Blog

Charles Reinke Sits Atop Throne of Champions, Surveys Domain

1st Charles Reinke came in first with a 4-0 +354 performance, a performance that is (to the dismay of other club members) becoming commonplace for him.  The cherry on top was twice bingoing with two Us: USAUNCES (n. USAUNCE, same as usage) against Richard Lauder and VIRTUOUS against Chris Vergeront.  It certainly is not a coincidence that those two games were Charles' highest-scoring of the evening.  Now for your twin-vs-twin recap: Charles Reinke has extended his winning streak against Thomas to seven games after a razor-thin 390-387 win.  Thomas played TACTIONS, but the scoring value of that play was overwhelmed by Charles' OLEANDER and MAESTRI (plural of MAESTRO).

2nd Peter Schmiedicke took second with his 4-1 +157 record.  He beat longtime nemesis Thomas Reinke 387-355: Peter, in addition to holding Thomas to zero bingos, played REDFINS (n. REDFIN, a type of fish) and JUTTERS as his own bingos.  This win gets him one step closer to evening up the series, which currently stands at 4 wins for Peter and 33 for Thomas.  Chris Vergeront proved to be the only person capable of stopping, at least temporarily, Peter's winning ways: after much tile-slinging, the final score was 449-387 in Chris' favor.

3rd Chris Vergeront went 3-1 +35, easily snagging third place.  The sole blemish on his scoresheet was a result of Charles Reinke's 478-331 win; subtracting that anomaly, Chris had a perfect night.  For the first time in a year and a half, Chris' matchup with Lynda Finn did not result in a loss: his score of 456 speaks for itself, as do his bingos of RETHINKS, GAITERS, and CARLINE (n. a beam supporting a ship's deck).  MERLOTS was Lynda's contribution to the bingo party on that board.

Andy Bohnsack played the word of the week, LAYAWAYS.  While a relatively common word, how often does one get to bingo with three A's and two Y's?  Not very often, unless you want to play TACHYARRHYTHMIA. 

Sue Goldstein's "Never Lose Again" Plan Proceeds Apace

1st Sue Goldstein joined Charles in the ranks of the undefeated, going 3-0 +168.  She beat each of the other present intermediates without the aid of a bingo.  Aki Miura came closest to defeating her, with Sue finally prevailing 339-317.

2nd June Scott went 2-1 -41, with the spread she gained beating each of the Miuras not being enough to withstand the unholy force of Sue Goldstein, who beat her 358-282.

"Bryaniac" Benwitz Gives Thanks for Steady Stream of Hapless Opponents

1st Bryan Benwitz celebrated Thanksgiving, not in the usual way by consuming a large amount of turkey and mashed potatoes, but by going 4-0 +306.  This impressive performance bumps him up to 4th place in the yearly standings.  His performance was made even more impressive by the fact that he beat three players who were ahead of him in the standings - Lynda Finn, Charles Reinke, and Thomas Reinke, the last of which Bryan beat 472-286.  Thomas got down CORELATE in his futile efforts to eclipse the 300 mark, while Bryan played ELOINING and YEASTIER.  Against the other twin, the score was a closer 425-403, with both players playing phonies: Bryan erred with GIVABLE (only GIVEABLE) and Charles played the totally fabricated word PREMATCH (which in Reinke's Unabridged Dictionary means "Adj. Preceding a match").

2nd Barb Besadny finished 3-0 +224, smartly forgoing the fourth game in order to guarantee her first undefeated evening since February.  Against Aki Miura, her winning score of 292 is her lowest winning score since 2011.  Similarly, her 196-point victory against Sharlie Miura (452-256, with a bingo of DEARIES) is her largest winning margin since 2011.  Rounding out her evening was a five-point win against Helen Flores, 361-356.

3rd Lynda Finn beat out Charles Reinke by 23 spread points to capture third at 3-1 +100.  Shayla Dunn was too preoccupied with thoughts of delicious green bean casserole to put up much of a fight, losing to Lynda 283-414.  DRESSILY and DESTINES were Lynda's bingos in that one, two of seven that she played over the course of the session.  As noted above, her loss was to Bryan Benwitz, 370-442, with a lonely SOLERET losing out to the tag-team of BANDORE and SKATING.

Word of the Week was OUTFABLE, played by Richard Lauder, who played three additional bingos in the same game: WINGLIKE, COURAGES, and ABSTAIN.  OUTFABLE is a verb meaning "to surpass in telling fictitious tales."

Andy Bohnsack Has Won Nine in a Row - But No Pressure To Whoever Plays Him Next

1st Andy Bohnsack built on his 4-0 record last week by repeating the feat with a larger +432 spread.  Hopefully he loses soon, because the momentum he would build up by winning another four in a row would be impossible to stop, and we would probably have to disband the club.  Thomas Reinke was the only player to come close to ending this obscene winning streak, losing 401-402; Andy's other three opponents all lost by margins of more than 100.  Of the night's three 500-point games, two were Andy's: 527 against Barb Besadny and 521 against Peter Schmiedicke (including 176 points for SNOWLESS, an adjective we all hope will continue to describe the rest of November). 

2nd Charles Reinke went 4-1 +77, unusually low spread courtesy of Chris Vergeront, who applied a copious amount of hurt on him: 477-343 was the final score after the dust settled.  Chris played OESTRIN, POLICIES, and OUTPRICE while Charles played the lonely ENCOMIA (plural of ENCONIUM, a eulogy).  Mark Kenas made an appearance after a months-long absence, but Charles made sure that the welcome he received was not warm; the "C" twin prevailed 464-446.  That score of 446 was the highest losing score of the evening, and was the result of four bingos: RAMIFIED, LABORERS, CINERARY, and EGLATERE (n. a type of rose, also EGLANTINE).  Charles bingoed with TRUCKLED and, appropriately, MEANNESS.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke was the lone 3-1 finisher, contrary to last week, when we had four players finish at that record.  Andy Bohnsack and his triple-triple SNOWLESS were the only impediments to Peter's otherwise perfect evening.  Do not feel to sorry for Peter however, as he is no stranger to the delights of the triple-triple: his RELAPSES for 158 against Thomas Reinke also spanned two triple-word-scores.  No surprise, he won that game 433-397, also playing the word TOILERS in the process.  Thomas got down MINORCAS (n. MINORCA, apparently some type of chicken from what I can figure out from the trusty Google), but encyclopedic knowledge of various types of fowl can only get you so far in Scrabble.

Helen Flores played the word of the week, ANOREXY (same definition as ANOREXIA), which drew a challenge.  For the benefit of those who weren't with us this week, Helen has a new apple-shaped board which is certainly the most attractive board out of all of ours - sadly, it hasn't, as of yet, been as lucky as Helen would have hoped.

Dave Gilligan Asserts Dominance in Intermediates

1st Dave Gilligan went 1-1 -15 in a diminished intermediate group.  He notched the first 400-point game of his club career when he crushed Sue Goldstein 426-304.  His bingo of RECLINES only served to further his agenda of Scrabble domination.