Hey, We Didn't Get Snowed Out For Once

1st Aaron Bader, as the only player to average over 400 on the night, accordingly came in first place with his 3-1 +148 record. He dispatched Lynda in the first round, 412-306, playing (for him [tonight]), an incredible TWO bingos, OBTAINED and VENTAIL. After that insane bingo performance, he cooled down a bit, playing one bingo in each of his next three games. His relative lack of bingos cost him against Bryan, as he lost 353-488, but it did not cost him against Thomas, against whom he won 460-339. RESTRIKE (note: PRESTRIKE is also good but does not take an S) was his bingo that game. Things were closer in his final game against Betty, who, despite not bingoing, kept it close until the end, eventually losing 374-430. Aaron's MAYWEED made the difference, as did the board being so closed that Betty's late bingos had to remain orphans.

2nd Bryan Benwitz came up a few spread points short of first, going 3-1 +121. He made short work of Charles in the opener, playing COLLAGED and SEAMERS in a 433-401 win. Charles did get down the nice MISDRIVES through IS, but if we awarded wins based on the stylishness of plays, well, bad stuff would happen. Bryan's three bingos of FAIRIES, MIGRAINE, and LOCATERS propelled him to victory against Aaron. Little did he know, those would be the final bingos of his night! He managed to beat Betty without the aid of any of those valuable rack-clearers, 367-325, a win which gave him 8 in a row, only 2 short of the 10 required for a cash payout. But Helen, kindly thinking of ways to save the club money, put a stop to his streak in the final game.

3rd Speaking of Helen Flores, she came in third place with 3-1 +75 record, making a semi-rare appearance in the top three. For her first act, she narrowly won against Sue, 321-320. Sources tell me that no recount was requested, even though tabulation errors could have made the difference. She gave herself a much larger cushion against Andy, winning 397-392, playing ENATIONS and ANTIQUES while she held Andy bingoless. Her string of close games continued against David, but this time she was on the wrong end, losing 310-329. Against Bryan, she won 376-288, selfishly hogging both V's (and both blanks, but who cares about those?) with her 79-point (and palindromic!) REVIVER.

Dennis played the word-of-the-week, BOUNDEN (adj. under an obligation)