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Peter Schmiedicke Throws a Bingo Party and You're Not Invited

1st Peter Schmiedicke averaged a nifty 460 points per game in going 3-1 +379. His twelve bingos on the night easily gave him the Bingo King crown, but he did have to endure some lean racks to get to that point: his 349-426 loss to Helen Flores saw him get only one bingo, DELICATE. Meanwhile, Helen played AGITATED and word of the week RUINOUS to score her third straight win against this particular opponent. All of Peter's games after that point were blowouts in his favor, starting with a 464-337 win over Thomas Reinke. Thomas was held to just one bingo, LANGUORS, while Peter took advantage with three of his own, CODLING, ANLACES, and HERNIATE. Peter completed the Reinke sweep by defeating Charles Reinke 505-378 (the same 127-point margin as before...hmm...). This go-round, Peter upped his bingo total to four by playing TROTTER, PAISLEY, ENROOTS, and SECEDING. Charles got TUMESCE (v. to become swollen) to restore a small measure of his manhood.

2nd Bryan Benwitz also went 3-1, with a slightly inferior +317 spread. Much of that spread total came from a 499-335 walloping of Charles Reinke. In that one, Bryan found LADRONE, BRAISING, SOFTIES (n. SOFTIE, something Bryan isn't); Charles had DRYSUIT as his sole bingo. Another walloping of even greater magnitude was reserved for Richard Lauder, whom Bryan downed 452-246. Only one bingo found its way onto the board, Bryan's DIGLOTS (n. DIGLOT, a bilingual book). Not every game was so easy, however. Bryan found Helen Flores to be a very formidable opponent, and won by a considerably smaller margin, 421-387. Helen got down the monster QUIETEN for 107 points, but was outdone by Bryan's TORSADE (70) and LEPTONIC (80).

3rd Andy Bohnsack rounded out a Reinkeless top three with a 3-1 +79 record. He flaunted his knowledge of high-probability bingos in a game against Barb Besadny, getting down COARSEN, ATONIES, and SORBENT in a 461-297 victory. He also played the role of "dream crusher" by handing Bryan Benwitz his only loss, gift-wrapped and with a ribbon on top, 438-351. Both players had two bingos, with Andy getting down RUNNIEST and OUTMOVED to Bryan's ROSTERS and DEWIEST. However, in the game for all the marbles, Andy was the one having his dreams crushed when he collided with the brick wall of Peter Schmiedicke. Peter displayed absolutely no inclination towards normal human concepts such as mercy and generosity as he dismantled Andy by a score of 523-321. By Peter's decree, Andy was not permitted to bingo, while Peter himself was allowed to play REUNIFY, TEREDOS, AIRBASE, and EDITION.

Two new words were played this week: DRYSUIT (Charles) and AIRBASE (Peter).

Thomas Reinke Halts Brother's Streak in Furious Fashion

1st Thomas Reinke put together a rather dominating performance, going 4-0 +634 and averaging 485 points per game. The best was certainly not saved for last when he devastated Dennis Lloyd in their first-round matchup, 549-310. Dennis got down BERATING, but a flood of bingos from his opponent (DEODARS, INSANER, PRERADIO, and SESTINE) swept away any changes of winning. Thomas then applied similar amounts of rage on Andy Bohnsack, just squeaking over the 500-point barrier with a 501-303 victory. Andy did attain Word of the Week honors with GHERKINS, but it was no consolation at the time as Thomas was able to play SAUCIEST, VIRELAY (n. a medieval French verse used in poetry, also VIRELAI), TRENDOID, and TROPICS. The 500-point barrier was just out of reach when Thomas met up against his brother Charles, but it didn't matter; a 499-349 final score is decisive enough as it is. Both combatants got down two bingos: SILTIER and PRAEDIAL for Charles, PACIFIER and FAINTER for Thomas.

2nd Charles Reinke won his first three games to build up an 11-game winning streak, but his luckless encounter with his brother in the fourth game put an end to that. for displaying the heroism necessary to end the streak, Thomas now has a fat wad of five one-dollar bills taking up space in his pocket, while Charles was awarded $6 for his efforts (10 wins = $5, each win after 10 = $1). Helen Flores might also be deserving of some money after losing a high-scoring game against Charles, 433-462. In a change of pace, she out-bingoed Charles, playing AUREOLE, ATONIES, and GELATIN to Charles' SUNBELTS and RETRACE. Charles' bingo mojo was restored, however, when he faced off against Andy Bohnsack and unleashed a firestorm of bingos upon him, winning 569-362 thanks to WAITERED, ISATINE, LOGGIAS, RIBANDS, and FLEECING. Andy contributed to the abundance of bingos by playing OUTEARNS and RELOANED.

