Richard Lauder Goes Undefeated* (Note Asterisk)

1st Richard Lauder succeeded in not losing any of his games, but this remarkable feat must be denoted, just like Barry Bonds' home run record, with an asterisk, for Richard only played three out of four possible games. His 3-0 +140 record nonetheless was enough for first place given the absence of any 4-0 performances, and his three bingos per game led all players. A first-round match against Lynda Finn resulted in Lynda's only loss of the evening as Richard got down AXSEEDS, ENTERICS, and OVERSPEND (through PE) to attain a 407-365 victory. He then pulled out his "bag of tricks" (read: bag of phonies) to take down Mary Becker by a score of 408-366. ENTITLED was his single valid bingo in the game; PALTROON (valid anagram: PORTOLAN; probably thinking of POLTROON) and AGENISE (either that or AGEWISE; handwriting unclear) were his phonies. To clinch his undefeated night, Richard first had to get past Charles Reinke, a task which was readily accomplished with a final score of 435-379, thanks to timely bingos of DONATED, DRAWLING, and OILIEST.

2nd Thomas Reinke finished at 3-1 +319, the highest spread of three 3-1 finishers. His first game, a 309-430 loss against Bryan Benwitz, could have been taken as an ill omen, but Thomas rebounded from that setback to win his next three, nearly scoring 500 in all of them (missing the cutoff with a 498 against Dennis Lloyd). Dave Gilligan was the first victim of Thomas' 500-scoring ways; their game ended rather lopsidedly at 533-320. Dave got away with the phony LURIDEST (LUCIDEST is new to the dictionary; STUDLIER and DILUTERS are the real words in those letters), while Thomas contributed YEELINS, ZAIDEHS, and LINTIER to his extensive list of bingos. Thomas' next 500 game was just that, a round 500 to Peter Schmiedicke's 388. Again, Thomas played three bingos (ETERNISE, VIADUCT, and LUTANIST), but this time, his opponent got two, and they were both valid: AURORAE (almost looks like an exchangeable rack until you see the bingo!) and COLLEGE.

3rd Bryan Benwitz fell fourteen spread points short of second place with his 3-1 +305 record. His 565-249 trouncing of Helen Flores was his fourth 300+ winning margin this year. It was also his seventh four-bingo game (CONGEST, UNLOADER, ERASION, INWALLED) in the same time period. Peter Schmiedicke fared somewhat better, "only" losing to Bryan by a score of 380-453. Peter played PRERADIO and GOATEES, while Bryan got just one bingo of SANITIES, but Bryan's 81-point play of ZOUK, plus a bevy of other scoring plays, allowed him to snag victory from his opponent's greedy grip. Going into the fourth game with an undefeated record, the tables were utterly turned, and Bryan got a taste of his own bitter medicine, losing to Lynda Finn 538-333. Bryan's onliest bingo was ONLIEST; meanwhile, Lynda had a double-double of INSOLATE (82), CARVINGS on a triple word (90), and a triple-triple of ENTREATS (133). Lynda's triple-triple wasn't the first one played that night; Aaron Bader's COERCION for 122 holds that honor, found through the second C out of an EINOO?? rack.

Charles' ORDUROUS was chosen as word of the week.