Bryan Benwitz Bamboozles Bewildered Opponents, Now Averages 400 on the Year
1st Bryan Benwitz climbed unimpeded to the top of Mt. Scrabble with his perfect 4-0 +184 record. His ascent was not without obstacles, however; his first game was a high-scoring 441-409 affair with Susan Vergeront. Bryan's bingos of INCITES and the ever-useful ESTRONE (n. ESTRONE, an estrogen) were offset by Susan's BROGUES and WEEPIEST. Visiting Oshkoshian Marty McCarthy came closest to beating Bryan, but it was not to be: Bryan prevailed in the end, 384-375. Only in the last game did Bryan begin to flex his muscles, dropping 497 on the unsuspecting head of Mark Kenas, who didn't score too badly himself with a 387-point showing. The bingos were expectedly plentiful in that one: Bryan played HERETIC, DOMAINS, and ANDESITE; Mark responded with WAILSOME and REDRYING. Thus the question remains unanswered: what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
2nd Mark Kenas averaged 462 points per game while going 3-1 +504. His sole loss is detailed above, but otherwise, his opponents averaged well below 300 points per game. Thomas Reinke was the first to match up against Mark's immense skill and also the first to be trounced, 442-302. Thomas was limited to zero bingos as Mark hogged the good tiles for himself, playing HONEYING, URINOSE, and REMINTS. Mark again got three bingos (PENTADS, CULVERIN, and the nine-letter TOPSIDERS) against Chris Vergeront, the final score being a lopsided 527-297 despite Chris' TERRAIN and TOASTIER.
3rd Peter Schmiedicke also finished 3-1, his spread of +323 easily beating out Chris Vergeront, who had the same record but a -54 spread. Peter neatly beat Andy Bohnsack 419-376, helped along by his finds of NEATENS and ALTERANT. However, the winning margin of that game paled in comparison to the 248-point win he secured over a stunned Richard Lauder. 476-228 was the final, with all three bingos on the board being played by the victor: HARDEST, ETERNITY, and the phony PAREVES (PAREVE is an adjective; REPAVES is the valid word with those letters). Peter's only loss, a 405-417 match against Marty McCarthy, also saw him play three bingos (FEIJOAS, ANEURINS, and STIBINE). Marty got down BURSTER and used other methods of scoring to make up the bingo-count deficit.
| Intermediates |
| Bingos | ||
| Mark Kenas | 10 | HONEYING URINOSE REMINTS STALWART PROMOING PENTADS TOPSIDERS CULVERIN REDRYING WAILSOME |
| Peter Schmiedicke | 10 | ALTERANT NEATENS FEIJOAS STIBINE ANEURINS INTRANT PERTAINS ETERNITY HARDEST pareves |
| Andy Bohnsack | 10 | ARABIZED SOLATION TERRIFIC TRYSAIL DIARIES CERATOID CASTING HAVIOURS BLOCKING isopody |
| Thomas Reinke | 9 | PAGODAS NEGRONI INGRAFTS ANTIWEED TRICORNS ACROGENS AIRTIME REMITTAL URETERAL |
| Charles Reinke | 8 | NAILERS DEXTRINS SEALANT SARDINE JEEPERS RIOTERS VERTICIL INFLAME |
| Bryan Benwitz | 7 | INCITES ESTRONE DHOOLIES ORTOLANS HERETIC DOMAINS ANDESITE |
| Chris Vergeront | 7 | MOUTHING NOTICERS TARDIES TOASTIER TERRAIN TAURINES NOSTRIL |
| Susan Vergeront | 6 | WEEPIEST BROGUES TARPONS RETINUES ASTERIA UNRAVEL |
| Marty McCarthy | 5 | ERRATIC BROWNED BURSTER REFACED TOUTERS |
| Richard Lauder | 5 | EMERALD GREATLY OVERDUE meanish unminted |
| Betty Hasselkus | 3 | TAILORS REINDEER RETRACED |
| Mary Becker | 3 | ROSARIES DUELING SLUTTIER |
| Helen Flores | 3 | FILLERS MENTORS AROUSING |
| Jordan Parker | 2 | FRETTING SPRINTER |
| Harwinder Dowd | 1 | PAUSING |
| Barb Besadny | 1 | SHOOTER |
| $4 Prizes | |||
| Prize | Player | Word | Score |
| High D | Marty McCarthy | ||
| Low Y | Thomas Reinke | ||
| High A | Peter Schmiedicke | ||
| Low D | Charles Reinke | ||
| High Games | |
| 554 | Thomas Reinke |
| 527 | Mark Kenas |
| 497 | Bryan Benwitz |
| 496 | Thomas Reinke |
| 490 | Mark Kenas |
| Most bingos/game | |
| 2.5 | Mark Kenas |
| 2.5 | Peter Schmiedicke |
| 2 | Andy Bohnsack |
| 1.8 | Thomas Reinke |
| 1.75 | Bryan Benwitz |
| High Averages | |
| 462 | Mark Kenas |
| 430 | Thomas Reinke |
| 425 | Peter Schmiedicke |
| 423 | Andy Bohnsack |
| 412 | Bryan Benwitz |
| Low Opponent Averages | |
| 336 | Mark Kenas |
| 344 | Peter Schmiedicke |
| 353 | Mary Becker |
| 366 | Bryan Benwitz |
| 369 | Betty Hasselkus |
| Session Averages | |
| Avg. Game Score | 384 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 384 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 434 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 333 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 0 |
Wednesday, May 21:
Scrabble at Misty Mountain Games
Wednesday, May 28:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
Wednesday, June 4:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
Wednesday, June 11:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
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Posted 5/2/2025
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