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Bryan Plays a Very Special Word

1st Bryan Benwitz went 4-0 +327, defeating both Reinkes and playing the word REINKED in one of them. This is not the first time the word has been played (Lynda played it in the distant, fog-shrouded past of 2013) but it is definitely one of the more appropriate bingos in recent memory. The game in question was a 431-430 squeaker over Thomas; Bryan also had STRIVEN and CENTAVOS in that game to counteract Thomas' three bingos of CROONERS, CUSHIEST, and an out-bingo RENAILED  that wasn't quite enough. Bryan received significantly less opposition from Charles, who fell 325-471, ending the C-Twin's winning streak at twelve. In that game, Bryan upped his bingo production from three to four: SEDATIVE, CHEESING, DEMETONS, and BOLOGNAS. Another large win was had against Andy Bohnsack, 448-335. Andy got down the low-probability CASHLESS (adj. the state of the club after paying out so many prizes), but Bryan again went overboard with the bingoing, playing ELATIVE, NEGROID, and AMORETTI (which does NOT take an S, as Andy found out).

2nd Thomas Reinke's 4-1 +537 output put him in sole second place. He enjoyed much success in his two-on-one game against Helen Flores and Barb Besadny, tacking on nearly three hundred points of spread to his cume in that round alone. He beat Barb 489-297 thanks to bingos of SANTOLS, BROILER, and ANDIRONS; bingoing thricely became somewhat of a theme for Thomas, as all of his games save one featured exactly that many bingos. The "one" was a 417-334 win over Helen Flores where he only got down LARIATED; Helen had PIETIES to counter. Some more high scores were found in the Thomas-Andy matchup that ended 463-439 in Thomas' favor. Andy got down ROSELIKE and ZEBRANOS, the latter for 110 points, but Thomas bingo assaulted continued unabated with ROTUNDLY (now hook-able to OROTUNDLY), ALCAIDES, and POMATUMS.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +427, successfully extending his nine-game streak going into the night to a twelve-game streak before losing to Bryan in the final round, thus awarding Bryan five dollars. Charles received seven dollars for his efforts, which, when added to a five-dollar triple-triple and a four-dollar high O play, resulted in sixteen dollars of revenue, perhaps a club record! The triple-triple of READOPTS for 149 was played against Aaron Bader in a lopsided 541-370 victory for Charles. CELLIST and SENSORS were Charles' other bingos in that one. That scoring outburst then seamlessly translated into the next game, which was a 592-275 win for Charles against Lynda Finn. There were no triple-triples in that one, but Charles did add four bingos to his final list: STUDIOS, BROTHELS, CATNAPER, and TRUSTILY.

Madison Scrabble Club Lives Up To Its Name, Scrabbles in Madison

1st Charles Reinke, for the second week in a row, made a clean sweep through the ranks of Madison's best Scrabblers (admittedly, perhaps slightly compromised on this night), going 4-0 +402. He made his lone bingo count against Mary in the first round, playing the 9-letter AIRSPACES en route to a 150-point win. The bingos flowed more freely in his 464-378 win against Bryan, where Charles opened with a natural EYEWEAR and later added LIFTERS and JETLAGS. Now is the time to talk about his third game against Aaron, but I won't because they only played one bingo apiece and I think that's really lame by their standards. Charles won, anyway. That's all you need to know. In the final game, Dennis had a chance to overtake Charles for the club crown (the weekly one, not the yearly one), but fell short 359-422. Charles got down MORPHINE for 101 as well as EMANATOR for not 101, against Dennis' DEADENS.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 4-1 +268, good for second place. He perfectly executed the strategy of "lose your first game so you can avoid Charles for as long as possible or maybe entirely", strategically losing to Bryan in his first game, 360-485. Onlookers were in awe of his cunning. Thomas then rattled off 4 straight wins against non-Charles competition, starting with a win against Susan, 434-344, featuring bingos of SHINNIES, MONILIAE, and REUSING. In the third game, Mary kept the game close the entire way, only to lose by 13. Thomas' extension of PITIES to OUTPITIES on a closed board helped seal the deal. Sitting at 2-1 but still with a negative spread, Thomas went out at gained 280 points of it by playing two at once, Helen and Dave.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke came in third with a 3-1 +243 record. He won big against Barb in his opening match, 497-288, playing RENAILS and the somewhat-appropriate-given-current-events-and-that's-all-I'm-going-to-say-about-that phony VOTINGS*. As Aaron would say, "It's good in Collins!". Speaking of Aaron, he defeated Peter in the second game with the aid of the night's highest-scoring bingo, ENQUIRES for 122. The 537-400 end result of that game is the second highest combined point total this year. After an unusually low-scoring 377-334 win against Bryan, he dropped 496 on a unsuspecting (actually with Peter involved she probably was suspecting plenty) Gail, playing RECITED and HATREDS.

Dennis played the word-of-the-week, UNDELETE (v. to undo the deletion of), as well as phony-of-the-week, CRAISIN* (n. a dried cranberry). If you ever find yourself with CRAISIN* on your rack, look for an open M for MINICARS or an open S for NARCISSI. Don't look for a 7-letter word, because you won't find one, or any other 8-letters words because there aren't any others.

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.