Blog

Equality Reigns As No Scrabbler Goes Undefeated

1st Charles Reinke came in first, going undefeated but not with a perfect record, finishing at 3-0-1 +480. He hogged all the good tiles in his first game against Dave, scoring 523 and bingoing with COSTARD (n. a type of apple), SCANDALS, and CONATIVE. Things were a lot closer against Lynda in the second round, as he came out on top 404-386. A late high-scoring J play secured his win in that one, after he played REINSMEN earlier in the game. The trend of things getting closer for him came to its peak against his brother, Thomas, where their match ended in a tie at 398. Charles' bingos of DOVETAIL and LAZINESS were equaled by Thomas' RIGAUDON and MOTTLING, and all the rest of his points were equaled by the rest of Thomas' points. How are we supposed to figure out which one is the better twin after this? We can't. It's impossible. After that disappointing draw, Charles took out his anger on Helen, winning 477-317. He passed up the iffy 9-letter SUPERRACE to play VERRUCAS (n. a wart) instead, as well as PENSIVE.

2nd Gail Salm came in second with a 3-1 +176 record. She played Bryan in the first round and won, 432-390, playing ALIENER, HEAPERS, and TINGLED. That may not sound very exciting, but it is, because it broke a 26-game losing streak that Gail had against that particular meanie opponent. 26 games is a lot to lose to somebody in a row without punching them in the face, in my opinion. Gail is proof that if you try, try, try again x 24, you can find success is anything you try. More success came her way against Sue, against whom she won 419-378. Sue made it close with a bevy of high-scoring power tile plays, but Gail's late find of SUNRISE put her over the top. She took a big loss to Helen in third round, 280-426, setting up a match with newcomer Carl, who she scored 432 against. She played EERIEST and word-of-the-week JOANNES (n. a Portuguese coin, also JOHANNES, and don't play those with out the S on the end or they'll get challenged off!).

3rd Bryan Benwitz earned third place with his 3-1 +116 record. His first round loss to Gail was a  streak-breaker, caused by the fact that his early blank draw only turned into a bingo on the last turn of the game. He responded to this injustice with three straight wins to end the night, starting with a 424-374 win over Aaron. He managed to get down RUDERAL (n. a plant growing on infertile ground) and SANTERA despite the confusion that Aaron's non-bingo APOCOPE caused him. He followed that up with a high-scoring 478-395 victory versus Mary, countering Mary's UNLACES and LEARNING with RIGHTER and AROUSED. An even higher-scoring contest against Thomas finished things up, with the final being 470-445. Bryan's double-double of REMINTED got him off to a good start, and then he added TARSIERS (almost as cute as LORISES) and HOODIES. Thomas' BIGEYE for 50-some points at the end got him a lot closer, but it was too little, too late.

Bryan Counteracts Cold Outside Temperature with Sizzling Scrabble Play, but it Didn't Work Because it was Still Cold Outside When we Finished so Thanks for Nothing Bryan

1st Bryan Benwitz extended his current win streak to, um, four in a row by going 4-0 +234, and also retook the club's top spot by upping his win percentage on the year to 72.1%. He started off with a heart-stopping one-point victory over Charles Reinke, 423-422. A late PACIFIES for 104 big points, plus additional bingos of SERIATE and OVERLAID, gave him the smallest possible cushion to win the game. Charles had WAHINES and MOULTING, and probably wishes that those bingos had scored one or two more points than they actually did. Bryan followed up that close win with a much more comfortable one, taking out Dave Kinzer 454-339. Dave got down BREASTED; Bryan had TOTALIZE and SCALARE (n. an angelfish). A subsequent victory against Helen Flores was similarly lopsided but not embarrassingly so, ending with a score of 433-339 and seeing Bryan hoarding the bingos for himself, playing PARTIALS, INANEST, and BANKING. An undefeated evening was within reach at that point, but an obstacle named Thomas Reinke stood in the way. With grit and determination, Bryan overcame that obstacle, winning 410-396 thanks to finds of FANJETS and HEADFUL (as in "Bryan has a headful of bingos just waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting).

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +382, but it sounds way cooler if you stop after three games and say he went 3-0 +396. His first game against Mary Becker was a 400-367 win despite his single bingo of NOTARISE (68) getting outdone by Mary's RECOINS (74). Things improved in a 431-319 win over Helen Flores, but he must have been saving all his ammunition for the upcoming matchup against Aaron Bader; their game ended at 634-383. For those keeping track at home, that's a total score over 1,000 (the first such game this year after two of them last year). Not content with one record, Thomas addressed another record by playing an astounding six bingos, which ties a club high set twice by, who else, Thomas. The bingos were PELORIAN, GALATEAS, ENDORSEE, YAKITORI, EQUINES, and BISNAGAS. Aaron, for his part, got FLAPPING for 102 points, but was justified in stating that YAKITORI wasn't even that good of a find.

3rd Aaron Bader averaged a nifty 474 points per game while going 3-1 +224. Like Thomas, his record would look a lot cooler if he could simply discount the loss. His first two games were both big wins in his favor; the first was a 472-332 victory against Lynda Finn (getting INCITANT and FEELERS). He then squared off against Dave Gilligan and came away with a decisive win, 564-232. A 158-point triple-triple of HANDLIST accounted for much of the disparity between the scores. Aaron suffered a significant setback in the previously-described loss to Thomas Reinke (reminder for those with short memories or who like to read paragraphs out of order like a barbarian: Thomas had six bingos and scored over 600), but avenged that loss by defeating the other Reinke in a high-scoring shootout, 477-474. Charles played DIALOGIC and BOUNTIES, while Aaron flaunted his superior word knowledge with EUCAINES, DEORBITS, TONNAGE, and REGALES. (Ed. Note: all those bingos are top 2500 in probability).

It's Never Too Cold For Scrabble® Brand Crossword Game!

1st Dave Kinzer took advantage of a holiday/cold/illness-diminished group, going 3-0 +88 to take first place. His first win was a low-scoring 285-271 affair against newcomer Jayant. His bingo attempt that game, SWINGOUT* (OUTSWING is acceptable), was challenged off, despite his confidence in baseball terminology. In the second round he again notched a win against a neophyte, Pranav, in a 354-302 battle. He got down FREAKING (the dictionary gives the definition "to streak with color", I don't know if I believe that...) in that one, not to be confused with PHREAKING (v. to gain illegal access to telephone services). After that, he faced a savvy veteran of the club, Sue, and won 347-325, playing MISTOOK.

Due to a shortage of boards, the quartet of Aaron, Bryan, Charles, and Thomas played a series of 2-on-2 games, with everyone going 2-1 except for Thomas who went 0-3. Some of the cooler bingoes played were REDUVIID, GOSHAWK, CONIINE, and NATANTLY. The most exciting game was the superior Charles/Bryan combo beating the inferior Aaron/Thomas tandem 542-477, a close game that turned into a blowout due to one side getting stuck with the Z.