Blog

1st Thomas Reinke laid down the letter(s) of the law against most (but not all) of his opponents with a 4-1 +155 record. He reached his high-water mark promptly in round one as he stomped his brother Charles by a score of 519-343, finding BRASHER, ENSNARL, and LANGSYNE in the process. Following that was a two-on-one set where Thomas just barely managed to convert both games into wins, 461-455 against Mark Kenas and 381-379 against Sara McLaughlin. Thomas showed off the wide range of his word knowledge in those games, finding REACTIVE, OFFENSE, INOSITOL, TAVERNA, and PECTIZED. The winning streak continued with a 462-389 win against Bryan Benwitz, where Bryan was held to just one bingo (OVERSTAY) while Thomas had three (PEACOATS, UNIDEAED, ERECTION). For those keeping score at home, Thomas was 4-0 heading into round four, but the perfect night was spoiled by a hefty loss to Mark Kenas, 357-459. Mark got down HASTIER and REBADGED#, while Thomas had CONTRIVE for his single bingo.

2nd Bryan Benwitz averaged 470 points per game while going 3-1 +356. Bryan got into his groove early with a nice even 500 points scored against Dave Kinzer, whose 269 points fell well short of victory (although a bingo of FLEETEST helped ease the pain). The run of 500-point games continued as Bryan vanquished Lynda Finn by a score of 506-390, with bingos of UNITAGES and BLUSHES (Lynda found ATOMIZER and the very-very-very-high-probability RETINAE). A 389-462 loss to Thomas Reinke brought Bryan's winning ways to an end, but the late arrival of sugary treats provided by the choir next door buoyed Bryan to a fourth-round win against Charles Reinke, 486-404. EROSELDY, UNSEATED, and SHOTTING were Bryan's bingos in the final game.

3rd Sara McLaughlin reversed her 1-3 record from last week to go 3-1 +127. Continuing the trend of peaking early, Sara's best game was in round one as she soundly defeated Helen Flores 420-322; her bingo find of BLEARIER was the only bingo on the board when all was said and done. A very close game against Thomas Reinke ensued, but it sadly ended with Sara on the losing side, 379-381. Word of the Week honors went to Sara's play of PLAYBOY - nobody tell the church that we sit in their basement forming risque words like that. After ths loss to Thomas, Sara faced off against Lynda Finn as part of a two-on-one and took full advantage, winning 374-351. Her final act was a tight 371-363 victory against Richard Lauder, where Sara's single bingo (this time, REPOSING) prevailed over Richard's REROUTE and SHANKED.

1st Bryan Benwitz came back with a vengeance after a rough 1-3 outing last week, finishing 4-0 +513 and restrengthening his already firm hold on the #1 spot in the yearly standings. His first game saw him play more bingos (3) then he did all of last week (2), and the result was a 477-357 win against Helen Flores. After a tough 356-345 slog against Dennis Lloyd, Bryan went on a bingoing frenzy against Charles Reinke, playing DILATOR, ANGELICA (later extended to ANGELICAL), MIDLIFE, and OVERTART in a 530-411 win. Not content with just a single 500-point game, Bryan repeated the feat in the final round, beating Sara McLaughlin 522-259 with bingos of WAIVING, CURTNESS, and EARNERS.

2nd Thomas Reinke was limited to a lower-than-usual six bingos across four games, but still performed well, going 3-1 +188. He was held bingoless in round one as he lost to Charles Reinke 419-456, his hopes of a perfect night smashed like a delicate flower bud under the blind idiocy of a bumbler's misplaced footstep. In round two, Thomas bounced back with a 464-362 win against Sara McLaughlin, playing FAERIES to Sara's DRONERS. The pace of bingoing was again subdued as Thomas butted heads with Dennis Lloyd; their game ended at 355-342 with each player getting one bingo (Thomas: CARINATE; Dennis: ETESIANS). Things fell into place in the fourth and final game as a rematch against Charles was an easy 467-357 win for Thomas, no doubt spurred by four bingos: OLEFIANT#, TRENDIES, GOORALS, and LISTEES.

1st Charles Reinke's word wizardry transformed all his opponents into finely-ground piles of mincemeat as he went 5-0 +606. He began with a successful two-on-one excursion against Richard Lauder and Helen Flores, winning those game 464-315 and 470-319, respectively. All of Charles' wins were by margins of 100 or more, except his round two game versus Thomas Reinke, which he won by a "mere" 43 points, 466-423. He got down EROTISE#, STROLLER, and the stylish CAPRIFIG, while Thomas had TRIPLIED# and the less-stylish-but-still-somewhat-stylish EIGHTVOS. After defeating Mark Kenas 439-329 in round three, Charles finished with an immediate rematch against Mark which was even more tilted in Charles' favor, 544-391. Charles put on a display of high-probability sevens in those two games as he found TEASING, EROSION, SMARTER, OBLASTI, and NATTIER.

2nd Thomas Reinke finished 4-1 with a lofty 484 per-game average. Round one saw Thomas extend his winning streak against Mark Kenas to five games, thanks to a three-bingo assault (SALTERN, VASTITY, TROPHIED) that resulted in a 493-362 win. Playing an all-Collins two-on-one match, Thomas turned that winning streak into six games with a close 461-451 win against Mark, but sadly dropped the other game to Charles Reinke, 423-466. Against Bryan Benwitz in round three, Thomas rudely hogged all the bingos for himself, playing five of them (to Bryan's zero): POLLEES, FERMATA, GROUTIER, LACTONIC (out of ACILNOT, which makes a newly-acceptable word, ALTCOIN), and RIVETERS. Of course, the end result was a victory for Thomas, 555-389. Thomas ended the night with a flourish, beating Sara McLaughlin 487-291, finding RESALUTE and YEELINS to pad out his very bingoey list of bingos (BINGOEY* is not a word - play OBEYING or BIOGENY instead).

3rd Richard Lauder went 3-1 for the second-straight week, this time with a +93 spread. Richard suffered a substantial setback in the first game of the night when he was felled by charles Reinke, 315-464, despite a find of SONDERS (Charles had OVERATE and SETTLING). A bout against Sara McLaughlin was more fruitful, as Richard took the win 380-301, getting GUNITES and the very common phony of SOILERS* (the two legitimate words in EILORSS are tough to spot - RISSOLE and LORISES). Richard's best game was against Dennis Lloyd, 459-318; a triad of rack-clearing plays (SCANTER, EQUATOR, PERVERT) buried any attempt at a comeback that Dennis may have planned. Facing off against Bryan Benwitz in round four, Richard rose to the challenge and prevailed in a close game, 427-405, again thanks to a fine assortment of three bingos: DEMISTS, TONSILAR, and SINGLES.

Sara's RATFINKS, played in a 347-302 win against Bryan, was word of the week.