Bryan Benwitz Gives Away Losses to the Less Fortunate

1st Bryan Benwitz wasn't his usual high-scoring self, but he didn't need those points anyway as he went 4-0 +205. An unusual amount of restraint was shown by both parties in a low-scoring match against Dave Gilligan, with the final score being a paltry 346-318. The bingo situation was a wash; Dave had SONNETS for 81, with Bryan adding on HEROICS for 79. Bryan regained some of his missing mojo against Susan Vergeront, snatching away her chances for an undefeated evening with a 447-380 victory. This time, Susan did most of the bingoing, playing FOUNTAIN and MATURER to Bryan's AILERON. In the final game, Bryan AGAIN trampled another player's hopes of an undefeated record, defeating the 3-0 Richard Lauder in a 373-338 contest. Richard played MISTRIAL and Bryan played HOSTILE; there's a pun in there somewhere, but a certain somebody hasn't really woken up yet.

2nd Thomas Reinke got in a bonus fifth game (amazing value on his two-dollar investment!) and put it to good use, going 4-1 +325. His two-on-one encounter happened in the first round, when he was matched against both Helen Flores and Mary Becker. Mary was the one who managed to put a few more dents in Thomas' armor, losing by a smaller margin of 83 points in a 453-370 game. Meanwhile, Helen Flores was taken down by a score of 472-323. Thomas bingos in the two games were RAINSUIT, KEGGERS, TOGATED, IGUANAS, and NEOLITHS. After those two wins, Thomas lengthened his winning streak to eleven games; however, he would face a longtime foe in the next round, and there his win streak would come to a calamitous end. The victor, Charles Reinke, played bingos of ADMIRAL and STENCIL, while Thomas found the more obscure VERRUCAE (n. VERRUCA, a plantar wart). However, obscurity doesn't award any extra points, so it was Charles' win, 411-386. Thomas would later pull out another weird word, ARRHIZAL, played in a 434-331 win over Dave Gilligan.

3rd Charles Reinke averaged 501 points per game despite a singular loss that left him at 3-1 +553. He started things off with a bang, defeating Gail Salm 556-336. Gail had the nice find of CAMPFIRE and the higher-scoring SQUARED (88), but Charles was able to respond with a trio of his own bingos: TENSITY, ANTERIOR, and BLOODIES. That score of 556 was not destined to be his highest score of the evening, though, as he scored a cool 587 against Helen Flores, who scored 249. That winning margin of 338 is his second-highest all-time. Four bingos were required for Charles to reach such heights: CONCEDE, PLANTAIN, PLANERS, and ANODISE. Even Charles' loss against Richard Lauder was a high-scoring one, 449-479. Charles had ANISOLE, AESTHETE, and MRIDANGA (n. a drum of India), but his efforts were nullified by Richard's SPAEING as well as his triple-triple of LITTERER for 122 points. That word turned out to be worth eight bucks, as it netted Richard both the triple-triple prize ($4) and the high E play (another $4).

Both Richard Lauder and Peter Schmiedicke also had 3-1 records. Sue Goldstein played the word of the week, the 101-point PALIMONY in a 401-403 loss against Betty Hasselkus. We had a few new bingos played this week: ANODISE (Charles), RAINSUIT (Thomas), and TRANNIE (Dennis).