Cleanup in Aisle Four

1st Charles Reinke ran away with first place thanks to a perfect 4-0 +380 performance. The beginning of his perfection was a 433-325 win over Mary Becker, wherein he played REDUCES and ARTIEST. Mary later avenged that loss by taking down Thomas Reinke 353-342, but the checkmark in the "W" column of Charles' scoresheet was immutable. Charles followed up that win with his highest score of the night, a 514-347 win against Bryan Benwitz. Charles had four bingos in that contest: PAROLED, MONADES (plural of MONAS, so don't play MONADE), MAHONIAS, and the 122-point word-of-the-week QUOTABLY. A matchup against Lynda Finn was less successful in the "scoring points" department, but was equally successful in the "win the game" department, as Charles prevailed 389-308. Both bingos on the board were high-probability sevens: Charles' DOURINE and Lynda's ATONERS. Charles wrapped up his undefeated evening by duking it out with his brother Thomas in a high-scoring affair that ended 490-466 in Charles' favor. Thomas got down ATONERS (where have we seen that one before?), BANDIEST, and a 113-point PROVERS, but Charles outdid him with four bingos (AROUSED, RELINES, ELONGATE, and MATRIXES).

2nd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 +195, his one loss appropriately being given to him by the person in first place. However, no amount of later misfortune could dampen Bryan's good mood after he completely pummelled Thomas Reinke in the first round, scoring an astounding 652 (to Thomas' 424). Bryan's 652 is the fourth 600-point game this year, but it's the highest of those, and the players' combined score of 1076 is the second-highest ever since we started keeping track in 2011. Bryan's bingos in that game were BUNTERS, ETIOLATE, MARAUDS, and a 131-point triple-triple of ENTREPOT. Thomas contributed THAIRMS, GASALIER, and UNPILING to the bingo collection. Coincidentally, Gail Salm also had a triple-triple in the first round, playing a 122-point TROLLIES in a winning effort against Helen Flores. The rest of Bryan's night passed without further incident; after the loss to Charles, he defeated Gail Salm 462-331 despite getting outbingoed two to one (ENDORSEE and TAENIAS vs. CASERNES). He then finished up with an anxiety-inducing 380-377 win over Lynda Finn where he got down TANGIEST and RETIRING.

3rd Dave Gilligan averaged 408 per game, sixty higher than his season average, on his way to a 3-1 -26 finish. His nine bingos also tied his highest-ever bingo total in a session. He started off right with a close win over Thomas Reinke, 428-425, and proved the eons-old adage "two bingos are better than one" by getting down ELASTIC and OPEROSE to Thomas' singular REALEST. In the second round, he faced off against the man who would stick him with a negative spread that was never recovered from, Aaron Bader. Their game ended with a final score of 329-503, but Dave did find two bingos of TRITONS and DESALTED to ease the mild discomfort that losing tends to induce (Aaron had PRESONG, OCCURRED, and RAREFIED). Dave resumed his winning ways by holding Helen Flores bingoless in a 421-339 victory spurred by bingos of OUTAGES and STANDER (don't forget the new anagram, DARNEST!). The evening ended on a high note as he got his high game of the night against Gail Salm, 453-390. This time around, he played THREE bingos: INVADER, BUNGEES, and TALLIERS (after a failed attempt at STALLER [it's only STELLAR <nested parentheses are easy to get carried away with>]).

Experts
Charles Reinke4-0 +380
Bryan Benwitz3-1 +195
Dave Gilligan3-1 -26
Aaron Bader2-0 +272
Lynda Finn2-3 -75
Helen Flores1-3 -150
Gail Salm1-3 -166
Mary Becker1-3 -202
Thomas Reinke1-4 -228
Intermediates

 
NameWin% W   L  T  Avg  Opp Avg Bingos  Avg Phonies % v2
Experts
Charles Reinke71.31455814343764182.054112
Aaron Bader69.5914004253862591.98197.36
Thomas Reinke661356924373794652.26122.615
Bryan Benwitz64.81276904143783601.8471.90
Lynda Finn57.2836204053822451.69156.115
Andy Bohnsack5022041539771.75000
Dennis Lloyd47.934370382395941.3277.44
Richard Lauder47.6394303723911321.6153.84
David Kinzer40.530440345375530.7235.70
Mary Becker4048720357389790.6645.13
Mark Kenas37.56100412435301.8826.70
Helen Flores34.26111813603921600.89116.94
Mike Johnson22.2270367405131.4417.71
Intermediates
Sue Goldstein18.920860307380190.18000

Bingos
Charles Reinke11ARTIEST REDUCES PAROLED QUOTABLY MONADES MAHONIAS DOURINE AROUSED RELINES ELONGATE
MATRIXES
Thomas Reinke10THAIRMS GASALIER UNPILING REALEST DRONISH EASIEST TARPONS ATONERS BANDIEST PROVERS
Dave Gilligan9ELASTIC OPEROSE TRITONS DESALTED STANDER OUTAGES INVADER TALLIERS BUNGEES
Bryan Benwitz8BUNTERS ETIOLATE MARAUDS ENTREPOT RECOINED CASERNES TANGIEST RETIRING
Lynda Finn8GRANTEE RETAKEN DINITRO TATTOOED ERASIONS ATONERS ABOULIAS vasoline
Gail Salm7TROLLIES REGEARS LENSING ENDORSEE TAENIAS NAILERS WIRIEST
Aaron Bader5SCANTER TALLIED PRESONG OCCURRED RAREFIED
Helen Flores4STRAFER STOURIE SOAPING FOUNDERS
Mary Becker2SEEKERS TOASTIER
8-Jan: Scrabble at Covenant Church15-Jan: Scrabble at Misty Mountain Games22-Jan: Scrabble at Covenant Church29-Jan: Scrabble at Covenant Church