If Each Win Was Worth A Quarter, Lynda Would Have a Whole Dollar

1st Lynda Finn lived up to her "Finnisher" nickname (she might claim that that is not her nickname but guess what it is now), going 4-1 -9, good for first place. In the first round she dispatched Betty, 377-354, with a bingo of PORKIER. Betty got down SWEARER, making UPPINGS (n. UPPING, the process of marking young swans for identification purposes, but we all knew that) for 101, drawing a challenge. Lynda's negative spread was entirely a result of her next game, a 312-551 loss to Bryan. To add insult to injury, her sole bingo was a phony HOTPADS*, while Bryan played OUTLIER, DREAMING, and TOUGHED. In the third round she faced two opponents at once (who will be the first brave soul to face three at once????), beating Helen in a close one, 396-388, and David, 416-283. Her final game was also her best, a 504-438 win against reigning club champ Charles. Charles played TORSADES and FEASANCE (like MALFEASANCE except neutral), while Lynda got ALAMODES (n. a silk fabric), TONTINE, and HERIOTS. That last one secured the win by scoring 108 big points on a non-bingo-friendly board, with the word having to end with O?S. Charles pretended to not be too upset, but insider sources say he cried profusely once everyone else had left the church.

2nd Aaron Bader went 3-1 +398, missing out on a chance for first place by leaving a game early. He got his losing out of the quickly against Charles in the first round, 383-465. He did get down the word-of-the-week EPERGNES, but it wasn't enough against Charles' SAHUARO, PLENTIES, and OBELIAS. In the next round, he played two, Betty and Dave. Against Betty, he won 409-310, countering Betty's COUNTED with his own ORANGES. And Against Dave, he won 484, getting down LANIARY (n. a canine tooth), and PRERIOT (angram PIERROT). Things got off to a good start in his final game, versus Bryan, when he opened with NEUSTON (n. an aggregate of small aquatic organisms). He then got the double-double CASTLED, and finished with SEDILIA, while Bryan could hardly get anything going. The final ended up being 485-295, and with that, he decided he'd had enough Scrabble for the night. Heh. As if anyone could ever have enough Scrabble!

3rd Charles Reinke came in third with a 3-1 +370 record and a pretty decent average of 477 per game. He beat Aaron in the first round, but we already know all about that, so we'll go straight to his second-round game versus David, which he won 429-255. He got down DEPUTING and RASHEST in that one, to go along with most of the good tiles. His bingoing took a sharp swing upward against Thomas in the next game, when he played five rack-clearers in a 576-396 victory. For the bingo-curious: REBATERS (never play BERATERS*), DADAISMS, VALENCES, ANTIGENE, and TOADYING. The 7 combined bingos in that game is tied for most this season in any game. Charles' chances at an undefeated night were stymied (or stimied) by Lynda in the last round, 438-504. And that's okay. He's gone undefeated enough times, don't you think?