1st Thomas Reinke crushed his opponents in what some might deem an excessive manner, averaging 507 per game while going 5-0 +754. He showed no hospitality to the long-absent (and now maybe even longer-absent) Aaron Bader, sweeping their set of games by scores of 513-369 and 509-460. Eight total bingos, four in each game, did a significant amount of damage: LISSOME, AFFAIRE, ARSENATE, BOWERED, WORRITED, NUTHOUSE, LARGESSE, and CABALLED. Thomas had another four-bingo game in a win over Lynda Finn, 544-332; his bingos there were OVERLAID, RECLINE, AZOTISE, and the phony DIRHEMS* (it's good in Collins; DIRHAMS is the valid spelling in NWL). In the final round, Thomas slowed down his bingoing, but his scoring didn't slow down appreciably as he took advantage of a two-on-one game to pick up two more wins. Late arrival Dennis Lloyd was punished for his tardiness as Thomas won going away, 511-283, finding LUREXES and TARDIES (very appropriate) vs. Dennis' SMARTIE. And the sometimes-unbeatable Bryan Benwitz was felled as well, 338-459, despite a 104-point phony MISSERS* from the losing side (Thomas had RADIATOR and TONSILAR).

2nd Charles Reinke went 4-1 +390 with a 471 per-game average. He started nicely with a 514-408 win against Andy Bohnsack, countering Andy's AEROSOL and RETINAL with BORNITES, TEIGLACH, and AVOWERS. In round two, Charles beat Aaron Bader in a Collins-lexicon match, 432-345, despite Aaron's nifty nine-letter find of ENDOCRINE. A two-on-one bout in round three saw Charles suffer his only loss of the evening, and it was quite a big one as Lynda Finn trounced him, 491-328. Lynda's bingos of DARNEST and BRASSIER were countered by...nothing, revealing that the secret to beating Charles is to somehow stop him from bingoing. At the same time that loss was occurring, Charles defeated Ron Malzer 531-328. Charles finished up with a blowout 550-393 win over Aaron Bader (who was heard muttering "this game sucks"); the star play was Charles' 194-point triple-triple QUINTALS, which is tied for 7th-highest-scoring bingo in our current statkeeping system, the other 194-pointers being Jim Frankki's STARCHES and Dave Gilligan's INVEIGHS. Bryan's ZIPPIEST and Thomas' MOBILIZE, both for 248, are highest, although some old-timers may remember Andy's LALIQUES for 293, which was played several years before the current statkeeping system was introduced.

3rd Lynda Finn went 4-1 with a lesser spread of +186. Displaying remarkable strategic acumen, Lynda picked up two wins in round one, vaulting her ahead of all the simpletons who saw fit to only play a single game in the first round. Lynda's 415-295 win over Sara McLaughlin was bolstered by a 102-point CHERRIES, while her 438-373 victory against Richard Lauder was bolstered by a pair of phonies, ALLEDGE* and NOSERING* (looking for NEGRONIS there). Some sort of karmic justice was meted upon Lynda in the next round as she did not get a bingo in a 332-544 loss to Thomas Reinke, but in round three, she refused to let herself be intimidated by the other Reinke, and the result was a 491-328 win. A 415-365 win versus the returning Karl Armstrong, with bingos of REAPERS and UNITARDS, secured Lynda's spot in the top three.

Richard's find of SCAPULAE was word of the week.