Stats for March 21, 2018
Every Win is Like Its Own Miniature Winning Streak
1st Aaron Bader easily came in first place with a 3-0 +264 record. He started off slow-ish with a 400-340 win over Thomas, playing INSERTED and a late RETABLO (n. a shelf above an altar, also RETABLE) to seal the game. Against Lynda in the second round, he got down the word-of-the-week THANATOS (n. the instinct for death, the opposite of EROS), ASTEROID, and LEUCINE on his way to a 481-334 win. His big accomplishment of the night was ending Charles' 18-game winning streak in the third round, 468-411. His key to success? Play phonies and hope they don't get challenged. He made a phony three-letter word on one of his high-scoring plays, and also played POSTHEEN* as a bingo. POSTEEN and POTHEEN are both acceptable; the close spelling POSHTEEN* is only good in the British Scrabble dictionary. There was no fourth game for him; I think beating Charles counted as two.
2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-2 +209, which doesn't seem like it should be a good enough record for second place but it is. His low-scoring 340-400 loss to Aaron gave way to a slightly-higher-scoring-but-still-low-for-him 372-301 against Bryan. He played ATTAINED and INSTARS (n. to adorn with stars, anagrams STRAINS and SANTIRS), while Bryan played PINITES as his sole bingo. Thomas had his best game of the night against Lynda, winning 535-386 in round 3, playing INFINITE, CATTALO, THORACES, and DONNEES. At the same time, however, he was getting cut down to size by Mary, against whom he ended up losing 330-375. Mary's late QUEERING was the key to her victory. In the final round, he defeated Charles 453-359, but most of the difference can be attributed to the fact that Charles had just lost the previous round and was still getting over the shock. Thomas played REGINAE, PYRANOSE, and a double-blank SATSANG as his bingos in that game.
3rd Charles Reinke went 3-2 -70, winning his first three games before getting in the first two games of what will undoubtedly be a very long and frustrating (for him, not for anyone else) losing streak. He opened with a 419-397 close win over Bryan, featuring a nine-letter ESTIMATED. Bryan himself passed up PROGRAMED in the same spot (nines ending in -ED are the best). Bryan had some sort of unholy VWXZ combo on his last rack, the point that he would normally be getting from those letters instead being given to his opponent who managed to go out before him. He then faced Helen and Gail in a two-on-one, and he squeaked by both with a combined 59 points to spare. Only careful endgame play saved him against Gail. He failed to bingo, and managed to win 340-321. Against Helen, he played SEMIBALD (adj. partly bald and ROSETTE, with the final scoring being 433-393 in his favor. He then finished the night with losses to Aaron and Thomas, and we say farewell to him receiving paragraphs in the writeup for the foreseeable future.
| Thomas Reinke | 12 | SAUTOIR SMIDGEON ATTAINED INSTARS INFINITE CATTALO THORACES DONNEES TEENIEST REGINAE PYRANOSE SATSANG |
| Lynda Finn | 9 | TRIPOLI DIVINER ATOPIES AIGRETS AFFINES CADDIES INSURES SPAMMER BLEEDERS |
| Aaron Bader | 7 | INSERTED RETABLO THANATOS ASTEROID LEUCINE RAMPAGED postheen |
| Charles Reinke | 7 | DENARII ESTIMATED SEMIBALD ROSETTE PENNIES ENGINOUS SIENITE |
| Bryan Benwitz | 7 | SURETIES PROGERIA ENDEAVOR PINITES LENDABLE STANCES AUNTIES |
| Gail Salm | 6 | GREASER MISDATE RELENTS AIGRETS PRAISER STATION |
| Dave Gilligan | 4 | REALISM COOPERS REUSING EGALITE |
| Helen Flores | 3 | UNBANDED OUTRAISE BRINIER |
| Mary Becker | 1 | QUEERING |
| Avg. Game Score | 381 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 381 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 420 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 342 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 75 |
