Thomas Reinke Thwarts Bryan Benwitz - And Everybody Else Too

1st Thomas Reinke made easy work of his opponents, going a perfect 5-0 +459 despite only scoring above 400 in two of his games. He ended Bryan Benwitz's winning streak at nine, leaving Bryan agonizingly close to the coveted ten-in-a-row. The final score of that game was a decisive 545-376 despite each player getting three bingos: NEURONS, ESPALIER, and SIENITES for Bryan, WAVIEST, DIORITE, and a 105-point TRUANCY for Thomas. Gail Salm was the closest to defeating the T-Twin, with only four points separating the winner and loser, 363-359. This time around, both players were limited to just one bingo apiece: SANGERS (n. SANGER, a temporary fortification) for Gail and DENATURE for Thomas.

2nd Andy Bohnsack went 4-1 +183, losing his first game to Thomas Reinke 248-486 and then reeling off a series of increasingly angry wins. He got the highest-scoring bingo of the night, a 110-point SQUARISH (also word of the week!), in the course of defeating Dave Gilligan 478-294. Andy also got GRANDER and ENTASIA in that whupping; Dave found PURLOIN. A game against Charles Reinke was a little bit closer, ending 457-436. Again, Andy had a trio of bingos: STAGIER, YEASTING, and PERCOID. Charles managed TOADIES and OUTGNAW, the latter of which takes an N for OUTGNAWN.

3rd Richard Lauder finished at 3-2 with an unfortunate -51 spread. He wasn't his usual high-scoring self, but managed to parlay his defensive skills into some wins. The cagy veteran defeated Barb Besadny 395-339 for his highest game of the night, playing HISTONES and INERTIA along the way. Simultaneous to that game, he took down Helen Flores 374-355 with nice finds of CHATTIER and WATERMAN. Chris Vergeront was more resistant to defeat, unleashing the expanding power of his word knowledge to win 440-273. He held Richard bingoless while playing three for his own nefarious purposes: ADVISED, PETALINE (anagram TAPELINE) and BLOTTED.

We were happy to see newcomer Jane Woods enter our midst. She managed one win against June Scott and also got two bingos of SAINTED and ENTAILED in her four games, a better showing than many newbies. We hope she comes back!