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Yet Another Successful Session for Bryan

1st Bryan Benwitz clearly outwitzed his opponents, going 4-0 +577. His ambitious goal of "average 568 while beating Dave every game" looked easily attainable after the first round, where he scored 568 against Dave and won. His bingos of ADROITER, RETAILOR, COLUMNAR, and SKIDDED for 101 easily overpowered Dave's singular REGRESS. However, Bryan's goal went off the rails in round two, as he was matched up against Charles and only scored 402. He did win the game, though, 402-347 as he held Charles bingoless. His third-round win over Gail was highlighted (highlit?) by a nice find of GAPEWORM (n. parasitic nematode worm that infects the tracheas of certain birds). In the final round, as everyone else became overwhelmed by sleepiness, he maintained his laser focus, beating the similarly undefeated Richard 472-331. Richard struck first with RAFTERED and later added EXPLORES, but Bryan's LENTANDO (adj. becoming slower, used as a musical direction), MENDIGO, and HETAIRA was enough to win.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +332, a 75% win rate that would be even more impressive if we were playing rock-paper-scissors. He secured a 435-333 victory over Helen by playing ADENOSES and ETHANOLS in the first round, a win that led him straight into the ravenous jaws of Bryan, who stymied him at every turn and held him to 347 points, well below his average. Things picked up for him against Sue, where he scored 531 and slapped down ANECTODE, OUTPREEN, and ESTIVAL (adj. pertaining to Summer, also AESTIVAL). A final-round match against Thomas was a scorcher, with the final score being 479-452. Thomas played ANEROID and SWORDMAN and was looking to win until Charles got down REDOUBT right at the end, adding to his already-played FLEABAG, TAILSPIN, and TELECINE.

3rd Richard Lauder came in third with a 3-1 +91 record. He played the word-of-the-week KERCHIEF (no word on if it was extended to HANDKERCHIEF) against Aaron in the first round, the 84 points it scored leading directly to the 398-368 win. He toughed out a close 351-343 win against Sue in the second round, where he played the phony CAROOMS*, a sort of combination of VAROOMS and CARROMS. The winning continued against Dave, 503-309, marked by his opening play of VOMITOS. He later got down OUTRAGES and STINGER, while Dave managed ALIGHTS. As detailed above, he fell to Bryan during his final obstacle on the way to undefeated-dom, but 3-1 is still pretty good.

Club Somehow Keeps Up Its Perfect 50 Percent Winning Rate

1st Thomas Reinke edged out two other three-and-oners to come in first place, going 3-1 +276. He opened his night by drawing most of the good tiles against Gail, leveraging his good fortune into a 478-286 victory. He then entered into a high scoring contest versus Bryan, coming out ahead 490-428. Both sides played three bingos: LENITED, LIRIOPES, and RHENIUMS for Thomas, PAVONINE (adj. pertaining to peacocks), ENTREATS and ODONATE for Bryan. Things slowed down a bit in his next game against Charles, with his only bingo being the phony FELONISM* (real word: FOILSMEN). A closed board spelled doom for Charles in that one, despite bingos of SCARRED and SCIAENID (n. a carnviorous fish). Sadly, or happily, depending on your allegiance, a chance at another undefeated night for him was spoiled by Lynda and her triple-triple of CROUTONS (n. crunchy salad things). He tried to keep it close, but his bingos of SCANTIER and NEUROMA were not enough.

2nd Charles Reinke came in second solely because he didn't challenge FELONISM* against Thomas. That was the only reason. If he had challenge that phony right off the board, he would have come in first, no question. But he didn't, and now he has to settle for second place, which is basically last place as far as I'm concerned. He started things off with a 496-328 win over Helen, featuring bingos of POUTINE (n. a dish of French fries, cheese curds, and gravy that represents a unique element of Canadian cultural heritage), AREOLAS, and the double-double CONVERSO for 98. Against Aaron, it was looking grim until he got down an unlikely MEATILY, also for 98. That, combined with PERITUS and BODHRANS, led to a 454-419 win. We already know how terribly he bungled his game against Thomas, but he recovered in time to beat Bryan, 382-291. Bryan's outbingo of ANSATED allowed him to get a semi-reasonable score, as Charles controlled the game and the board from the outset.

