Blog

Aaron Wins Without the Benefit of All Those Extra Words He Knows

1st Aaron Bader left no doubt as to who was the best Scrabble player on this night, going 4-0 +241. He opened with a close win against Thomas, 409-376, where he played the common-but-low-probability CHUCKLES as well as the uncommon-but-high-probability ISOMERS. As a reward for his efforts, he got to play Charles in the next game. Charles' had an 11-game winning streak coming into the contest, but came to an end at Aaron's hands, 417-395. Aaron earned 5 dollars for his feat, but the real value was in... actually the 5 dollars was probably the best part. After dispatching two tough foes, he was tasked with dispatching two foes at the same time, Gail and Helen. His game against Gail was close at the beginning due to her LAIRIEST, but Aaron eventually prevailed with NEATHERD (n. a cowherd, NEAT is another term for cow), PAVANES, and CONTORTS. Against Helen, he won 403-324, playing SCAREDER (anagram SACREDER) and VELOUTE (anagram EVOLUTE).

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +538, losing a game for the first time in 11 tries. He busted out the fancy words against Helen in the first round, playing SYNDETIC (adj. serving to connect) and FIGEATER (n. if I had to guess, one who eats figs, nope, "a large beetle", well, I bet they eat figs so I'm still right). As mentioned, his money-earning winning-streak ended against Aaron, so he got right to work on another one, dropping 560 on Dave. Charles opened with QUADRIC for 110, then played MARINES for 88, followed by AQUATONE for 80. That's a lot of points! His new winning streak continue against Thomas, against whom he won 478-415. Thomas held the blank at the end, but was stymied, ending the game with it remaining sadly on his rack. Charles got down the nice REDWATER (n. another name for BABESIOSIS, because everyone knows what that is) to help secure that victory.

3rd Andy Bohnsack went 3-1 -47, his negative spread somehow not disqualifying him from third place. Arriving in time for the second round, he played two as punishment. Against Lynda, he won by one, 377-376. On the other board, he incurred all his negative spread from Dave, losing 318-399. Andy found QUINTARS, but it was not enough to overcome Dave's TOILETTE. Tragedy struck early in his game against Bryan, when he gave him the H needed for WHEEZIER. Andy perservered, however, and ended up winning a close one 414-398, thanks to his bingos of ORDINALS and UTERINE. He increased his winning margin against Gail, but only slightly, 410-393, not enough to drag himself into the positives on the night. A bonus fifth round was proposed for his benefit, but ultimately rejected.

Thomas played the word-of-the-week, ZIRCALOY (n. a zirconium alloy), but Lynda had the last laugh, hooking it for 112 points with her own bingo!

Charles Keeps Winning Someone Stop Him Please

1st Charles Reinke went undefeated again, 4-0 +518, which really shouldn't surprise anybody at this point. In this first round, against Andy, both he and his opponent played three bingos, but Charles came out on top, 476-410. He got down LIMONITE, MIDWATER, and VALORISE, while Andy played ETOILES, COURAGES, and the 98-point EXTRADOS. After beating Gail in the second round, he turned his attention to Dennis, who ended up being yet another victim of Charles' bingo-finding skills. Charles played the nice finds of PERIANTH (n. the outer part of a flower) and TAUTOMER on his way to 508 points. Lynda was the final obstacle to his 10-game winning streak, but Charles overcame her as well, winning 523-414. MACRONS for 114 certainly helped his cause, as did the overwhelming desire to win that consumes every facet of his existence.

2nd Thomas Reinke's seeming lack of an overwhelming desire to win lead him to a 3-1 +215 record and 2nd place. His acceptance of the inevitability of defeat manifested itself in the first round, as he lost to Lynda, 373-439. Lynda played DIARIST and the very-plausible-looking TWEAKER* (n. a meth addict, come on Miriam-Webster get with the times) while Thomas got down CORONATE and SWATTING. In the second round, Dave G. played him closely, with Thomas eking out a 370-356 win. Dave's phony FETTINGS* almost seized victory, but Thomas scrounged together enough points in the endgame to seal the deal. In the next game, he beat Bryan on the back of a late EPEEISTS (n. one who fences with an epee). In his 468-290 win over Dennis, he bingoed twice early, with GRADUATE and word-of-the-week CZARISTS, then closed the board, leaving Dennis' bingos stranded. How mean!

3rd Lynda Finn went 3-1 +104, good for third place and a whole paragraph detailing her accomplishment. As already stated, she defeated Thomas in the first round, wisely creating a bingo when none were to be had with TWEAKER*. After that monumental victory, she faced Helen, who she also beat 384-345, aided by her bingo of SINGLET (not to be confused with SNIGLET). Against Gail, she again created her own best play by playing the phony BIFFERS* for 106. Has she unlocked some secret to Scrabble greatness? Mercilessly phony your opponents? Anyway, her undefeated night came to an end against Charles, but she did find the non-phonies VENDETTA and STARLING to keep the score respectable.

16 Bingos is a Lot

1st Charles Reinke returned to form with a dominating 5-0 +668 performance, with his 16 bingos being the driving force behind the domination. Somehow he only got down a single bingo against Andy in the first round, but he followed that up with 7 in the second round. Before you get too excited, he was playing a two-on-one, so only get a little bit excited about his feat. Against Mary, his star play was the nine-letter TREACLIER as he scored 553 points. Against Betty, he played REPTILIA, ABEYANT, and TABLING on his way to 502. Further bingoage occurred against Thomas, where Charles outbingoed him 4-0 but only won by 98 points. ONLY 98 points. What was he doing? I'm actually kind of embarrassed for him. In the final round, he capped off his perfect night with another 4-bingo outing, this time against Bryan, playing PELAGES, PERDITION (another nine!), DIABASE, and BESTOWAL (anagrams TEABOWLS and STOWABLE). Bryan did get down TRANKING, which leads me to wonder why TRANQING* isn't acceptable.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +337, but didn't play 16 bingos or even come close really. His opening-round 459-303 win over Helen was sullied by the 101-point phony WOODLIKE* (adj. resembling wood, see, I even came up with a definition for it). He and Bryan played one bingo apiece in the second round, ROTATES for Bryan and PINESAP for Thomas, as Thomas got the 424-341 victory. Things went south for him against Charles, but promptly turned north again versus Andy, with the 495-299 final score telling the sad tale. Thomas got down TRISTEZA (n. a disease of citrus trees, borrowing exactly the Spanish word for "sadness") in that game.

3rd Aaron Bader secured third place with a 3-1 +164 record. He walloped returning Milwaukee-ite James Frankki in the first round, playing ANTIRED (adj. opposed to communism) and ANTIMERIC (anagrams ANTICRIME and CRIMINATE). He was down for much of the second-round against Dave, but got down a semi-miraculous MUSKIER at the end to win 357-322. Miracles were in short supply in his game against Bryan, as he fell to Bryan's COTTERED, CALORIES, and BLEATED. Against Dennis in the final round, his big play of OXIDATES for 98 carried him to a 379-322 win.