Charles Reinke Not Keen on the Idea of Losing

1st Charles Reinke emerged from a large group of 19 players as the only one undefeated, finishing at 4-0 +377.  There were a myriad questions, but no answers, as Charles roughed up his opponents; he averaged 458 over his four games, highest among all attendees.  In a game against Susan Vergeront, both combatants were allowed two bingos by the often-mercurial Tile Gods (ANTIGEN and TALLIERS for Susan; COLLIES and WARPAGES for Charles), but the final score was not so balanced, ending 491-314 in Charles' favor.  491 is an impressive score, but Charles' appetite for huge scores was not sated, and he defeated Andy Bohnsack 522-402 in the final game of the night.  Andy had DARKIES for 99 points, as well as an out-bingo of TOLUIDE, but Charles got down three of his own bingos - COLOCATE, OUTFLIES, and INSHRINE - for an easy win.

2nd Chris Vergeront returned from a summer of ultimate frisbeeing to prove that his skills had not grown rusty, finishing with a 4-1 record and a bewildering -27 cumulative.  All of his games were close save the one he lost, 328-442 versus Andy Bohnsack.  Against Mary Becker, Chris utilized his high-probability bingo knowledge to get down DECRIALS and ROADIES, thus squeaking out a 393-384 win.  If that score wasn't close enough for you, Chris later defeated Helen Flores by a still smaller margin, 325-317, a game where the only bingo on the board was phony - GLISSED.  As a former trombonist, Chris was as surprised as anybody when that word failed to turn up in the dictionary.  The scoring picked up when Chris matched up against Leslie Seltzer; Chris scored an impressive 479, and Leslie's 432 is the highest loss so far this year.  The younger Vergeront had three bingos of SOLIDER, JOINTER, and QUINATES (QUINATE is an adjective meaning "arranged in groups of five"); Leslie was held bingoless, but did get a non-bingo triple-triple of REQUITED for 162 points (!!), the highest-scoring non-bingo play in club history as far as this writer knows.  Leslie walked away from that game five dollars richer, as any trip-trip, bingo or not, gets rewarded with a fiver.

3rd Thomas Reinke only played six bingos, a low total for the prolific bingoer, but neverthless ended up with a strong 3-1 +391 performance.  A game with Bryan Benwitz saw some disciplined board control as each player was limited to one bingo apiece: LATRINES for Bryan, RADWASTE (n. radioactive waste) for Thomas.  A timely V-stick allowed the twin to prevail, 394-354.  Gail Salm was not spared a bingo assault as Thomas' other opponents were: the final score of 514-304 came as a result of Thomas' three bingos: SWERVING, NOTABLES, and REIMAGES.  Gail got down TOASTIER, a word that becomes more appropriate as the weather gets colder (somebody remind me why we don't relocate the club to Florida?).  As is often the case, Thomas' only loss came to his brother, 411-387.  Thomas got down the high-probability URANITE, but couldn't keep up with FRAENUM, LINTIER, and Word of the Week SANDSOAP from his mirror image on the other side of the board.

Barb Besadny Coldly, Methodically Handles Intermediates

1st Barb Besadny averaged a heady 387 per game as she went 2-1 +115.  She handily took care of June Scott, 394-315, despite no bingos being played on either side.  Her loss came against Susan Vergeront, and it was indisputably the closest game of the night, as the margin turned out to be just one point, 371-372.  Susan had STAIDER and ENGRAVES, but Barb made it extremely close even with no bingos of her own.

2nd Sue Goldstein went 2-1 +16 for a strong second-place finish in the intermediate group.  Her loss came against the aforementioned Barb Besadny, 392-355, despite a high-scoring bingo of FALSIES for 88 points.  However, while defeating Dave Gilligan 374-339, Sue got an even higher-scoring bingo: a triple-triple STRINGER for 113 points!  This left her average bingo score for the session at 101 points, easily topping every other challenger.