Club Somehow Keeps Up Its Perfect 50 Percent Winning Rate

1st Thomas Reinke edged out two other three-and-oners to come in first place, going 3-1 +276. He opened his night by drawing most of the good tiles against Gail, leveraging his good fortune into a 478-286 victory. He then entered into a high scoring contest versus Bryan, coming out ahead 490-428. Both sides played three bingos: LENITED, LIRIOPES, and RHENIUMS for Thomas, PAVONINE (adj. pertaining to peacocks), ENTREATS and ODONATE for Bryan. Things slowed down a bit in his next game against Charles, with his only bingo being the phony FELONISM* (real word: FOILSMEN). A closed board spelled doom for Charles in that one, despite bingos of SCARRED and SCIAENID (n. a carnviorous fish). Sadly, or happily, depending on your allegiance, a chance at another undefeated night for him was spoiled by Lynda and her triple-triple of CROUTONS (n. crunchy salad things). He tried to keep it close, but his bingos of SCANTIER and NEUROMA were not enough.

2nd Charles Reinke came in second solely because he didn't challenge FELONISM* against Thomas. That was the only reason. If he had challenge that phony right off the board, he would have come in first, no question. But he didn't, and now he has to settle for second place, which is basically last place as far as I'm concerned. He started things off with a 496-328 win over Helen, featuring bingos of POUTINE (n. a dish of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy that represents a unique element of Canadian cultural heritage), AREOLAS, and the double-double CONVERSO for 98. Against Aaron, it was looking grim until he got down an unlikely MEATILY, also for 98. That, combined with PERITUS and BODHRANS, led to a 454-419 win. We already know how terribly he bungled his game against Thomas, but he recovered in time to beat Bryan, 382-291. Bryan's outbingo of ANSATED allowed him to get a semi-reasonable score, as Charles controlled the game and the board from the outset.

3rd Lynda Finn averaged 430 points per game on her way to a 3-1 +204 record, enough for third place. She got her losing out of the way early, falling 397-558 to Bryan and his four bingos of SPORTIER, WELSHING, POINTIER, and TELEMEN. She did get down the somewhat similar-looking bingos of OUTRAGE and OVERAGES, but there's not much to do when your opponent ends up scoring 558. In the second round Lynda got revenge, if not on Bryan, on the cruel vagaries of fate, scoring 482 against Sue and playing LOAMIER, ELOINED, and BLASTING. Aaron was the next in lane to feel her fury, as she won 420-339, playing word-of-the-week PIGOUTS and FETIALS (n. a priest of ancient Rome). Club veterans will remember a long-retired prize for playing certain words as determined by the director. PIGOUTS was one of those words that earned the five dollars, but Lynda was about a decade late in playing it. If she wishes, she can make an appeal. Her triple-triple CROUTONS was the deciding factor in her final match victory of Thomas, but she also made a series of good defensive plays to seal the win.