Aaron Bader: "My Assimilation Into Their Club is Complete; Next Step: Total Domination!" [maniacal laughter]

1st Aaron Bader strengthened his iron grip on the yearly standings, going 4-0 +475.  He is now at eight wins in a row - we are all hoping that Mark Kenas shows up and smacks some British-style sense into Aaron before it is too late.  Mary Becker attempted to do some smacking of her own, but fell just short, 351-374.  Aaron had the high-scoring DIPNETS for 92, but Mary had the even higher-scoring INQUIRED for 103, the highest-scoring bingo of the evening.  Aaron followed up that too-close-for-comfort win with a more decisive win against Leslie Seltzer, 525-201, a match that saw Aaron monopolize the bingo tiles for ACROTISM, SNOOPED, and VEALIER.  Three bingos were again in store for Aaron in his deciding bout against Bryan Benwitz, but two of them turned out to be phony: AUDIOED and METAFILE.  He did play the valid YEASTING to leave his phony percentage for the game at a brazen 66.6%.  Bryan played RATOONS and NEARSIDE, but his triumph in the "number of valid plays" category was not enough to secure the win, with Aaron prevailing 414-349.

2nd Bryan Benwitz averaged a club-leading 438 per game on his way to a 3-1 +268 finish.  He pulled off the elusive "Anti-Reinke", defeating both members of the high-powered duo.  Against Charles, even the twin's flagrant phony of ROBUSTO (only ROBUSTA) could not stop the Bryaniac, who won easily, 458-376.  Bryan's bingos of UPLANDS, RESTRUNG, and TAENIAE were instrumental in locking up the victory.  Domination even more ruthless than previously displayed was reserved for Thomas Reinke, with Bryan cruising to a 466-327 win.  Thomas had JILTERS, but it was no match for LOGIEST and PATINAS from the other side of the table.  Lynda Finn, despite not being a Reinke, was not spared, losing 365-477.

3rd Chris Vergeront continues to make the most out of his limited appearances at club, going 3-1 +153.  I bet that kickball team doesn't even do writeups.  Anyway, Chris improved on his yearly average by averaging 395 over his four games (scoring 400+ in each win), but hindered his bingo average by only playing four.  The scorecard tells no lies, and his told tales of big wins, not-so-big wins, and even a 345-417 loss against Helen Flores.  Dave Gilligan was the target of Chris' vengeance, the final score being 402-272.  Chris had SETTLES and EASIEST in that one.  Gail Salm was the recipient of Chris' highest-scoring output, their game ending 434-354.  Gail won the bingo tally, playing UNRAISED and TABORINS to Chris' TERMING, but sometimes bingos aren't enough by themselves.

Lynda Finn played OXAZINES to score word of the week.  An oxazine is a heterocyclic compound containing one oxygen and one nitrogen atom.  Thanks Wikipedia!

Sue Goldstein: "Losing is for Losers"

1st Sue Goldstein took all three of her games, finishing with a 3-0 +178 record and pushing her current streak to five wins, halfway to the magic number of ten.  She got her highest score of the year, as well as her highest winning margin, when she put the hurt on Aki Miura, 390-251.  A subset of that hurt was SALUTER for a cool 79 points.  June Scott was also made to know Sue's wrath, falling 311-293. 

2nd Sharlie Miura came back from a few-week absence, reminding us that she still knows how to play with a 1-1 +80 record.  She was merciless in her dismantling of June Scott, 344-235.  A score that high seemed unattainable in her matchup against Sue Goldstein, with a closed board resulting in a 250-271 loss.