Andy Bohnsack Escapes With One Loss, First Place In Experts

1st Out of four players with just one loss, Andy was the best of them, with four wins and a healthy +364 spread.  In his matchup versus Peter Schmiedicke, a predictable five bingos ended up on the board, but four of them were Andy's (INGOTED, GUILTIER, OUTBRAVE, and ENDMOST), giving him a big 547-353 win. Andy was also bingo king with an obscene total of 14 rack-clearing plays.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +222 and was the player to hand Andy his only loss, winning their first-round contest in convincing fashion, 496-411.  He bingoed with MANITOS, RATLINS, and SEMIDOME in that game, giving him the interesting distinction of playing more M's than there are M's in the tilebag.  His sole loss came against his brother Thomas, a heartbreaking 451-457 affair in which he played SUNDECK and VERDANT.

3nd Thomas Reinke finished 3-1 +118.  He won two games where his opponents scored over 450: the previously-mentioned 457-451 win vs bro Charles, and a more comfortable 507-453 victory against Lynda Finn where finds like SPRINGAL and ATHENEUM made the difference.  His stroll along the path of undefeated-ness came to a dead stop when he ran against the considerable obstruction of Andy Bohnsack's bingo-finding ability in the last game.  He scored an uncharacteristically low 333 to Andy's 435.

Harwinder Dowd Again Tops In Intermediates

1st Harwinder Dowd finished a perfect 3-0 +185.  She did not limit her victories to the intermediate group, beating club director Richard Lauder in a 300-276 upset.  Showing no mercy whatsoever, Harwinder also held her opponents to a brutal 273 average for the night.

2nd Sue Goldstein ended up 1-3 -293.  Her win was against longtime sparring partner June Scott, 326-310.

Bingo Observations:

Thomas Reinke played INSHEATH, which is notable for just being the common SATINE stem plus two H's.  INSHEATH also takes an E to make INSHEATHE.

Thomas' SPRINGAL, meaning a young man, can be extended with a D to make SPRINGALD.  A springald is a medieval artillery device.

Peter Schmiedicke got down the word of the week, ALLELUIA, which is a praise song and takes an S.  Presumably it is related etymologically to the much-less-likely-to-ever-be-played-in-my-or-anyone-else's-lifetime HALLELUJAH. 

Harwinder played the believable phony EASINGS, which is good in the British scrabble dictionary.  Meanwhile, Lynda Finn played two valid -INGS bingos, COOKINGS and KEEPINGS (the latter of which looking so ridiculous as to draw a challenge).

Andy Bohnsack played TROPINES, which Charles Reinke extended with an A to make ATROPINES.

Charles was faced with the valid word MIMEOED on his rack, but saw an S in the right spot to make SEMIDOME.  A semidome is a half-dome, and it takes both a D and an S.