Blog

Thomas Reinke Wins and Stuff

1st Thomas Reinke outlasted some tough opponents to go 4-0 +317. There weren't many bingos to be had in a close 409-385 victory over Lynda Finn (Thomas' GROUNDER vs. Lynda's TONSURE) but the final result was certainly to Thomas' liking. The bingo spigot then got turned on to full blast as Thomas defeated Dave Gilligan in a high-scoring 509-425 game. Dave bingoed on his first two turns with ORBIEST and ENTWINED, but Thomas eventually pulled away thanks to bingo finds of REFENCES, PARDNERS, GOETHITE, and TEXTURED. Thomas then secured his first-place performance with another close victory, this time over Bryan Benwitz, 414-402. Thomas two bingos of WINTLES and FEATLIER only scored eight more points combined than Bryan's pair of bonuses (FOOTAGE and INDENTER), so the missing four spread points must have been acrrued at some other point during the game.

2nd Andy Bohnsack averaged a club-leading 452 per game on his way to a 4-1 +400 performance. With a 460-427 victory against Aaron Bader, he has now won three out of four against that particular opponent, after previously losing twelve in a row to him. Aaron got away with FEATURER (not even good in Collins) but added HURDIES and GAUDIEST as valid bingos; Andy played CLOGGED, ANSERINE, and TIMELINE (anagrams: ILMENITE and MELINITE). As part of a two-on-one game, Andy notched his first 500-point game of the year (????), and did so in most furious fashion, scoring 569 against Helen Flores' 304. Helen did manage to play TORSADE, but Andy was able to get down CAUSING, ANERGIA, and LECTIONS. Andy's sole loss came against Dave Gilligan, 336-421, a game which again proves the old adage: to beat Andy, prevent him from bingoing. Dave monopolized the bingos on the board with AGNIZES and OVERLAIN.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +152 and somehow was the only person to finish with that record. He was the picture of consistency with two bingos in each of his four games, although that consistency was made to seem a mirage thanks to a 356-434 loss disrupting a scoresheet otherwise decorated with checkmarks in the "win" column. In that game, Bryan got down a 90-point ANETHOL; Charles played TAVERNA and word-of-the-week PEACENIK. Another high-scoring bingo was played against Charles when he faced off against Gail Salm; her 101-point CRINGES, to go along with a later bingo of SPRAINED, pushed her over the 400 mark in a 465-406 win for the Second Twin, who played BULLIONS and the nine-letter BALDPATES. Dave Gilligan again makes an appearance in the writeup for losing to Charles in the final round, 365-472, despite bingos of STATINS and RUMINATE (Charles had VOYAGER and LARDIEST).

Andy Bohnsack Will Beat You Up for Your Blanks

1st Andy Bohnsack was the proverbial rolling stone with the proverbial moss being losses, as he went 4-0 +327 and beat both players directly below him in the night's standings. His evening started off well with a 436-259 win over Dave Gilligan wherein bingos of ACTINIAE, STERLING, and REANOINT were played. Peter Schmiedicke was able to wisely rein in Andy's bingo production, but his success on that front proved wasted, as Andy won that game as well, 417-343. It's safe to assume that Andy's sole EUPHORIA for 104 points was a deciding factor in a way that Peter's REALLOTS and STRINGER weren't. In the final game of the night, the two 3-0's butted heads, but Aaron Bader fell just short, losing a high-scoring 459-470 match that ended with five bingos on the board (BILAYER, RIOTERS, and NOTICES for Andy; WATERIER and VERMIAN for Aaron).

2nd Thomas Reinke put together a solid 4-1 +299 record to make some early headway towards the top spot in the yearly standings. His confrontation with Andy Bohnsack was the only one that did not end in Thomas' favor, 359-414. Thomas rebounded nicely against grizzled Scrabble vet Richard Lauder, defeating our club director 518-332. Richard got down FEATHERS and REPLICON (the latter showing off his years of accumulated word knowledge), but Thomas outbingoed his opponent as he so often does, playing TRIMNESS, IGNITORS, and IRATELY (anagrams: REALITY and TEARILY). Peter turned those tables on Thomas in their fourth-round matchup, playing three bingos to Thomas' two, but Thomas prevailed neverthless by a score of 435-415. Maybe this proves that bingoing isn't everything. Gasp.