3rd Gail Salm departed early due to work obligations, but made the most of her three games, going 2-1 -100. Things did not start of well for Gail, with a 275-477 loss to Andy Bohnsack putting her in a 200-point hole. However, she bounced back with a convincing 500-433 victory over Dennis Lloyd. A trio of bingos (FANTAIL, DEVOUTER, and SPONGER) was vital to securing the win, while Dennis' UNLEASED helped him snag one of his two losing scores over 400. Gail's second win came against Richard Lauder, 374-339. A pair of mid-game bingos (WINTRIER and TEENIEST) gave her a lead that would turn out to be insurmountable, even after Richard's LANCERS.

Two new bingos were played this week: HALIOTES (Thomas) and GATCHED (Charles). It is also worth noting that there were no phony bingos played for the entire session. It's easier to do with only 10 people, but still not very easy.

Charles Reinke Pulls Further Ahead in Club Standings, but within His Mind, the Phrase "Eleven Months to Go" Echoes with a Terrible Clamour

1st Charles Reinke went 4-0 +460, clearly deserving of first place on a night where every other player had at least two losses. He couldn't have asked for a better start when he opened up the evening with a 544-364 victory over Richard Lauder, playing MOIDORE (n. a former Portuguese coin), ORGANIC, and ATTAINED to Richard's PENISES and CINDERS. Later, he would defeat a seemingly-unstoppable Dave Gilligan (fresh off wins against Thomas and Andy) by a convincing margin, 454-289. Both players were limited to just one high-probability bingo apiece; BOILERS for Dave, SATINET for Charles. The clean sweep was finally swept cleanly as Charles took down his brother in the fourth and final game, 436-418. Some elite word knowledge was on display for that one, with Charles playing ENVIOUS and CARDING against Thomas' NARROWS and DESTAIN.

2nd Thomas Reinke averaged a low (for him) 399 per game in going 3-2 +88. As alluded to in the above paragraph, Dave Gilligan was able to score an upset win against the high-powered scoring fiend, 396-353, thanks to bingos of DICIEST and REPRISE (Thomas had COARSER and ATROPINS). Thomas' best game was undoubtedly his encounter with Bryan Benwitz, an encounter that ended with Thomas proudly placing a checkmark in the winners' column and scores of 427 and 353 in the appointed boxes. Bryan got just one bingo, LOAMIEST, but just one bingo isn't usually enough against Thomas, who had three of them, FASTING, PARTNERS, and URBANIZE. A game versus Peter Schmiedicke was a more closely-contested affair, with Thomas prevailing in the end, 408-391. It is interesting to note that all of the bingos played in that game (DELAINE for Thomas, HARVEST and TINWARE for Peter) all have exactly one anagram: ALIENED, THRAVES, and TAWNIER.

3rd Richard Lauder may have had the lowest spread ever to appear in the top three, as he finished with a 3-2 -330 record. His 180-point loss against Charles Reinke is documented above, but even worse than that was a 243-525 drubbing at the callous hands of one Andy Bohnsack. Andy unblinkingly hogged (or stole???) all the bingo tiles, winning the bingo battle 3-0 with finds of ORGIAST, CIGARET, and INANEST. The rest of Richard's games were wins, but not of sufficient magnitude to crawl out of the huge point spread deficit. He downed Gail Salm 398-367 despite again being outbingoed, getting just TOLLERS to Gail's SKULKER and STANINE (anagram of Andy's earlier INANEST). Richard also was victorious against Peter Schmiedicke, 420-389, playing OUTSPED and KNOTTED to counter Peter's SUNDIAL and OVERATE. Their lifetime series now stands at 40-34 in Richard's favor.

No bingos from the new dictionary were played; in fact, very few bingos that could be described as "cool" were played either. Mark Kenas' CRUCIBLE was chosen as word of the week in absence of any other suitable candidates, other than perhaps Gail Salm's low-probability, double-K SKULKER.