1st Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +362 a very consistent three-game start to the night with scores of 420, 422, and 421 before ruining the consistency with a 530. His first game was against James, and it was a close one, with Thomas winning 420-397. He let James get away with the phony-but-valid-looking INVESTER*, and in response, played the valid-but-phony-looking CALENDER (v. to smooth by pressing between rollers). He then faced Helen an won 422-358. He got down two quick bingos, URINATOR and FORBEARS. That second one is not to be confused with FOREBEARS, FORBEAR is the verb and FOREBEAR is the noun. Helen was able to keep the game close with some high-scoring power-tile plays, but failed to bingo herself. In the third game, against Charles, he got off to a very slow start. He was helped when his bingo of SPRINGE (leading candidate for "best spring word") got challenged, but his late bingo of TUNELESS (as in "Charles' singing is tuneless") came up just short, with the end result being a 421-434 defeat. Stay tuned for the third paragraph where we reveal what exciting and topical bingo Charles played in that game! Against Dave in the fourth and final game, he had a great first rack with two blanks, and played TEXTILE for 90. The rest of the game proceeded almost as well, as he bingoed twice more with ENIGMAS and LANGRELS and ended with 530 points to his name.

2nd Helen Flores got in some good practice for the upcoming Greeneye tournament in Minneapolis this weekend, coming in second with a 3-1 +92 record against tough competition. In the opener, she went up against Sue, who got the bingoing going first with FRAILER. Helen responded late with CONTOURS and won a close one, 392-361. She suffered her only loss of the night in the next game against Thomas, but came back strong against Michael, winning 384-353. Michael may be slightly rusty after an extended absence, but Helen has had to deal with similar effects after returning from Phoenix to find a still-frozen wasteland in Madison (though the editor notes that at the time of this writing, it does feel like spring a little bit), so it evened out. Michael got TOTALISE in that game, while Helen played COASTED. Her most impressive win was a 459-365 win over reigning club champion Charles in the final game. She played DEVOURS for 82 and followed it up with a devastating SHAWLED for 100 to put the game out of reach. A third bingo for her was almost available right at the end, which would have placed the contest squarely into the "thorough butt-kicking" category.

3rd Charles Reinke was edged out for second place by Helen on spread, finishing with a 3-1 +47 record. He beat Michael 441-329 in the first game, playing bingos of OUTBOARD (n. a type of motor, the opposite of INBOARD) and AUTOMATE. His game with Bryan in second round was a strangely low-scoring affair, with Charles winning in the end 361-345. Bryan played the nice BESOTTED, while Charles got down OUTLAND and VESTIGIA. The rest of the game, presumably, was spent with them playing one tile at a time for three points apiece. Against Thomas, he started off with a rack of REINKE and a blank. He has no choice but to play REINKED, passing up KERNITE and REEKING in order to get a perfect photo-op for the club Facebook group. Oh, and he also won the game, 434-421. His chance at yet another perfect night was foiled by Helen, but don't call her a FOILER* because that's not a word. Well, call her that if you must, just don't put it on the board.