Thomas Reinke Gets Right To Work On Another Winning Streak

1st Thomas Reinke, as the only player not to experience the crushing sensation that accompanies a Scrabble loss, rightfully attained first place in the experts with his 4-0 record (with a spread of "only" +169).  He scored above 400 in every game, which shouldn't come as a surprise, as he as scored above 400 in nineteen of his last twenty games.  He beat his brother Charles 526-514, a rare instance of a total score over 1,000 points.  Both players had three bingos: Thomas had PECTENS, NEURONS, and OUTDATED while Charles had AMBARIS (ambari is a plant cultivated for fiber, also spelled AMBARY), INFLATE, and SATIABLE.  That losing score of 514 is the highest losing score of the modern era (i.e. the past two years).

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 with a gigantonormous spread of +580.  Against director Richard Lauder, he put up 553 points to Richard's 265.  The vast difference between those scores is largely attributable to the bingo differential: Charles had VERITAS, PRETELL, HERBALS, and ATEMOYA (a hybrid tropical fruit popular in Taiwan), whereas Richard's record sheet only featured a drawing of a sad-looking man where the bingos should have been.  Not content with just one four-bingo game, Charles also played four bingos in his 490-249 win vs. Matt Rust: CENTRIST, AUNTLIKE, POITREL, and FARDELS.

Charles is also this year's club champion, with a 78.5% winning percentage and a club-leading 443 average!  The title had been assured for a while, as he held a nearly 10% winning-percentage lead over the next closest player for several months.  Next week marks the beginning of a new year and a chance for somebody else to take the throne as their own!

3rd Richard Lauder went 3-1 +14, ending the year strong before taking a month off.  He scored above 400 in all his wins, with his big game being a 452-355 victory over Gail Salm.  LARDERS, TUNNELS, ELEGITS, and BEARINGS were Richard's bingos in that one; Gail got down CAROTENE, but it proved to be not nearly enough.  Gail also played the word of the week, STARTSY, which is the plural of the word STARETS, a spiritual advisor in the Eastern Orthodox church.  With KREMLIN and PIEROGI also being valid words, one wonders if the commies haven't taken over America after all...

June Scott Turns Out To Be A Ruthless Scrabble Assassin

1st June Scott went 2-1 +111, the third week in a row where she has had that win-loss record.  We will see if she can maintain this momentum going into the new season.  She started the night off with a bang, defeating Aki Miura 325-265.

2nd Matt Rust won his first two games against Intermediate competition, then was moved up to the Experts only to find stiffer competition.  Neverthless, his record of 2-2 -99 was enough to secure second place in the lower group.  He bingoed in each of his first three games, with ADORING, REUNITED, and STATION.

3rd Harwinder Dowd finished at 1-1 -29.  She lost to Sharlie Miura 319-364 despite a bingo of MOISTENS (counteracted by Sharlie's HEAVENS), then bounced back and handed June her only loss, 313-297.  Harwinder finished the season as the club's top intermediate player, with an intimidating 64.9% winning percentage.