New Location, Same Game

1st Bryan Benwitz came out on top in the club's first night at Festival Foods, sneaking into first place with a 3-1 +314 record, a mere two spread points preventing him from relgation into the second paragraph. He started out with a 465-342 win against Dennis, where he played CASETTES, DINGIES, and DRAWEES. Dennis got down a double-blank UNVOICED, but he probably wished those blanks had come at separate times so he could bingo twice with them. Anyone brave enough to try exchanging one of them so you can draw it back and bingo again? No? Anyway, he followed up that win with another in the second game, this time verus Charles, 461-370. He played the nine-letter ENSHRINED (ENSHRINEE is also good), while Charles' missed DISAVOW cost him, if not the game, a lot of spread points. Bryan had his highest scoring game of the night against Dave, dropping 510 and getting LEGIONS, FONDEST, and SYRINGA (n. an ornamental shrub, also known as "lilac"). He lost his final game against Thomas, 389-481, but it was also sort of a victory, because the difference wasn't enough for his opponent to secure first place, and that's all that matters. Except we don't give money for first place.

2nd Thomas Reinke's 3-1 +312 record was good for second place, which seems good if you ignore how close he was to first. His night got off to a phony start with his early bingo of CHAZENS* being no good (CHAZZEN, CHAZAN, and KHAZEN are all good, and all mean the same thing). He used that ill-gotten advantage to win 509-281 against Gail. He avoided playing any phonies against Dave in the second round, but maybe he should've, because he lost, 386-426. He played COGNISED and TAILBONE, but they both only scored 64, and Dave was able to get down three bingos of his own, HORSING, MILTING, and MOLESTS, the last blocking Thomas' hopeful bingo and sealing the win. In the third round, his next opponent, Charles, got off to a quick start with a double-double PIPEAGES, but found his luck ran out there. Thomas won that contest 405-373 with bingos of BEAMIEST and OVERRIDE. Against Bryan in the final, he watched CANTEEN go down before playing three bingos of his own, SATINIER, TOLEWARE, and a double-blank word-of-the-week YEOMANRY. In case you think that last one is cool, maybe it is, but Bryan had already played it in a game in 2014, and so was wholly unimpressed. That word joins ENTRYWAY, LAYAWAYS, and SYNKARYA (!?) as the only double-Y bingos played. Only about 200 more to go! Remember to look for the always-fruitful -NYMY ending.

3rd Betty Hasselkus, normally mild-mannered, came out swinging, and not only was she swinging, she was connecting as well, and ended up coming in third place with a 3-1 +187 record and averaging 407 per game. She started off slow, losing to Helen 335-427 and not bingoing. Things rapidly picked up after that, as she beat Dennis 415-303 in the next game. Betty played MARTINS (n. a small bird) and BALKIER (also BAULKIER) to win that one. If you thought that was good, her next game will blow your mind: a 4-bingo 508-point explosion against Lynda. That's Betty's highest score since we started keeping track, as well as 4 doubling her previous high in bingos played. EMERIES, TACKING, FAILINGS (after the plausible LEAFINGS* got challenged off), and TINGLES were her bingos. That was a tough act to follow, but she did get another win in the final game, 370-316 against Sue, playing DESIGNS. That win earned her prestigious third-paragraph honors; perhaps next week she can aim for second?