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Charles Reinke Says Goodbye to 2015 With Another Loss-Free Excursion

1st Charles Reinke recovered from the recent interruption of his last winning streak to begin work on a new one, going 4-0 +376 and averaging 473 per game in the process. His biggest success came against Helen Flores, where he won 527-342. Helen got down ERASURE as her only bingo, while Charles had a pair of high-scoring bingos in TRAGICAL (94) and AVIDITY (92). Bingo fortunes would be more favorable for both players when Charles narrowly defeated his brother in a high-scoring contest, 494-481. The victorious twin had a quartet of seven-letter bingos to seal the deal: EMETINE, RESTERS, AMORINO, and SWEATER. Meanwhile, the non-victorious twin had RASHLIKE, UNTINGED, and word-of-the-week BIGEMINY (n. a type of heart arhythmia).

2nd Thomas Reinke finished at 3-1 +468, with only a loss to his brother marring an outstanding performance wherein he averaged 495 per game. He started the night off with a bang by defeating the soon-to-depart-for-warmer-climes Richard Lauder 524-361. Richard deployed the phony SHELVAGE to try to stay in the game (along with the valid DRAINER), but Thomas one-upped him with three bingos of his own: SENIORS, ALATION, and AZOTURIA (n. an elevated level of nitrogenous compounds in the urine). The tile bag was even more biased towards Thomas when he thoroughly dismantled Mary Becker's winning aspirations, 548-304. In that one, Thomas had FIVE count 'em FIVE bingos: FOOTAGE, INFECTS, INTERNAL, INSNARE, and REMOTES.

3rd Lynda Finn went 3-1 +155 and averaged an impressive 453 per game, almost seventy points above her previous yearly average. Her high game came at Bryan Benwitz' expense, although both players scored above 400 in a 475-406 shootout. Lynda won the bingo battle, with her three bingos (CLOTHES, STUFFER, and ATTORNED) outscoring Bryan's two (STEERAGE and LIGROINS). She only got one bingo (REGAINED) against Richard Lauder, but managed to dominate the matchup anyway, 471-329. This was despite Richard's MONSTERA (n. a genus of flowering plants) and ANODISE. Lynda's run at an undefeated evening sadly ended with a 422-496 encounter with first-place finisher Charles Reinke.

Gail's TAJINES and Richard's ANODISE were the new bingos played this week.

Charles Reinke Reaches Twelve Straight, but Mary Becker Makes Sure it Doesn't Become Thirteen

1st Charles Reinke went 4-1 +559 and averaged 484 per game, but the real news was twofold: his winning streak was extended to twelve (or eleven, depending on how 2-on-1s are counted in the streak), and his winning streak came to an end. The disrupter was none other than Mary Becker, who took down the seemingly unstoppable twin by a score of 427-448. Mary's bingos were UNITIES and ENVIOUS while Charles got down SNARFING and RITUALS. Well before that game, Charles soundly defeated Bryan Benwitz 547-344 despite playing just one more bingo than his opponent (Bryan had ALATION and ANTEDATE; Charles, WAFTAGES, PACIFIER, and UNABUSED. Charles improved on that 203-point margin by demolishing Richard Lauder, his 497 easily eclipsing Richard's 268. IVORIEST, INDICTED, and word-of-the-week ENDOSMOS were Charles' bingos in that one.

2nd Thomas Reinke had a suitably identical win-loss record to his brother's, but his failure to find eighteen more points somewhere meant that he was put in second place. Like his brother, Thomas had a pair of devastating wins. The first was a 476-290 victory versus Dave Gilligan (playing LIGHTEN, CONFETTI, and EASIEST), and the second was a 560-337 romp over Dennis Lloyd (upping the bingo output to four with AUDILES, WOMANIST, OVARIOLE, and CENTAURS). As is frequently the case, one brother was the source of the other's only loss; Charles took the win 470-392, playing the exceedingly low-probability ERASION and GASEOUS to counter Thomas' SOLATIA and SIGHTSEE.

3rd Mary Becker finished at 3-2 +8, benefiting from a fifth game just like the other top-three finishers. Her highest-scoring game of the evening, a streak-busting win against Charles Reinke is already chronicled above, but in case you missed it, Mary triumphed 448-427. Her other 400-point game was a 409-365 victory against Dave Gilligan. The bingo situation in that game was exactly equivalent; both Mary's LINGERS and Dave's STONERS score 65 points. In the category of "close losses" was a 318-319 loss to Sue Goldstein which saw neither player get a bingo.

Only two new bingos were played, and they were actually the same word: both Charles and Gail played IVORIEST in the same round. In another bingo-related oddity, Bryan Benwitz had an opening rack of AAILNOT in two straight games, went second in both, and played ALATION in both once it was his turn. Creepy.

Charles Reinke at Eight Straight Thanks to Back-to-Back Undefeated Nights

1st Charles Reinke put together another strong showing, averaging 462 per game and finishing at 4-0 +507. His highest scoring game was a 502-393 win over the tough Bryan Benwitz. Proving his toughness, Bryan played the phony BONELIKE, an especially bold move considering that Charles had let another player play that same phony against him just a few months ago. Bryan also laid down the less-controversial ATONERS, while Charles got ADVISED, REDEFINE, and SURCOAT. Charles also played the role of spoiler by disrupting Helen Flores' perfect-night-in-progress; in the final game, he came out indisputably victorious, having won 490-223, playing bingos of FAUCETS and SATSANGS (n. SATSANG, a type of Hindu spiritual gathering) in the process.

2nd Andy Bohnsack had an identical +507 spread to the player above him, but the presence of an extra lost game relegated him to second place. He continued his quest to lead the club in bingo output by playing thirteen of them in his five games. His one loss was gotten out of the way quickly in a first-round matchup versus Dave Gilligan. Dave played three bingos in his 454-377 win: ENOLASE, PROLIFIC, and JETTING. Meanwhile, Andy "only" had two: SUEDING and OERSTED. A much more postive outcome (for Andy) was attained when he crushed Susan Vergeront 492-249. Susan was held bingoless, presumably because Andy hogged the bingo tiles; his three were ELOINER, REALISED, and THUNDERY.

3rd Lynda Finn went 3-1 +150 to finish in third place, 120 or so spread points ahead of fourth-place challenger Helen Flores. Lynda's big game was a solid victory against Mary Becker, 446-342. Two of Lynda's seven bingos were played in that game, MONGREL and DUETING. Of course, her singular loss had to come against the undefeated Charles Reinke, thereby making him the spoiler of two undefeated performances. It was Charles' win, 417-350, but the bingo battle was ruled a tie with just one for each player: Lynda's TENNIES and Charles' PANINIS.

Helen Flores played a triple-triple HOARIEST for 140 points, her second four-dollar play in three weeks. Plenty of new bingos were played this week: SATINIER (Thomas), PANINIS (Charles), SATSANGS (Charles again), EROTICAS (Mary) and SAPIDER (Gail)