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ATTENTION: Charles Reinke Let a Phony Two-Letter Word Go By With Nary a "Hold"

1st Charles Reinke showcased the skills that have him ranked as the 24th best Scrabble player in North America, going 5-0 +783 with an average of 481. He also showcased a skill that is not of much use in sanctioned tournament play: the ability to play, and win, two games at once, which he did in the first round against Betty and Sue. He then faced Andy in a game which could be described as a "comedy of errors". Well, one or two errors, anyway. Charles played DOGTAIL with a blank O, which Andy misinterpreted as DIGITAL, leading to a later phony play of XO* by Andy which went unchallenged by Charles. Confused yet? They certainly were! Charles ended up winning 438-417 playing the additional bingos of TAENITE and DEPRIVALS to Andy's WARTIMES and ORALIST. In the third game, he beat Richard, 529-303, playing EXHALES, GIDDIES, and LINNETS. Before you feel too bad for Richard, he ended up getting revenge in his own way. In the final round, the battle for first place, Charles defeate Mary with the double-double FETATION (n. the development of a fetus) and the 9-letter UNREELERS.

2nd Andy Bohnsack feasted on cake and the aspirations of fellow Scrabblers as he compiled a 3-1 +229 record. He started off with a bang against Gail, playing 4 bingos, LARDIER, REHEARD, MESSING, and SONATINE (n. plural of SONATINA, a short sonata (n. a type of musical (adj. pertaining to music (n. organized vocal or instrumental sounds)) composition)). After suffering through his loss against Charles, he returned with renewed vigor to narrowly beat Bryan, 424-415. Bryan played ENSERFS and HARDIES against Andy's WARTIMES and NEONATAL. Andy then proved his versatility by not bingoing and still winning, 342-329 against Lynda. Bingos are fun, but winning is funner! Maybe. I guess it depends. Words of wisdom incoming: try to do both.

3rd Richard Lauder did his share of winning and bingoing, ending up at 3-1 +85. His first two games saw him play seven bingos to earn two wins, TINDERS, ELOIGNED, ANNOTATE, and DOCENTS against Lynda, and DESCALE, ROSULATE (new anagram OESTRUAL), and OUTRACE against Barb. He ran into an unstoppable Charles in the third round, but got his revenge against Thomas, winning 395-369. Thomas bingoed late in that game with the word-of-the-week POLYNYAS (n. POLYNYA, an area of open water surrounded by ice, alternate plural POLYNYI), but Richard then went out, finding his only available bingo of OTALGIA (n. pain in the ear) to win.

Andy Bohnsack Continues Winning Ways

1st Andy Bohnsack went 4-0 +176 after going 4-1 and 4-0 in the previous two weeks, launching him into the top spot on the yearly club standings with a 76.7% win rate. If he continues to build on this momentum we can expect maybe one or two more losses for the rest of this calendar year. However, his wins were not by huge margins; his first game against Susan Vergeront could very easily have been a loss, as he needed an out-bingo of LANCERS to secure a 433-418 win. Also played in that game were REBOOTED and STAYING; Susan got down TUNDRAS and GENERIC. Another close game, this time against Mary Becker, ended with the same score for Andy (433) but a slightly lower score for Mary (412). Andy again had three bingos (SNORTERS, CARATES, and GLISTEN) but was unable to turn those plays into a commanding lead. In his other two games, he ruined the undefeated aspirations of two players who went 3-1; their sad stories will be told in the following paragraphs.

2nd Bryan Benwitz finished at 3-1 with a sizable +464 spread total, thanks to his hefty 469 per-game average. He pulled off the always-impressive Anti-Reinke, holding the twins combined to just one bingo while Bryan played eight total in the two games. A win against Thomas was the most impressive, 510-313. Bryan didn't allow Thomas to play any bingos (always a sound strategy), but played five of them himself: TOWLINES, ISOLATE, APHIDES, FUSIONS, and SARDINED. A 463-381 victory over Charles saw the twin at least get down a bingo (the nine-letter PAGINATES), but Bryan's three bingos of SCORNER, TOMENTA, and BUSTLERS made easy work of last year's club champion. Carrying an undefeated record into the final game, Bryan ran into the indomitable Scrabble might of Andy Bohnsack, who easily claimed victory for his own, 443-351.

