Stats for January 15, 2025
1st Bryan Benwitz regained his typical top spot in the weekly standings with a 3-1 +257 record, although his stats weren't as eye-popping as they usually are, with a "mere" 412 points-per-game average and "only" seven bingos. He faced a tough opponent in round one, but needed little time to warm up as he got the win over Thomas Reinke, 419-384, finding STOMATE and NEROLIS in the process. In round two, Andy Bohnsack discovered that if you prevent Bryan from bingoing so dang often, your chances of winning drastically go up; their contest ended 405-349 in Andy's favor, with Andy getting two bingos (TINGLED, GLIMPSE) to Bryan's one (RELOADER). The rest of the evening went quite smoothly for Bryan, as he made easy work of Lynda Finn, 439-317 (playing RAMOSELY and DUNITES), then made even easier work of Ron Malzer, 440-284 (playing TOASTIER and TAPERERS).
2nd Charles Reinke finished at 3-1 +34, a good enough record to keep him in first place on the yearly standings after two weeks (this writer will refrain from hoping for a premature end to the club season, as that feels dangerously like summoning another COVID). The source of Charles' small spread total was a somewhat disastrous first-round game against the capable (too capable) Mark Kenas; in the end, Charles was knocked flat by Mark's grand total of 592 points, compared to Charles' paltry 354. Mark played RARITIES, PENNERS, MUENSTER, and a 176-point 3x3 SLABBERY. For future reference, SLABBERY means "abounding in slabber (drool)", not "a place where slabs are made". Charles was a bit shellshocked going into round two but managed to secure the win against Sara McLaughlin, 369-343, finding DOTIEST against Sara's SANDERS. Sweet, sweet revenge was savored in round three as Charles got a win in a rematch against Mark Kenas, 469-445. He then finished his night by defeating Lynda Finn 552-330, thanks to bonus plays of OZONISER, NEGATING, and a low-probability nine-letter CABOCHONS.
3rd Thomas Reinke went 3-2 +159, finishing ahead of the other 3-2 player, Lynda Finn, on spread. Thomas had mixed success in round one as his two-on-one win over Ron Malzer, 460-385, was counteracted by his loss to Bryan Benwitz, 384-419. He then sunk further into the negatives with a tough 450-474 loss to Mark Kenas, where his ACEROLA and BASTIDE# fell short against Mark's VIRGULES and TENSING. In the third round, Thomas faced off against noted bingo fiend Andy Bohnsack, and while Andy did win the bingo battle (BOOTEES, LAMINATED, STEARIC vs. YESTERN, TARRIER), it was Thomas' win by a decently-sized margin, 481-406. Thomas concluded his evening of wordy warfare with another Mark Kenas rumble which he won 468-400, finding the nifty FROSTNIP in addition to the more prosaic PALTERED.
Many Word of the Week candidates were present in players' bingo lists, among them Mark's SLABBERY and MAGMATA, Thomas' FROSTNIP, and Lynda's SHOWGIRL, but Word of the Week went to Charles' CABOCHONS.
| Mark Kenas | 10 | RARITIES PENNERS SLABBERY(3x3) MUENSTER VIRGULES TENSING LAIRIEST MAGMATA SNAILING FISHLINE |
| Thomas Reinke | 9 | ARRIVAL PENALTY UPDRIES ACEROLA YESTERN TARRIER PALTERED FROSTNIP bastide |
| Charles Reinke | 8 | DISTILL DOTIEST PANNERS DISLIKED TENRECS OZONISER CABOCHONS NEGATING |
| Andy Bohnsack | 8 | BLOCKING TINGLED GLIMPSE BOOTEES LAMINATED STEARIC SECRETE RENAILED |
| Bryan Benwitz | 7 | STOMATE NEROLIS RELOADER RAMOSELY DUNITES TOASTIER TAPERERS |
| Lynda Finn | 5 | AIRIEST SHOWGIRL CLEANEST RATIONS GORIEST |
| Ron Malzer | 4 | DEFIERS TENTACLE DAILIES DELIMITS |
| Sara McLaughlin | 4 | UNIONIST SANDERS DECANTER SHEETED |
| Richard Lauder | 2 | RESEATS UNTANNED |
| Avg. Game Score | 400 |
| Avg. Intermediate Score | 0 |
| Avg. Expert Score | 400 |
| Avg. Winning Score | 443 |
| Avg. Losing Score | 358 |
| Avg. Bingo Score | 77 |
