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1st Thomas Reinke prevailed over all attendees hardy enough to brave the unfriendly weather, finishing 4-0 +160. Thomas dealt major damage to his twin in the first round when their Collins-lexicon clash ended 511-400 in Thomas' favor. The bingo list was lengthy as Thomas got down EUSOCIAL, NOMINATE, ELEGIAC, and TOETOES#, to Charles' IMPUGNED and WURZELS. A rematch in round three was less of a bingo bonanza, with Thomas getting down a singular PETITES, but it was again Thomas' win, 404-389. Thomas similarly was able to claim victories against the club's other top players; 480-423 was his winning score against Andy Bohnsack (playing SORDINI and ORIGANUM), and against Bryan Benwitz, he reversed a recent losing streak with a 442-406 win (playing BOTTOMED and ROUSTED).

2nd Richard Lauder's strong 3-1 outing got him above .500 on the year in addition to a writeup paragraph of impeccable journalistic quality. He began his evening with a strong 392-306 win over Dennis Lloyd, finding SUNDAES to Dennis' REMOVER. Richard has now won nine of the last eleven against Dennis. In round two, Richard and his forty years of high-level Scrabble play went up against James Rollins' four weeks of high-level Scrabble play, and the result was a 361-322 win for Richard, marred by Richard's phony THEREINS* (James got down SARDINE). Richard needed no phonies to prevail in this third-round match against Andy Bohnsack, getting OPIATES in a 404-267 victory. But it all came crashing down in the fourth round as Richard's glimmering vision of a 4-0 night was stomped out of existence by the bootheel of one Charles Reinke: their game ended with a score of 235 for Richard to Charles' 489.

Dennis' creative SLAPDASH was word of the week.

1st Bryan Benwitz notched his first undefeated session of the club season with a 4-0 +335 record. He entered quickly into his usual routine of "scoring way too many points", defeating Sara McLaughlin 454-341 on the back of EUDAEMON and UNCAGES. Two more bingos (DREAMING, INFOTECH) secured a 435-383 win over Thomas Reinke, who had DELETING and RETABLES. In round three, Bryan decided it was time to start playing more bingos (because we all know that playing more bingos is something that one can simply "decide" to do), and with his four bingos of MISTERS, PYRANOID, ANODISE, and OUTEARN, he got a big win against Charles Reinke, 507-414. Charles had the uncommon KALLIDIN, to go with the more-common LACTONE, in his losing effort. To clinch his undefeated night, Bryan took on late arrival Dennis Lloyd and won 482-405, piling on three more bingos: OINOMELS, GRADATE, and AERUGOS.

2nd Thomas Reinke began the process of clawing his way back up the yearly standings with a 3-1 +174 record. He extended his winning streak against Mark Kenas to five games (after enduring a six-game losing streak immediately prior) with a pair of Collins-lexicon victories, 429-400 and 480-400. JAUNSED#, PROGERIA, and PRENATAL were his bingos in the first game, while a heavy-hitting 106-point FEMINAL# proved to be his only bingo in the latter win. Between those two games, Thomas suffering his only loss, 383-435 to Bryan Benwitz. In game four, Thomas had to fend off the tenacious James Rollins, who, despite his find of QUARTILE for 88, was buried by Thomas' ARENOUS, CONFECTS, and LONGLINE.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +77, a rather subdued showing after being so dominant the first six weeks of the club season. Game one was not easy for him as he fought tooth-and-nail to get a 367-348 win against Richard Lauder, playing LEISURES and CORNEOUS to Richard's UNOILED. Things got a bit more comfortable in a 476-394 victory against Mark Kenas, where Charles' MURALED and NUCLEONS overcame Mark's TEMULENT# and COISTRIL (the uncommon anagram to the more recognizable CLITORIS). In round three, Bryan "Dream Crusher" Benwitz lived up to his nickname by crushing Charles' dreams of a perfect record, winning their encounter 507-414, but Charles was able to morosely gather up the crushed remnants of his dreams and re-form them into some semblance of optimism as he finished his night with a 482-413 rematch victory against Mark Kenas.

James' bingo of COATRACK was word of the week. Containing two C's and a K, it's unlikely to come up again in the near future, medium future, long future, or ever.

1st Thomas Reinke prevailed over all other SCRABBLE-brand Word Game combatants with a 4-1 +365 record, ending his brother's benevolent, yet still resented, command of the week's top spot. Thomas started out with a two-on-one set, getting a cushy 517-360 win over Mark Kenas (playing INEARTH, WIDEOUT, and CORVEES) while battling to a closer 428-391 win against Helen Flores (playing MIRLITON, MEANEST, and CAULINE). The hot start was short-lived, however, as Thomas' potent scoring power was neutralized in a 331-459 loss to Bryan Benwitz. This misfortune, too, proved to be quite short-lived; round three saw Thomas score an impressive 563 against the visiting Mike Johnson, whose score of 428, while quite good in its own right, was not nearly enough. Thomas played the very-high-probability (and very-Collins-only) ETAERIO# along with DIVERGES and TARTUFO; Mike found TENDRONS#, LOONIER, and PLAINTS. Thomas put the finishing touches on his first-place winish with a 489-325 rematch win against Mark Kenas, this time upping his bingo output to four: ULCERATE, DECROWN, EUGARIES#, and AGATISE#.

2nd Andy Bohnsack enjoyed a 3-1 +252 record, debatably finishing ahead of Charles Reinke's 4-2 record (reigniting the age-old debate of whether total wins or win percentage should be used when determining the week's standings [and also remembering that somebody going 1-0 shouldn't finish ahead of someone going 3-1 (additionally keeping in mind that the true solution is to force everybody to play as many games as the player who played the most games [in this case, six])]). Andy probably wished for a better start as his very first game was a 370-392 loss to Mike Johnson, but that game would prove to be his only loss and the only game where he didn't bingo at least twice. A big 466-308, three-bingo (MONITORS, DEMOING, STARLIKE) win against the returning James Rollins got Andy on the right track, and he continued that momentum with three more bingos (PANDIES, COEDITOR, PASTIER) and a 427-358 win over Bryan Benwitz. A crushing 140-point ZESTERS was quite helpful in delivering Andy a 461-414 win against Charles Reinke in the final game.

3rd Mike Johnson made his long trip from Iowa worthwhile with a 3-1 +83 finish playing against some of the most capable tile-flingers that Madison has to offer (no tiles were actually flung at the Iowan, at least not intentionally). His opening salvo was a 392-370 win against Andy Bohnsack, with bingo finds of RESONATE and VINIEST. Deftly swithing to the international Collins lexicon, Mike proved his mettle with a dominating 484-318 win against veteran Collins player Mark Kenas. Staying in Collins mode, Mike's luck shifted drastically in the wrong direction as he suffered a 428-563 loss to Thomas Reinke. Undaunted by the fearsome Bryan Benwitz (whose notoriety might not extend all the way to the Iowa border...yet...), Mike triumphed in their bout, 448-418, thanks to bingos of WARNERS and UNWASTED.

Of note was Charles' 17-game winning streak coming to an unceremonious conclusion as he was soundly defeated by Bryan Benwitz in round one, the final score being 387-509. Also of note was James Rollins' monster 127-point bingo of REAFFIX, which would be the highest-scoring non-triple-triple bingo of the year, except for Andy's 140-point ZESTERS.