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Bryan Benwitz is neither Benevolent nor Merciful

1st Bryan Benwitz had a 3-1 +373 record, but, in the absence of any undefeated players, this was more than good enough for first place. He came out of the gates running by trampling Charles Reinke in the first-round matchup, 449-366. The key to beating a Reinke often is to limit their bingoing; Bryan executed this plan to perfection by limiting Charles to just INGESTS while himself playing ADULATE, BOYCOTTS (word of the week!), and VOCALIST. He implemented a similar tactic against Andy Bohnsack at the end of the evening, with even more drastically successful results: BEELINE was Andy's only bingo, and his hopes of victory were forefcully crushed by the indomitable might of Bryan's four-bingo onslaught of AROYNTED (also can be spelled AROINTED), DIVIDERS, COMFIEST, and STEADING. Needless to say, it was Bryan's win, 526-312. However, cracks appeared in the facade of Bryan's Scrabbling excellence when he took on archfoe Aaron Bader; Bryan's record against Aaron before the match was four wins, eleven losses. The total now stands at four wins, twelve losses thanks to a low-scoring 316-351 game where the only bingo played was Bryan's STOCKER. Aaron and Bryan have now played three games in a row where neither player has broken 400.

2nd Aaron Bader was second out of four 3-1 players thanks to his +176 spread. Like Bryan, he sat down against his first opponent ready to play some serious Scrabble, and serious Scrabble he played, overthrowing Dennis Lloyd by a score of 477 to 344. His bingo list was lengthy: AGONISES, MODULATE, PENITENT, and HADRONIC. Andy Bohnsack once again got uncomplimentary mentions in the writeup when Aaron took him down 426-341. Sorry Andy. Aaron won the ever-important bingo battle by getting two (PARTIAL, GRODIEST) to Andy's one (RESOLED), proving once again that bingos are a good thing and that you should always try to play them when you have them except in certain far-fetched circumstances. Aaron's perfect night came screeching to a halt when he ran up against Peter Schmiedicke and promptly lost, 335-412. This time, it was Aaron who only had one bingo (EFTSOON [anagram: FESTOON]), whereas Peter enjoyed a wealth of bonus plays (CITRATE, HANDIEST, and INNARDS).

3rd Peter Schmiedicke's 3-1 +146 record left him thirty spread points shy of second, but 160 points away from fourth-place Dennis Lloyd, who also went 3-1. Unfortunately, Peter's four-game total of nine bingos, while impressive on the surface, actually lowered his yearly bingo average. Unlike the top two finishers, Peter endured a tough first game, narrowly beating Joe Horowitz 375-350. Joe did not manage to get a bingo down, but only lost by 25 despite Peter's RINGTOSS and COEDITED. The scoring picked up a little when Peter next found himself paired against Thomas Reinke, a game he won 467-392. A gnarly double-double of ETAMINES for 110 essentially sealed the game for Peter, who also got down ROULETTE for 74 (Thomas had RESOLUTE and INCLINES, neither of which even approached 110 points). Andy Bohnsack finally gets a positive mention here by defeating Peter 394-363 for Peter's only loss of the evening.

Charles got some sweet cash for playing a triple-triple of BURBLING for 167. He now owns the three highest-scoring bingos of the year.

Andy Played Five Games and Does That Seem Weird To Anybody Else?

1st Andy Bohnsack played five games of the board game called "Scrabble" and won all of them. Wait. five? I thought the Madison club only played four games per night. Huh. His scorecard says that he played two games the first round, and those things are pretty factual... anyway. That mysterious first round resulted in wins over both Joe and Betty, getting the night off to a good start with five combined bingos, including EMERSION (n. basically the opposite of IMMERSION) against Joe. Next up in Andy's docket was Gail, whose nice find of TAJINES (n. a Moroccan earthenware pot, or the food cooked in such a pot) was not enough to overcome Andy's AVOIDER and ATHIRST (adj. thirsty). While those first three wins were pretty good, the real star in Andy's crown was his streak-busting defeat of Thomas, 400-363. For his efforts in ending the 11-game run, he will receive 5 greenish-gray rectangles. Riding high on the wings of victory, Andy then came out on top in a 7-bingo bonanza against Bryan. Bryan played RIFLEMEN, REGICIDE, and MONSTERS, while Andy played FONDANT, HUSKIER, ANTERIOR, and, finally, QUARTER for 104 points. Despite that high-scoring Q play, the Q tile remains one of the worst tiles in the game. Do not be fooled by its false promises of bountiful points!