3rd Aaron Bader finished at 3-1 +168, beating Gail Salm by twenty-some spread points for third place. His raucous final-round scuffle with Andy Bohnsack is chronicled above, but the rest of his games resulted in a more favorable outcome. He unleashed the full power of his bingo knowledge against the similarly-knowledged Charles Reinke, winning by "just" a score of of 430-383 despite outbingoing Charles 4-1. Those bingos were FINAGLES, FAINTER, LAMENTER, and HUISACHE, the last of which being selected as word of the week (it's apparently a type of tree or bush found in Texas). Mary Becker was also able to put up a brave fight in the face of Aaron's bingoeyness, playing two of them herself (SPEARING and INWARDS) in a 372-468 loss. Aaron had EATABLE, INTRIGUE, and EATERIES, making everybody in the vicinity hungry.

Two triple-triples were played: Gail's 149-point RANDIEST and Bryan's 122-point OTALGIES.

Charles Reinke Comes in First and It's too Hard to Come Up With a New Headline Every Week

1st Charles Reinke went 4-1 +252, good enough for first place on a night where nobody went undefeated. His lack of undefeatedness can be attributed to Lynda Finn, who handily crushed him, 516-347, despite Charles' 98-point phony OVERINGS. Lynda played STUIVER, REALISE, and COSTUME (the last of which being an out-bingo making COVERINGS); Charles added the nine-letter ENTREPOTS to the list of bingos. Simultaneously to the administration of that beating, Charles administered a beating of his own, defeating Helen Flores 550-222. Charles shamelessly phonied again with REBELING, and his two valid bingos of CESTODES and THORNIER did little to repair the burnt bridges. In the final game of the night against the undefeated Peter Schmiedicke, playing for not just some of the marbles but ALL of the marbles, Charles emerged victorious, 399-371, neither score being quite up to the usual standards of either player. Peter got down INSTATE and NIDATES, proving the utility of the SATINE stem; Charles had GRAPLINS (n. a small anchor, anagramming to SPRINGAL and SPARLING).

2nd Aaron Bader finished at 3-1 +470, averaging a club-leading 446 per game. Lynda Finn again proved to be an accomplished spoiler of other people's undefeated records, as she provided Aaron his only loss, 388-385. Lynda played SKITTER (66) and ROSARIES (59); Aaron had IODATION (58), proving that you're not going to score over 400 if your bingos are that wimpy. Aaron's bingos against Mary Becker (PUREEING, LOBSTERS, PEDANTS) were anything but wimpy, and the result was naturally a 507-244 victory. Another trio of bingos (UNIONIST, TORMENTS, and BUSTARDS) was utilized to maximum efficiency against Andy Bohnsack, who also was allowed to sample the bitter taste of defeat, 393-425. Andy did get down RATIONED for a decent score, so the bitter taste was cut slightly.

3rd Thomas Reinke ended his night with a 3-1 +137 record, edging out Peter Schmiedicke by six spread points for third place. He started off on the right foot with a 391-296 win over Gail Salm, but played just one bingo, GOOLIES, perfectly balancing Gail's sole RESENTS. He would up his bingo production significantly against Lynda Finn, winning a high-scoring 463-431 contest thanks to finds of REDEYES, GIRASOLE, and the odd-looking MACABRER. His opponent supplied DRASTIC and ORNITHES (the difficult anagram of HORNIEST). A 391-431 defeat against his stunt double ensured that no player would go undefeated. Thomas got down WIDOWED in that one after his two-tile fishing play led to a WW draw; Charles found MISTIER and TAURINES after his attempts to cultivate bingo racks worked to perfection.

Peter's CERVEZA was word of the week.