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Thomas Reinke Thankful For Good Tiles

1st Thomas Reinke celebrated Thanksgiving Eve by consistently outscoring his opponents, thus leading to a perfect 4-0 +218 record. He notched two victories in which he failed to score 400 points, a comparatively rare feat for accustomed scoring in large amounts. He held Bryan Benwitz bingoless while winning 379-325; bingos of LIBATION and VASCULAR were played by the winning side. Andy Bohnsack, meanwhile, was limited to a sole bingo PRESSED as Thomas took him down 381-330. That game saw Thomas play AGONISED and word of the week DOUPIONI (a type of silk). Thomas' highest scoring game came against Richard Lauder, whom he beat 487-432. This was the only game where his opponent won the bingo battle; Richard had DORMIENT, HALITES, and PULICENE (adj. pertaining to fleas) to Thomas' DISTANCE (eschewing the new anagram DANCIEST) and GODHEADS.

2nd Charles Reinke had a session-leading 479 per-game average, finishing at 3-1 +419. Fortune was quick to smile upon Charles as he roundly trounced his first round opponent, Aaron Bader, by a score of 539-349. Aaron had just one bingo of INTONER, while Charles was blessed with four of them: RETAPING, REOVIRUS, LEALTIES, and VAMOSES. A game against Andy Bohnsack was likewise a very lopsided affair, with Charles winning 512-292 thanks to bingos of BRISANCE, SORDINI, and GAITERS. Charles' one loss came against Thomas Reinke, who defeated him 478-420. Both players had two valid bingos (RANCHING and ARTIGIS for Charles versus APIARIAN and ACIDOSES for Thomas), with the victor tacking on a phony bingo of SEARNESS for good measure.

3rd Aaron Bader fared decently despite not playing in his preferred dictionary, going 3-1 +229. After his first-round loss against Charles Reinke, every other game saw his score eclipse the 450-point mark. Richard Lauder took the most serious beating, losing by 166 points, 342-508. STEADILY and ANISOLE were Richard's bingos, but Aaron one-upped him with OUTRACED, BUTANES, and VERATRIA. A 165-point victory over Betty Hasselkus was just as dominant, with Aaron holding a bingo monopoly in his iron grip, playing NAUSEATE, SKIDDING, and a 126-point SEXTETS.

New bingos this week were limited to two: Charles' ARTIGIS and Gail's OATIEST.

Gail Salm Sets All Kinds of Personal Bests

1st Gail Salm waltzed through four games of Scrabble combat without so much as a scratch to show for it, finishing 4-0 +189 for her first-ever undefeated performance in the expert ranks. Her eleven bingos through four games and her 426 average were both personal bests. She took down Lynda Finn by a score of 416-381, playing GRITTIER, BRUISED, and NEEDIER to great effect. She repeated that three-bingo performance with another trio of bingos in a clean 448-348 win over Helen Flores. In that one, her bingos were INGRATES, INQUESTS, and VIOLATE. Showcasing nerves of steel, she did not waver in her final game against the similarly undefeated Andy Bohnsack, and notched the upset victory, 409-381. The normally bingo-happy Andy was denied any chance to bingo as Gail, yet again, had three of them: DENIALS, ROASTING, and RIVETERS.

2nd Andy Bohnsack enjoyed a 3-1 +247 record that was rendered slightly less enjoyable when he lost the "championship" game against Gail Salm. He defeated Oshkosh club regular Terry Hope, 434-355, proving once again that good old-fashioned Midwestern hospitality has no place in Scrabble. Andy played bingos of ATONIES and AGNOSTIC in the win; Terry, meanwhile, got down INVADES. Andy's defensive side was displayed in a bout with Bryan Benwitz which Andy won, 391-332. No bingos were to be had for Bryan, while Andy got down two low-scoring bonus plays: ENROOTS for 63 and MANAGERS for 59, the latter of which must have had at least one blank in it.

3rd Thomas Reinke finished at 3-1 +182. His singular loss came courtesy of Andy Bohnsack, who cleaned Thomas' clocks quite thoroughly, 305-442. Thomas managed the sole VENENATE as a bingo, while Andy had EGOISTS and SUNDIAL. However, Thomas did enjoy some big wins of his own, the biggest being a 493-316 victory over Mary Becker. TEARERS and VEINOUS were Thomas' bingos in that contest. A 490-371 win over lifelong nemesis Charles Reinke may have been Thomas' most enjoyable win of the evening, as the tile gods saw fit to bestow upon him bingos three: VENTAILS (later hooked to make AVENTAILS), TURFSKI, and LIPREAD. Charles did manage to get the nine-letter AERATIONS down, played through the second A and the N.

Richard Lauder's VAQUEROS was chosen as word of the week, played in a loss to Helen Flores. Richard also receives the "bingoing in the face of adversity" award for playing a bingo with a V and a Q in it. Any bingo with a U in it is also eligible for this award, which pays $0 to its winner.

The only new bingo played this week was Thomas' VEINOUS. It has two anagrams, ENVIOUS and NIVEOUS.

Thomas Reinke, Havoc-Wreaker

1st Thomas Reinke made short work of every opponent he faced, finishing a perfect 4-0 with a sizable +609 spread. He downed Gail Salm 475-335 thanks to a trio of high-probability sevens: AUNTIES, DIOXANE, and POETISE. Gail also got down a high-probably seven of her own, RETOTAL. A game against Peter Schmiedicke was somewhat closer, but still a solid win for Thomas, 420-341. In that one, both players had two bingos: FRONTAL and PONGIEST for Peter, THRONED and YPERITE for Thomas. Most of Thomas' damage was done in his game against Barb Besadny, which he dominated utterly from start to finish, 579-227. That one saw Thomas lay down four bingos, two of which scored over ninety points: NECTARY (97), SUBTILE (92), JIHADIS (86), and EARPHONE (66).

2nd Lynda Finn took the "defense first" route to the top three, finishing 3-1 +275 while allowing only 315 points per game for her opponents. This new strategy was exemplified in a 394-288 victory over Dennis Lloyd. Dennis got down FINESSE a decent score, but otherwise failed to gain any momentum at all; Lynda's INCENTS may have had something to do with that. Another one-bingo-apiece battle was fought against Susan Vergeront, with Lynda again winning in convincing fashion, 433-322. Some more high-probability bingos were played; Susan had AUSTERE, with Lynda contributing NEATEST. Her loss was a low-scoring match against Barb Besadny which ended 333-319 and was lost despite Lynda having played the only bingo on the board, SOOTIER.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +213, and, like his brother, scored above 400 in all of his games. Speaking of his brother, Thomas was the one responsible for Charles' sole loss; their game ended with a final score of 444-406. Thomas bingoed out with ANESTRI to steal the win, having played BARTERED and MODELERS earlier in the contest. Meanwhile, Charles had "just" two bingos of SHOVELS and HAVENED. He fared better against Aaron Bader in a game which he won 494-410, playing the double-double PARTIZAN (same as a PARTISAN) for 114 points as well as the lower-scoring LOWLIFE for 80 (unfortunately never extended to LOWLIFER). Aaron found bingos of RETITLE and PETITES in the losing effort. A 457-324 triumph over Peter Schmiedicke featured yet more high-probability bingos, with Peter getting down FORESIDE and TONEMES to Charles' IMAGOES and NITROSO.

There were a few new bingos to report on this week: JIHADIS (Thomas, also word of the week), LAIRAGE (Bryan), and PONGIEST (Peter).