Bryan Benwitz Bends Wits

1st Bryan Benwitz did not face any major impediments to victory, finishing 4-0 +481 and averaging 437 points per game.  His closest game was 434-404 against Dave Gilligan; Bryan played CESTOID and OVULATES to Dave's FEMINIST and BRAIDING.  Two bingos, though, is nothing compared to the four he played in the course of defeating Mary Becker 493-356: LEMONADE, TOOTERS, SENARII, and the phony ENWRAPT.  ENWRAP and WRAPT are both good, so ENWRAPT is a logical combination of those two words.  So logical, in fact, that the same phony was played by Andy Bohnsack just a few months ago.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +246, the best of four players who finished 3-1.  He defeated relative newbie Jordan Parker 470-292, playing AUDITEES, POODLES, and RENDERS for some timely 50-point bonuses.  He then got a victory against Andy Bohnsack, one of the few players who currently has a winning record against him.  The final score was 462-413, with Andy's 413 being the highest losing score of the night.  Thomas played TRIVETS, DUMBING (an appropriate word considering what he played next), and a phony CURATION; Andy played HURDIES and VERITIES.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke went 3-1 +178, pulling off the vaunted double-Reinke upset for two of his wins.  In the first game of the night, he stifled all of Charles' attempts at scoring, coming out triumphant 417-328, riding on the back of his three bingos: EPIGONES (n. EPIGONE, and inferior imitator), DREDGERS, and REIMAGES.  He later defeated Thomas Reinke in a somewhat closer contest, 441-377.  Again, three bingos were on order for Peter (MANGOES, SNORTED, and word-of-the-week LENTISKS), but he did not manage to hold the second Reinke bingoless as Thomas played ATONERS and CAVALIER.  Things were looking great for Peter until he had to face Bryan Benwitz in the final round; that game ended with a severely lopsided 243-406 score. 

Sue Goldstein Makes Easy Work of Opposition

1st Sue Goldstein finished a perfect 3-0 +233.  She did not average much more than usual, 337 per game, but her absolutely smothering board control resulted in her opponents averaging a piddling 260 per game.  Sue saved the best for last when she destroyed June Scott 368-257 in the third game of the night.