Bryan Benwitz Celebrates End of 2-2 Records

1st Bryan Benwitz romped through all challengers on his way to a 4-0 +556 record and a 455 average, ending a five-week streak of unexciting 2-2 records. He proudly filled the role of the everyman's hero when he defeated evil menace Charles Reinke by a very lopsided score, 469-328, to end Charles' winning streak at thirteen games. Despite the inequity of their scores, each player had exactly one bingo: ORALIST for Bryan, DISSEAT for Charles. Many more bingos than that were found on the board after Bryan beat Richard Lauder in a high-scoring showdown, 493-400. Bryan had IRENICS, SARDINED, and AMENDER to Richard's DIASTOLE and SAFROLES. The perfect night was secured with a merciless 442-245 victory over a 3-1 Dave Gilligan. The bingo count was again not quite up to standard, with Bryan's DEBASING being the only one played, but scoring 442 is always nice, with or without bingos. Counterpoint: bingos are always nice too.

2nd Charles Reinke might have had his winning streak broken by Bryan Benwitz and his notorious Scrabble skills, but he still enjoyed a strong 4-1 +406 performance. In the first round he faced off against the returning Michael David, blessedly freed from parenting duties for one glorious night (we're talking about Michael here), but Charles didn't even have the courtesy to let him win; the final score was 443-385 in Charles' favor. At the same time as that game played out, Charles took down Helen Flores 477-269, playing a 94-point DENSIFY to help his cause. However, these victories paled in comparison to the large amounts of smack that Charles heartlessly applied to his brother Thomas; when all was said and done, Charles had won by a score of 589-400. Thomas did play SHORTIA and DUETTING in an attempt to be competitive, but Charles buried him with SPIRACLE, DONEGAL, PRESTORE, and a trio of 50+ point power tile plays.

3nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +464, and one-upped the two finishers above him by averaging 473 per game. In the first round, he crushed fourth-place finisher Dave Gilligan, 478-220, thanks to bingos of LATTERS and a nine-letter OUTGNAWED (also valid: OUTGNAWN). A minor hiccup occurred when he ran into his brother Charles (gory details above), but Thomas recovered quickly from the scoring onslaught levied upon him to levy his own scoring onslaught upon an unwitting Richard Lauder, 527-251. The three bingos on the board were all Thomas': CATERERS, TENDENCY, and RAVINGS. Thomas secured a 3-1 record by beating Lynda Finn 485-366, but the win was tainted by a phony DUNNISH* (played with two blanks, no less). His other bingo, ACONITE, was perfectly valid, as was Lynda's STROLLER.

Lynda's FUTURIST, played against Helen Flores, was word of the week.