1st Charles Reinke was an unstoppable force encountering no immovable objects, going 5-0 +369. High-probability bingo knowledge once again proved useful as a set of two-on-one games against Helen Flores (462-396) and Ron Malzer (478-349) saw the following bingos played: NASTIER, LOMENTA, ORGANDIE, ANEROID, and SEPTORIA. The club's neverending quest to play every bingo in the dictionary was not futhered by this selection of bingos, as all of them are common enough to have been played before. Charles went on to defeat Mark Kenas in round two, 527-361, thanks to TARRING, PODIATRY, and ENTAILER (Mark had the useful SERIATE). In the third round, Charles pulled out NEEDIEST and TALMUDIC (note that TALMUD* is not valid, only TALMUDIC) to snag a tight five-point win over Bryan Benwitz, who had CRAALING, SHEETER (note, no SEETHER*), and WEASONS. The final score was 436-431. Charles decided that a five point win hadn't raised his blood pressure enough, so he proceeded to go undefeated by way of a three-point win against Mark Kenas, 442-439. RIGORIST and CREATES were his bingos in that crowning victory.
2nd Thomas Reinke unleashed a tsunami of bingos which overwhelmed most (but not all) of his opponents, making eighteen bonus plays across five games while finishing 4-1 +445 and averaging 508 per game. A round-one match against Mark Kenas saw the two Collins players burst through the 1000-points-combined barrier, the final being 558-463 in Thomas' favor. Mark supplied ODOGRAPH, AMITIES, and TSARDOM, while Thomas had ANTIGAY, ERUPTION, JAVELINS, and the nine-letter MOTELIERS#. In round two, despite being mildly handicapped by a two-on-one game, Thomas pulled out his 7th 600-point game of the club season with a 610-353 win against Richard Lauder. Thomas served up five bingos in his monstrous scoring showcase: SYNCOPE, TACKERS, MERGERS, ROBINIA, and PETTING. Richard had AUDILES and RETOTAL, meaning every bingo on the board was a seven-letter word. At the same time, Thomas escaped with a win against Bryan Benwitz, 396-382, getting down TOLUENES, FARINAS, and GOTHITES. Thomas received a taste of his own medicine when Mark beat him in a round-three rematch, 501-481, a game which Thomas lost despite his four bingos: TENENDA#, INFLATER, MEATLOAF, and ELOQUENT (Mark had POUNCETS# and MASHLIMS#). The volcanic bingo eruptions from Thomas' rack were marginally reduced by the final game, as Thomas "only" had two such plays (HELICES, PETIOLES) in a 495-396 win over Andy Bohnsack.
3rd Bryan Benwitz snuck into third place with a 2-2 +238 record. Things started off nicely as Bryan found SEEDING and HEROICS to beat Andy Bohnsack 449-332. But that success was short lived as the pairings conspired to have Bryan face off against both Reinkes in sequence, and the results were unfavorable for Bryan: 382-396 against Thomas, then 431-436 against Charles. But Bryan was able to make up some ground in the last game, playing bingos of RERACKED, SENARII, and TONGERS to defeat Sara McLaughlin 489-349. Bryan still maintains a comfortable lead in the club standings with a month and a half to go.
1st Bryan Benwitz stood atop a small jumble of 3-1 players with his superior +655 spread and eye-popping 507 average score. All three of his victories saw him convincingly burst through the 500-point barrier. Bryan came out of the gate quick with a round one win against Helen Flores, 532-317, despite Helen's tricky two-U find of TENUOUS (Bryan had ENOLASE and GRAPIEST). Sara McLaughlin was the only player to have any luck against Bryan, with their game ending 404-399 in Sara's favor. Bryan immediately switched back into "win" mode for the next game, stomping on Thomas Reinke 545-368 and playing three bingos (ENFORCES, UNSTICK, IMAGINED) in the process. Saving his best for last, Bryan manhandled Dennis Lloyd in round four, the final tally being 550-282. Bingowitz had four more bingos in that one: INTWINED, RIGAUDON, UPSILON, and REDOLENT.