2nd Lynda Finn also played five games, but unlike Andy,  at least allowed one of her opponents to taste the rich ambrosia of victory, going 4-1 +51. Her night got off to a slow start, as she was held bingoless against Bryan, but she recovered in time to beat both Barb and Susan in round two. Against Susan, she played the bingo of the week, NETIZENS (n. a frequent user of the Internet). For her final act, she achieved the elusive "Double Reinke Perfecto", taking down Charles and then Thomas by a combined 24 points. A rematch of the two games is happening in three weeks and will be available on Pay-Per-View for the low cost of $39.99. Don't miss out as the twins seek revenge!

3rd Charles Reinke amassed a lot of spread, but not enough wins, and ended up in third with his 3-1 +520 record. His first round 399-360 win over Dave was marked by his low-probability find of SHIVAHS (n. a seven-day period of mourning in Judaism). He picked up a bunch of spread against Mary, aided by his plays of FACTORS and KAISERS (n. a German emperor, also KAISERIN, his wife). Though he was defeated by Lynda in the third game, he still found it within himself to play one more game, and, paired against Dennis, he made it count, winning 573-283. If there was a prize for "largest margin of victory", he would have won it, but there isn't, so he doesn't. Sorry. Better luck next time!

Someone Stop Thomas Before It's Too Late, Oh No, Please, No.....

1st Thomas Reinke, for the second week in a row, navigated the stormy waters of the Madison Scrabble Club without encountering a single iceberg, going 4-0 +518. Faced with Andy in the first round, he earned victory by playing LAVATORY and (foreshadowing alert) TRIODES. Feeling that a mere +74 spread wasn't enough, he then vowed to win his next 2 games by a combined 1000 points. He came up short of this lofty and, frankly, laughably unrealistic goal, but still managed to earn a pair of big wins against Dennis and Helen. In the last game, with perfect nights on the line for both players, Thomas defeated Bryan 437-392, playing CANINES, HEARTILY, and (again!) TRIODES. With that win, he has now won nine straight; the club had better act fast if they wish to stop him from earning the $5 prize for winning 10 straight. Something in the vein of Nancy Kerrigan might do the trick.

2nd Bryan Benwitz topped the pack of four 3-1 players with his +266 spread. He opened up his night with a convincing win over Susan, 443-249. This was followed up by a close win over Charles, 421-386. His bingos of DOTTRELS (n. a shorebird) and STUIVER (n. a former Dutch coin worth 8 duit) helped, but the game was won by setting up an unblockable S-hook on a triple-word so that he could play SPEAK for 75 points. Pretty good! After beating Betty in a high-scoring 477-395 five-bingo contest, he faced the tough task of ending Thomas' winning streak. Though he came up short, he always be remembered for his bravery in the face of insurmountable odds.

3rd Andy Bohnsack had the second highest spread in the pack of four 3-1 players with +219, earning him third place and a whole paragraph dedicated to his accomplishments. A tough loss to Thomas set the stage for him to narrowly defeat Joe, 374-364, with his double-double TRIDENTS overcoming Joe's BAWDIER and UNCOATED. This, in turn, set the stage for a not-so-narrow victory over Dave, 544-267, a game that featured the highest scoring bingo of the night, REWEAVE for 116. In the final round, narrowness returned to Andy's night in the form of a 383-377 win against Charles. Charles' late challenge of HUCKS (n. a durable fabric) was the difference maker. Remember, folks, always save time for the endgame lest you fall into the trap of desperation-challenging when you don't need to.

Charles played the bingo of the week NAPHTHA (n. an old term for crude oil). APHTHA (n. a small blister) is also acceptable. In other bingo news, the word EASIEST was played twice tonight, bringing it up to 4th place on the club's "most played bingos" list, trailing only AIRIEST, ATONIES, and ETESIAN. There's a joke there somewhere, I just know it.