1st Thomas Reinke once again reaped the benefits of his decade-and-a-half-long word study regimen, finishing with a perfect 4-0 +334 record. He came out of the gate strong with a 517-305 victory over Dave Gilligan in round 1, playing ENCINAS, TOASTIER, and ENROLLEE en route to an easy win. His bingoing tapered off after that point, but the wins did not. A round two win against James Frankki, 412-378, saw him play just one bingo, SMILING (something that Thomas was doing as he imagined the flood of dopamine that would be unleashed within his brain once he won the game). Similarly, Thomas' next win, 423-343 vs. Lynda Finn, only featured one bingo from the victor, OUTRAGE. Lynda, meanwhile, played EBONITES and SNORTED. Thomas flexed his emerging Collins-dictionary knowledge in the final game by taking down Mark Kenas 443-435, a close score that carries within it a hidden tragedy: Mark went over on his clock by 37 seconds, costing him ten points and thus the victory. Thomas' bingos were WIRETAPS and the Collins-only #OUTASITE (it means what it sounds like it means).

2nd James Frankki rebounded from a rough tournament in Chicago over the weekend to go 3-1 +588 with a dizzying 471 per-game average. Astounding all onlookers (mostly the Star Wars X-Wing players at nearby tables), James absolutely crushed Charles Reinke in round one, 552-309. Charles had one bingo, FINNIEST, while James had GLACIERS and WORDIEST (the latter of which is always appropriate in a Scrabble context). James was rewarded for his dominance of one Reinke twin by being paired with the other won in round two, but the result, a 378-412 loss, wasn't as favorable for James despite his triple-triple of EARRINGS for 113 points. Brushing off the loss like it meant nothing to him, James went on to defeat Helen Flores by a score of 470-288. His bingo play of CARFULS drew a challenge, while his other bingo of TURBINES drew no suspicion at all. James topped off his night with a decisive win against Mary Becker, 484-287, although his hopeful high-probability phony of UREDIAE* (just UREDIAL and UREDIUM) cast a shadow over the proceedings.

3rd Charles Reinke's 401 average was quite a bit below his yearly average of 447, but that didn't stop him from getting third place with a 3-1 +53 record. His disastrous first-round encounter with James Frankki was already documented above and, for the sanity of this writer, won't be recounted. In round two, he barely came away with the win against Helen Flores, 359-349; Helen's bingo of BITTERS just wasn't quite enough. Charles showed up in fighting form for round three, defeating Barb Pratzel 460-306 thanks to bingos of CABILDO and INBURST. His best game was saved for last as he triumphed over Lynda Finn, 475-343. Charles got down PORNIER and DEACONS while Lynda had SEQUENT and GENITURE (while also wisely turning down a possible play of PORNILY*).