Scrabble is Hard, But Bryan Makes it Look Easy

1st Bryan Benwitz made it 6 straight weeks placing in the top 3, coming in first at 4-0 +322. Those present all agree that Bryan's first-round win against Dave was very impressive; however, that accomplishment was quickly surpassed by his achieving of the "Double Reinke Perfecto", beating both Reinke brothers in back to back games. He first defeated Thomas 530-326 by playing RANDIEST, TAUNTERS, and ADAMSITE (n. a lung-irritating gas), compared to his opponents' DESTRESS (a word which anagrams to the palindromic pair of STRESSED DESSERTS). Charles fared a little better against him, but a late-game post-bingo seven-consonant draw guaranteed the Bryaniac's 383-377 win. His perfect night was concluded with a 392-343 win over newcomer Darcy, spoiling her own perfect (albeit shortened) night in the process.

2nd Charles Reinke bingoed (editor's note: only BOINGED is good) a lot, finding 13 rack-clearing plays en route to a 3-1 +472 night. When typed out, it really is quite an impressive list: DEXTERS, SLICERS, AKINETIC, UNITIES, HEXANES, ARRAYED, LINGERIE, ARGININE, ASSERTER, EDITION, LISTERS, RADIUSED, and HOSTAGE. How are people even supposed to compete against such bingo prowess? The club should probably consider a limit of 2 such plays per player per game to level the playing field a little bit.

3rd Lynda Finn "Finnished" off her competition, going 3-1 +250. A lesser competitor than she would have crumbled after an opening loss, letting their despair carry them to a winless night. But Lynda, showing indomitable strength of will, took the loss and used it as fuel for the next three games, winning them all. Such impressive resolve will certainly be useful as she attempts to corral and direct 40-ish rowdy Scrabblers at this weekend's tournament. Good luck to all participants, and a big thanks to Lynda for bringing multi-day Scrabble to Madison!