club champion, Bryan Benwitz, by a score of 501-363. Bryan had an uncharacteristic total of zero bingos in that game, while Charles played PIRATES, RANDIES, and INTERRED. A third-round rematch against Mark Kenas saw Charles' fortunes reverse, as this time Mark was the one to get four bingos (TRAMCAR, GLOOMIER, UPDATES, SEALINE#). It was an easy win for Mark, 523-434. With the weight of a (somewhat unreasonable) "win every game for the entire year" goal now removed from his shoulders, Charles won his final game against Sara McLaughlin, 451-319, finding PINTADA, RETIEING, and SAUNTER vs. Sara's SPOOLERS.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-2 +152, a healthly-looking 60% win percentage which is nevertheless lower than his 2024 win% of 66%. The new club season started with a whimper as he was trounced by Charles Reinke 319-561, but a 549-280 win over Dennis Lloyd (playing SORTABLE, NEONATAL, and CHORINE) undid all the damage and then some. Unfortunately, a 403-443 loss to Mark Kenas put Thomas back in the losers' bracket, despite bingo finds of CINEASTE, URETERAL, and INTROFY. Thomas was able to vanquish two-time champion Bryan Benwitz in the next round as they fought to a close finish, 439-428. The bingo situation in that game was even, with Thomas playing ABALONE and PINAFORE to Bryan's BASINETS and DANGLES. A landslide rematch win versus Mark Kenas, 479-324, helped boost Thomas into second place on a sparsely-attende first session of the club season.

We welcomed "new" player Dora Kilburn into the ranks, and while she did not manage to snag a win in her three games, she had a few close ones and did get down three bingos: STRIKER, ORANGES, and DAISIES. "New" is in quotes because Dora has played at our club before, way back in the late 90's.

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.