2nd Charles Reinke finished at 3-1 +285, way behind Bryan on spread despite an identical record. His first game was a three-bingo (PYRANOSE, TSAREVNA, AVODIRES) effort against Richard Lauder which culminated in a solid win, 472-357. Switching to the Collins lexicon in round two, Charles got the victory against Mark Kenas in a high-scoring affraid, 491-454. Mark had the huge HEXANES for 95, as well as OUTEARN, while Charles had WISHBONE, ASINICO#, and BIRDMEN. The fortunate trend of playing three bingos in every game continued for Charles into round three, as he won big against Sara McLaughlin, playing AUNTLIKE, GUISARDS, and GRAPIEST in a 581-314 win. Eying a perfect 4-0 record, Charles fell well short of his goal as his rematch against Mark Kenas went poorly, the final score being 363-497.
3rd Sara McLaughlin brought up the rear of the 3-1 club with her 3-1 -81 record. Being a native Texan and therefore not bound by norms of "Wisconsin hospitality", Sara's first win was a 412-240 victory over the visiting Amy Caywood. Round two saw Sara match up against Bryan Benwitz and win 404-399, although the rumor mill was aswirl with allegations that a tile may have been missing from the set. Nevertheless, Sara has now won three of her last six games against Bryan, which is a considerably higher win rate than the rest of the club can claim. A 314-581 loss to Charles Reinke in the next game had the nasty side effect of cratering Sara's spread, but she partially bounced back to finish the night with a close 366-361 win over Helen Flores. Sara found WORMERS in that one, while Helen found OVERLADE.
1st Bryan Benwitz came very close to averaging 500 for the session, his 498 per-game average propelling him to a clean sweep, 4-0 +515. In a first-round battle between club nos. 1 and 2, Bryan vanquished Charles Reinke, 442-429, with bingo finds of QUAVERS and CENTROID. Immediately thrust into a game against the other Reinke, Bryan again got the win, playing GARNERED, RATIFIES, and STRIVEN for a 475-422 final score (Thomas had SHENDING and UNAFRAID). Bryan continued to pile on the bingos in roundthree as he played four of them (GARROTED, OVERSTEP, NOTIFIED, PTOMAINS) to take down Lynda Finn in a high-scoring 541-422 contest. The worrying trend of Bryan showing absolutely no mercy whatsoever towards his Scrabble opponents showed no signs of abating in the final round; in fact, Bryan's ruthless tendencies only seemed to grow in intensity as he smashed Richard Lauder 534-204 to take undisputed first place in the weekly standings. OVERLAIN, BEHEADS, and AIRFARES were his bingos there.
2nd Charles Reinke averaged a nice 491 points per game, finishing 4-1 +423. He got his singular loss out of the way early in the night when he was defeated by Bryan Benwitz 429-442; luckily, this loss was, via the unexplained magic of two-on-one games, balanced out by a 459-364 win vs. Helen Flores where Charles had LOONIER, RETAINER, and SINUSOID. Charles' regularly-scheduled two-game match against Mark Kenas was an unqualified success as Charles ran away with both games, 544-331 and 540-371. Six bingos were played by Charles in those two games: SEDATELY, DUELIST, MISDOING, DUALISE, SNIFTER, and the rarely-seen VOCALIC. The fourth win on Charles' scorecard was a 481-422 bout against Andy Bohnsack, where Charles prevailed despite being outbingoed two (WISPIER, SANDBURR) to three (COMMUNE, NATURISM, ATAVIST).
3rd Thomas Reinke came back from an atypical 1-4 performance last week to go 3-2 +321. A 445-355 win against Mark Kenas started him off right, with Thomas finding REORIENT and RAMRODS to Mark's ENSEALS#. Sadly, losing to Bryan Benwitz 422-475 in round two put to rest Thomas' aspirations for an undefeated night. In round three, Thomas played a two-on-one and split the pair, doing well against Sara McLaughlin, 475-301, but losing a close one to Mark, 454-461. Mark played some relatively normal words (at least by his standards) with TRIBADE, TENABLE, and DOSSIER, while Thomas found PEONAGE and CLICHED, to add to the bingos of INDAMINE, HORRIDLY, and GOOSIER that he had against Sara. Thomas ended with a 459-342 win against late arrival Dennis Lloyd.
Wednesday, December 11:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
Wednesday, December 18:
Scrabble at Misty Mountain Games
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