Lynda Finn Derives Nourishment from the Tears of her Vanquished Foes

1st Lynda Finn was tantalizingly close to her first undefeated session of the calendar year, but fell just short, going 4-1 +250. However, how short did she really fall if she still came in first place? Her round-one game was easily her best as she utterly buried Thomas Reinke under piles of points, winning 532-284. Among her three bingos in that one was a 122-point triple-triple of REALTERS. Not content with just beating one Reinke, Lynda went on to beat the other Reinke by a much closer score of 409-403, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything is possible if you just believe (and play plenty of bingos). Lynda had DODGERS, MARINES, and RIGHTIES in that one; Charles had IRATEST and BROOCHES. Having built up a large amount of momentum by knocking out the pair of Reinkes, a minor obstacle such as a two-on-one match did little to stop Lynda's rampage, as she took out both Gail Salm (397-351, playing FLAVIDS and TONSURED) and Mary Becker (383-366, playing CREATINE and UNTIDIER) in a set of low-scoring games. Sitting at 4-0 after three rounds, Lynda (unwisely?) elected to press her luck in the final game, and that was where her luck ran out, as she was defeated by Bryan Benwitz, 348-415.

2nd Bryan Benwitz averaged a session-best 445 per game as he finished with a 3-1 +142 record. Like Lynda, Bryan started his night strong by scoring 474, but unlike Lynda, his efforts did not earn him a victory, as his opponent Charles Reinke had scored 520 in the meantime. That losing score is tied for the highest this club season. He had a 110-point double-double of HEADWIND (also word of the week in case you were craving additional descriptors) to go along with the more staid PATINAS, but Charles' four-bingo barrage (JUNIPERS, GELATION, URODELE, and OUTSOLES) was too much to overcome. In round three, Bryan was given the chance at revenge and seized the opportunity, defeating Thomas Reinke 459-373. This time, Bryan was the one playing four bingos, finding LODGERS, MISTUNE, BORSTAL, and MARLINES. Thomas opened the game with RIPOSTE but saw his fortunes dip precipitously after that point. Bryan wrapped up his courageous comeback from an 0-1 start by defeating the theretofore-undefeated Lynda Finn.

3rd Gail Salm snuck into third place with a 3-2 +147 final record, her second appearance in the top three in three weeks. Her first game was actually two games at once (aren't you glad we aren't the type of club that makes people take byes?), against Mary Becker and Sue Goldstein. Gail did not shrink from the challenge and won both of them, a relatively close game against Sue Goldstein (356-312, with a bingo of AIRDATE) and a relatively un-close game against Mary Becker (471-311, getting DEFILES and HURTLING). She kept up the bingoing (NECKERS and FEATEST) in a 397-432 loss against Bryan Benwitz, indicating that Bryan needs a reminder in proper Scrabble etiquette: when you get out-bingoed, you're supposed to lose. Proper etiquette was followed when Gail then lost to Lynda Finn, as she had just one bingo of INERTIA to Lynda's two of FLAVIDS and TONSURED (let's just rub FLAVIDS in a bit more, shall we? FLAVIDS FLAVIDS FLAVIDS). Gail wrapped up her strong session with a tensely-fought 399-376 win over Helen Flores, who didn't bingo but got to observe as Gail laid down TENSEST and LORRIES.