3rd Aaron Bader also ended up with three wins at 3-1 +174. He encountered the undefeated and undefeatable Andy Bohnsack in the second game of the night and lost 386-434, but did play the word of the week, SOFTCORE, as one of his bingos (the other bingo, GAUDIEST, was not even in contention for word of the week). After that loss, he, like Bryan, executed a flawless Anti-Reinke in his final two games. Rarely do two players beat both Reinkes on the same night! Aaron took down Thomas by a score of 462-386, then achieved a similar result against Charles, 460-397. His bingo list in the two games was not as large as Bryan's, but was still respectable: GRILLED, REDENIES, FARRAGO, CONDEMNS, and STROBILI.

Thomas Reinke got the second 600-point game of this club season when he scored 623 against Richard Lauder. The 248 points Thomas got for his triple-triple of MOBILIZE were almost enough to win the game by themselves.

Thomas Reinke Wins and Stuff

1st Thomas Reinke outlasted some tough opponents to go 4-0 +317. There weren't many bingos to be had in a close 409-385 victory over Lynda Finn (Thomas' GROUNDER vs. Lynda's TONSURE) but the final result was certainly to Thomas' liking. The bingo spigot then got turned on to full blast as Thomas defeated Dave Gilligan in a high-scoring 509-425 game. Dave bingoed on his first two turns with ORBIEST and ENTWINED, but Thomas eventually pulled away thanks to bingo finds of REFENCES, PARDNERS, GOETHITE, and TEXTURED. Thomas then secured his first-place performance with another close victory, this time over Bryan Benwitz, 414-402. Thomas two bingos of WINTLES and FEATLIER only scored eight more points combined than Bryan's pair of bonuses (FOOTAGE and INDENTER), so the missing four spread points must have been acrrued at some other point during the game.

2nd Andy Bohnsack averaged a club-leading 452 per game on his way to a 4-1 +400 performance. With a 460-427 victory against Aaron Bader, he has now won three out of four against that particular opponent, after previously losing twelve in a row to him. Aaron got away with FEATURER (not even good in Collins) but added HURDIES and GAUDIEST as valid bingos; Andy played CLOGGED, ANSERINE, and TIMELINE (anagrams: ILMENITE and MELINITE). As part of a two-on-one game, Andy notched his first 500-point game of the year (????), and did so in most furious fashion, scoring 569 against Helen Flores' 304. Helen did manage to play TORSADE, but Andy was able to get down CAUSING, ANERGIA, and LECTIONS. Andy's sole loss came against Dave Gilligan, 336-421, a game which again proves the old adage: to beat Andy, prevent him from bingoing. Dave monopolized the bingos on the board with AGNIZES and OVERLAIN.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +152 and somehow was the only person to finish with that record. He was the picture of consistency with two bingos in each of his four games, although that consistency was made to seem a mirage thanks to a 356-434 loss disrupting a scoresheet otherwise decorated with checkmarks in the "win" column. In that game, Bryan got down a 90-point ANETHOL; Charles played TAVERNA and word-of-the-week PEACENIK. Another high-scoring bingo was played against Charles when he faced off against Gail Salm; her 101-point CRINGES, to go along with a later bingo of SPRAINED, pushed her over the 400 mark in a 465-406 win for the Second Twin, who played BULLIONS and the nine-letter BALDPATES. Dave Gilligan again makes an appearance in the writeup for losing to Charles in the final round, 365-472, despite bingos of STATINS and RUMINATE (Charles had VOYAGER and LARDIEST).