Aaron Bader Ends Bryan Benwitz' Winning Streak at 11, Bingos 13 Times, Averages 461, and Probably Also Saved a Bunch of Kids from a Burning Orphanage

1st Aaron Bader was convinced to stay for the fourth round, and it's lucky he did, because he turned a pedestrian 3-0 record into an astounding 4-0 +345 record against a series of tough opponents. He didn't waste any time achieving greatness, snapping Bryan Benwitz' eleven-game winning streak in the first game of the night, 476-332. Aaron had four bingos in that one, a portent of things to come: BANDERS, SEDATES, ECTOMERE, and REFILING. In the next game, word knowledge was brazenly flaunted by Charles Reinke as he played the word of the week, KLEPHTIC (a KLEPHT is a medieval Greek guerilla fighter), but this impudence did not lead to a win, as he fell to Aaron 394-485, mostly due to Aaron's bingos of AMADOUS, BIOPICS (anagram BIOPSIC), and GLITTER. A less-braggadocious win over Lynda Finn followed, but Aaron went right back to his high-scoring ways in the final game of the night, taking out Andy Bohnsack 473-369. Aaron was again ruthless in his pursuit of bingos, and his phony TAXINGS didn't lessen the impact of his valid bingos, EPISTLE, PHENOLIC, and TEENAGER. Andy had SOUVENIR and COURAGES, proving that U's aren't the worst tile ever, except they are (also Andy if you're reading this, YOU DIDN'T WRITE DOWN THE SCORES FOR YOUR BINGOS. SHAME SHAME SHAME)

2nd Lynda Finn didn't quite average 461, but she did average 457 per game, nearly 60 points better than her yearly average. Oh yeah, and she also went 3-1 +342. A score of 557 against Richard Lauder (321) was her highest score of the club year so far, and her 158-point triple-triple of FINDABLE (a very findable bingo for her) was her highest-scoring bingo since we started keeping track of that stuff (that's why it's important to WRITE YOUR SCORES DOWN). Her sole loss was to Aaron Bader, 377-410, and it just happened to be the only game where she played fewer than two bingos (TEMPEST was her only one, whlie Aaron had FRETWORK and TESTUDO). She recovered quickly from that loss by unleashing her fury upon club leader Charles Reinke, beating him 410-375 thanks to her two bingos of SIGNALED and SMUTTILY (see? bingoing more = guaranteed wins).

3rd Thomas Reinke finished with a record of 3-1 +172. He barely got away with a win against Mary Becker, 386-381, then fell to Gail Salm, 393-374. OUTSTEPS, EASEMENT, ELDRESS, and FARADISE were his bingos in those two games. The scoring for Thomas picked up significantly after that point, as Michael David sadly found out; their match ended with a score of 498-331. OVATION was Michael's valiant attempt to stay competetive in the game, but Thomas' GLITTERS, ARTISTS, and LEMONIER were just too much to overcome. The real excitement, however, came in the fourth and final match, as Thomas and Bryan Benwitz sat down across from each other and prepared to do battle. Battle was done indeed: the final score was an insane 538-519 in Thomas' favor! Bryan's 519 is the highest loss EVER at our club, and losing with four bingos must also be a very rare occurrence. Bryan's bingos were EQUALISE, NEOTERIC, AUSTERE, and PAVEABLE; Thomas let PAVEABLE by because it gave him the A he needed for FARMHAND. Thomas' other bingos were AIRFOIL, PELICANS, and AUTOMEN. Let us now have a moment of silence for Thomas' board, which, in response to the overwhelming scoring burden placed upon it, spontaneously burst into flames soon after the game ended, and was reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes.