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The Clouds Bring the Rain, Thomas Reinke Brings the Pain

1st Thomas Reinke enjoyed a flawless 4-0 +323 performance to take first place. His opponents, however, may not have enjoyed it so much, as he ruined two other players' perfect nights. His biggest victory came over Gail Salm, a lopsided 513-298 affair which was marred by Thomas' phony of GAWPIER (GAWPY isn't even good by itself, just GAWKY and GAWSY). His two other bingos were TERATOID and LEAGUERS. In a game against his sworn enemy Charles Reinke, the two brothers battled it out until the very end, and the result was Charles notching his highest-scoring loss of the year as Thomas was victorious, 469-466. Thomas got down NOYADES and BORRELIA to Charles' REPINES, ROADKILL, and SCUNGILE (the meat of a conch, plural SCUNGILI). In the final game, Thomas wrapped up his perfect night with another win in which he got outbingoed: Bryan played JETTIED, INFORMER, and STONIER, but was felled by Thomas' superior scoring (as well as his bingos of VAMOOSE and RENAMES), 452-415.

2nd Bryan Benwitz averaged 455 points per game on his way to a 3-1 +259 record, but he didn't even have a 600-point game like he did last week, so who cares? His first game was against the formidable Lynda Finn, defeater of world champions, but Bryan was unfazed by her newfound clout as he defeated her 430-395 thanks to bingos of FORELAND and CONSUMES. Bryan then had another relatively close game, this one against Dennis "Mr. Bowtie" Lloyd. Bryan prevailed by a score of 449-378, utilizing some high-probability "A" bingos to great advantage: ANEROID, ARSENATE, and AIGLETS. Dennis had SQUARED and a late ANORAKS to make the game competetive. Tired of this middling margins, Bryan then took on Richard Lauder, and the end result was a 526-328 drubbing. Six total bingos were played; the losing side had INSIDER and TACTION, but the winning side had TIDELINE, TOUPIES, GOATIER, and ESTRONE, the first three of which are new to the dictionary as of 2014. Unfortunately for Bryan, being 3-0 after three games usually means a tough match in the final round, and he wasn't able to attain the perfect 4-0.

3rd Gail Salm went 3-1 -67, a swift turnaround from her winless excursion the week before. Her loss to Thomas negated the spread she accumulated in her wins, but she scored well and bingoed often in all of them. Gail needed three bingos (MOUSING, INLIERS, and SLIDERS) to come away with a 393-350 win over Mary Becker (bingoless), but it took just two to beat Lynda "The Nigel Neutralizer" Finn. The score in that game was 418-349; Lynda had WARIEST, but Gail countered with SMIRKIER and AIGLETS (where have we seen that one before?). In the final game, surely fighting off fatigue, Gail matched up against club leader Charles Reinke and came away from the fracas with a strong win, 448-412. Bingos of WHEREBY, ENTAILED, and OVERSALT netted enough points to overcome Charles' UNRAVEL and SALTIER.

Charles' FEDAYEE, played against Sue Goldstein, was picked as word of the week. A FEDAYEE is a Middle-Eastern fighter or commando, and it only pluralizes to FEDAYEEN.

Charles Reinke Wields Tiles as Deadly Weapons

1st Charles Reinke tightened his stranglehold on the club's top spot by recording a 4-0 +565 outing while averaging 479 per game. He began his undefeated night with a big 508-291 win over the (grievously injured) Aaron Bader, getting down PICOTEE, TONGERS, and HEMATINE to Aaron's sole REDROOTS. A subsequent bout with Thomas Reinke saw Charles' potent scoring ability diminished, but he still came away with the win over his brother and eternal foe, 391-345, thus nudging their lifetime series closer to .500. Charles' next two games were both against undefeated opponents, and in both cases he happened to spoil their dreams of a 4-0 record, so I hope he feels bad. He took down Bryan Benwitz 432-392 (playing EAGERLY and HEADWIND to Bryan's MOTIONER and AIRLINES), then, with the undefeated record in sight, the floodgates opened against Helen Flores, and he won their matchup 583-321. In that last game, Charles monopolized the bingo output with DAUNTER, REDIRECT, and ANNOYER.

2nd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 with a massive spread of 649. With such a large point advantage over his opponents, there will no be surprise when it is revealed that he averaged 491 points per game, this third-highest ever session average. Each of his wins was a major blowout, and it only proves that Bryan does not have a merciful bone in his body. His first game was a 454-266 win over Betty Hasselkus which saw Bryan play a trio of common seven-letter bingos (TALLIES, NARDINE, and COARSER). Next, he clobbered Richard Lauder 474-245 despite Richard's singular bingo of LURCHERS (80 points) scoring more than Bryan's singular bingo of FLOUTER (74 points). A loss to Charles Reinke followed, and that loss filled Bryan with a rage so furious that Aaron Bader (remember, the grievously injured one) stood no chance in the final game. The final score was 645-373, with that 645 being Bryan's third-highest score ever. He played an astounding five bingos: ECTOPIA, ENACTING, GYRATION, HOSTAGE, and ILMENITE. Aaron's bingo list was significantly shorter: he played FIGURES. Reports that he later used his cast as a weapon against Bryan are unconfirmed at this time.

3rd Helen Flores also went 3-1, but her spread total of -55 fell some 700 points short of Bryan, so she was relegated to third place. She took a close one over Sue Goldstein, 345-324, thanks in part to an 81-point PANNERS, but really got rolling in the second game, defeating the returning (and soon departing) Darcy Davis 425-253. In that one, Helen played PAINFUL, BROADEST, and MANGOES, while Darcy was sadly prevented from playing even one bingo. Helen then, for the second time this year, picked up a rare win over Thomas Reinke, defeating the mighty twin in a closely-fought contest, 435-421. Thomas outbingoed her two to one (TRAMELED and SENOPIA vs. LAUNDERS), but couldn't withstand her scoring onslaught. Reports that Helen's scoresheet currently adorns her refrigerator are unconfirmed at this time.

Thomas' AESTHETE was chosen as word of the week. In other bingo news, nobody played any phony bingos! Way to go team!

This is the Title of the Writeup

1st Charles Reinke returned from a successful jaunt in New Orleans without missing a beat, going 3-0 +328. He prevailed in a tightly-contested, uh, contest, against Bryan in the first round, 373-345. He played the nice word-of-the-week GONOPORE while Bryan got down TIMEOUS (adj. timely). The bingoing picked up for him in the second round against David, against whom he played VILLAGER, DISUNITE, ELAPINE, and VIATORES. Despite a decisive 4-to-1 bingo disadvantage, David kept it close until the end, eventually losing 399-468. In the third game, Charles decided to reenact his widely acclaimed "New Orleans butt-kicking of my brother by 200 points" act by kicking his brother's butt by 200 points, 554-323. He did so by playing HANDLERS, VESTING, and LAXITIES, while Thomas only got down OMNIVORE. Congratulations again to Charles for coming in 6th place at Nationals and bringing glory to the entire state of Wisconsin.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 2-1 +229 by way of two blowout wins and one blowout loss. He beat Gail 578-376 in the first match of the night, playing DULCIANA, RETACKLE (v. to tackle again, DUH), and ARMOIRES. Gail bingoed three times herself, with DAINTIER, SARNIES, and REEDLING, which would have resulted in a tie game if this club kept score only by number of bingoes played. Anyone up for a rule change? No? Fine. Anyway, Thomas continued his bingoing ways against Richard, playing MOULTED, STONEFLY, CRUZEIRO (n. a former monetary unit of Brazil, named after the "Cruzeiro do Sul", or Southern Cross, a constellation only visible in the southern hemisphere, no, this isn't too much information), and RATLINS. Things turned dramatically south for him in the last game, but that's okay. After two 200-point wins, a 200-point loss seems perfectly fair, doesn't it?

3rd Richard Lauder went 2-1 +17, mirroring Thomas' two blowout wins and one blowout loss strategy. He played two in the first game, Sue and David. Against Sue, he scored 464 while playing CURTSIES, REALIGN, UNROUND (v. to articulate without rounding the lips), and PEMICAN. Against David, he scored 441 but only got one bingo, ORALIST versus David's PROFILER. No bingos, power tiles, or really much of anything were forthcoming for Richard in the second game, and perhaps because of that (or because he wanted to make us even), he left a game early.

Word Cup Results
Lynda went 15-16 in the top division, including a win against the world's top player, Nigel Richards
Mary came in 6th in the third division, going 18-13 +474
Helen came in 7th in the third division, going 18-13 -34