Stats for May 15, 2019
1st Thomas Reinke easily turned away all those who were misfortunate enough to go against him as he finished with a 4-0 +572 record. His first game, against Dave Gilligan, was actually his closest win, but it still wasn't all that close: 428-361. Dave got down HARDIER, but Thomas had COLLAGES as well as the nine-letter LISTENERS (played through ER already on the board). Thomas followed that up with a comparatively stress-free win over Helen Flores, 473-271 (playing PANIERS and MANIACS in the process). A matchup against eventual second-place finisher Bryan Benwitz was somewhat anticlimactic, as Thomas again won handily, 444-286. Thomas utilized the bold but unreliable strategy of "don't let your opponent play any bingos", and this time, it worked; Bryan didn't bingo, while Thomas had chemistry-themed bingos of TOLUATE and DIMETHYL. With an undefeated record on the line going into the fourth game, Thomas felt absolutely no pressure as he dismantled his brother Charles Reinke, 536-391. Charles didn't completely roll over, getting down LEVANTED and EYEBARS (though missing BLEAREYED when playing the latter); however, Thomas' assault of furious bingoage (DISPELS, VIRGULE, AMIDONES, and LACONISM) left no chance for Charles to win.
2nd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 +80, but his smallish point spread was not put to the test, as Bryan was the only 3-1 finisher. He got things started with a stout 481-350 victory over Charles Reinke, playing VERNALLY, COTTARS, and AILERON (Charles had HYGIENE). No doubt the seasonably vernal weather played a role in Bryan's bingo choices. In round two, James Frankki didn't fare much better than Charles did; Bryan beat him by an even 100 points, 427-327. James got PEREIONS as his only bingo, while Bryan again had three: CHAINES, OSSATURE, and OUTWINDS. The aforementioned loss to Thomas Reinke dampened Bryan's 4-0 aspirations (as well as his point spread), but he recovered in round four, winning a tight game against Lynda Finn, 397-390. Lynda had bingos of EARNING and TITTERS; Bryan played VENTERS, but the strict 15x15 limit of the Scrabble board prevented either player from extending it to EVENTERS.
Dave Gilligan's BOGLANDS was chosen as word of the week.
| Charles Reinke | 11 | HYGIENE DICTIER MORTMAIN INSTEAD EREMITES SIERRAS RAINIER STILLED EYEBARS LEVANTED slurrer |
| Thomas Reinke | 10 | LISTENERS COLLAGES PANIERS MANIACS TOLUATE DIMETHYL DISPELS VIRGULE AMIDONES LACONISM |
| Bryan Benwitz | 7 | VERNALLY COTTARS AILERON CHAINES OSSATURE OUTWINDS VENTERS |
| Dave Gilligan | 6 | HARDIER CHITLIN DENOTING BOGLANDS INSTANTS cantrade |
| Lynda Finn | 5 | GIRTHED LOOSING HARLOTS EARNING TITTERS |
| Helen Flores | 3 | OUTSOAR STUNNED WAISTERS |
| James Frankki | 2 | WARSTLE PEREIONS |
| Avg. Game Score | 394 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 394 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 449 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 340 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 75 |