3rd Lynda Finn averaged 430 points per game on her way to a 3-1 +204 record, enough for third place. She got her losing out of the way early, falling 397-558 to Bryan and his four bingos of SPORTIER, WELSHING, POINTIER, and TELEMEN. She did get down the somewhat similar-looking bingos of OUTRAGE and OVERAGES, but there's not much to do when your opponent ends up scoring 558. In the second round Lynda got revenge, if not on Bryan, on the cruel vagaries of fate, scoring 482 against Sue and playing LOAMIER, ELOINED, and BLASTING. Aaron was the next in lane to feel her fury, as she won 420-339, playing word-of-the-week PIGOUTS and FETIALS (n. a priest of ancient Rome). Club veterans will remember a long-retired prize for playing certain words as determined by the director. PIGOUTS was one of those words that earned the five dollars, but Lynda was about a decade late in playing it. If she wishes, she can make an appeal. Her triple-triple CROUTONS was the deciding factor in her final match victory of Thomas, but she also made a series of good defensive plays to seal the win.

Turkey-Induced Coma Cannot Prevent this Writeup from Being Written

(Or: To Discuss Scrabble Whilst Residing in the Hazy Realm Between Consciousness and Unconsciousness)

1st Thomas Reinke averaged 464 points per game against a lineup of tough players, but failed to attain the lossless record usually required for first place, going 3-1 +321. To kick off the pre-Thanksgiving festivities, he pummeled his brother Charles by a score of 461-320, getting down bingos of BREEDERS and MAESTRO to Charles' UNEARNED. The second round saw him record his only loss as he fell to Bryan Benwitz 402-431. Bryan utilized the "bingo more often than your opponent" strategy to great effect, with his three bingos (ERODABLE, HOVELING, NONSUIT) clearly outnumbering Thomas' two bingos (SENARII and SEAPORT). Thomas took note of that strategy and adopted it as his own in his next match against Aaron Bader, which he ran away with, 542-397. Aaron was limited to the oddly-spelled INTRENCH as his only bingo, while Thomas' bingos were fourfold: VILAYETS, GASOLIER, STEEVING, and the word of the week ATARAXIC (n. ATARAXIA, a state of serene calmness). In the final game, Thomas secured his 3-1 record by taking down Lynda Finn in a closer game, 449-385. He again drew upon his knowledge of obscure X-bingos with a find of PURLIEUX, and also added the more sedate RONTGEN to his bingo list.

2nd Bryan Benwitz similarly went 3-1, with a +220 spread. Sources indicate that he gives thanks for the 3-1 record, but would definitely be giving more thanks if he had went 4-0. His first game, against Gail Salm, was a display of high-probability bingo prowess which Bryan won, 478-313. Gail got ENTRAINS down, but Bryan outdid that with his ETESIAN, SNOUTED, and DEEWANS. Bryan followed that up with a previously-described victory over first-place finisher Thomas Reinke, then matched up with the other undefeated player at that point, a full-of-confidence Helen Flores. Helen did not manage a bingo in her bout with Bryan (who had POLICES and GRAYEST), but kept the game close, losing 376-436. After that win, Bryan was the one who had reason to be confident, but his vision of an undefeated evening was trampled upon by Charles Reinke in a 405-439 match. Bryan utilized the -ING suffix twice with bingos of SEDATING and SWEETING (the latter being a type of apple - therefore, no SWEETED), while Charles had TOFFEES and IRRUPTS (the anagram of STIRRUP).

3rd Helen Flores made a triumphant return to the top three with her 3-1 +75 outing in which she averaged an impressive 401 points per game, almost fifty points more than her yearly average. Having discovered a new strategy of "don't let your opponent bingo even once", she immediately put it into use against Lynda Finn, winning their first-round encounter by a score of 386-363 while getting down PARADED and ENCASED. She then utilized that strategy a second time when matched up against Aaron Bader, playing CONTESTS, OUTFLIES, and a game-stealing outbingo of AGREEING to win 411-359. She ran into a roadblock when she faced off against Bryan Benwitz, but recovered her composure in the final round against Richard Lauder and took the victory, 432-372. Richard had three bingos (ETHIONS, STONERS, and GATEMEN) to Helen's one (TAILING), but Helen scored more than enough with her high-scoring non-bingo plays to guarantee the win.