Bryan Counteracts Cold Outside Temperature with Sizzling Scrabble Play, but it Didn't Work Because it was Still Cold Outside When we Finished so Thanks for Nothing Bryan

1st Bryan Benwitz extended his current win streak to, um, four in a row by going 4-0 +234, and also retook the club's top spot by upping his win percentage on the year to 72.1%. He started off with a heart-stopping one-point victory over Charles Reinke, 423-422. A late PACIFIES for 104 big points, plus additional bingos of SERIATE and OVERLAID, gave him the smallest possible cushion to win the game. Charles had WAHINES and MOULTING, and probably wishes that those bingos had scored one or two more points than they actually did. Bryan followed up that close win with a much more comfortable one, taking out Dave Kinzer 454-339. Dave got down BREASTED; Bryan had TOTALIZE and SCALARE (n. an angelfish). A subsequent victory against Helen Flores was similarly lopsided but not embarrassingly so, ending with a score of 433-339 and seeing Bryan hoarding the bingos for himself, playing PARTIALS, INANEST, and BANKING. An undefeated evening was within reach at that point, but an obstacle named Thomas Reinke stood in the way. With grit and determination, Bryan overcame that obstacle, winning 410-396 thanks to finds of FANJETS and HEADFUL (as in "Bryan has a headful of bingos just waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting).

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +382, but it sounds way cooler if you stop after three games and say he went 3-0 +396. His first game against Mary Becker was a 400-367 win despite his single bingo of NOTARISE (68) getting outdone by Mary's RECOINS (74). Things improved in a 431-319 win over Helen Flores, but he must have been saving all his ammunition for the upcoming matchup against Aaron Bader; their game ended at 634-383. For those keeping track at home, that's a total score over 1,000 (the first such game this year after two of them last year). Not content with one record, Thomas addressed another record by playing an astounding six bingos, which ties a club high set twice by, who else, Thomas. The bingos were PELORIAN, GALATEAS, ENDORSEE, YAKITORI, EQUINES, and BISNAGAS. Aaron, for his part, got FLAPPING for 102 points, but was justified in stating that YAKITORI wasn't even that good of a find.

3rd Aaron Bader averaged a nifty 474 points per game while going 3-1 +224. Like Thomas, his record would look a lot cooler if he could simply discount the loss. His first two games were both big wins in his favor; the first was a 472-332 victory against Lynda Finn (getting INCITANT and FEELERS). He then squared off against Dave Gilligan and came away with a decisive win, 564-232. A 158-point triple-triple of HANDLIST accounted for much of the disparity between the scores. Aaron suffered a significant setback in the previously-described loss to Thomas Reinke (reminder for those with short memories or who like to read paragraphs out of order like a barbarian: Thomas had six bingos and scored over 600), but avenged that loss by defeating the other Reinke in a high-scoring shootout, 477-474. Charles played DIALOGIC and BOUNTIES, while Aaron flaunted his superior word knowledge with EUCAINES, DEORBITS, TONNAGE, and REGALES. (Ed. Note: all those bingos are top 2500 in probability).