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Charles Reinke Wins Some Games, Achieves Neither Fame nor Fortune

1st Charles Reinke went 4-1 with a sizable +507 spread to capture first place. A large chunk of his spread was accumulated during the second round of the night, when Charles was paired against both Dennis Lloyd and Barb Besadny. Against Dennis, Charles won big with a 525-317 final score, playing MODALIST, FORESAW, VINEGAR, and word-of-the-week BOTONNEE (adj. having arms ending in a trefoil, used of a heraldic cross, also BOTONEE), each for more than 80 points. Dennis, to his credit, was able to play DEVIATED amidst the chaos. Barb did not fare any better; her game against Charles ended at 428-206. This time, Charles was limited to "just" one bingo, FORESTRY. A much-anticipated matchup between brothers also ended in a victory for Charles, as he bulldozed Thomas by a score of 450-341. SEASONER and TIDEWAYS were Charles' bingos; Thomas' was AVENGES.

2nd Peter Schmiedicke also got in five games and also went 4-1, but his smaller spread of +393 slotted in him in second place. "Domination" was the only word to describe the situation when he matched witz with Bryan Benwitz and came away with an easy victory, 449-292. This is the first time in the calendar year that Bryan has scored under 300, but he did get down a bingo, DECRIALS. Peter had two: AUDIENT and WHEEZING. A 441-383 win against Charles Reinke might not have quite reached "domination" levels, but it still felt good for Peter to spoil Charles' undefeated night. With three bingos (ANAPEST, COOEEING, BLURRING) to his opponent's two (OLEINES, CREMAINS), Peter also won the bingo battle in that game. However, bingo totals might not be so important after all, as Mary Becker was able to defeat Peter in a close game (355-348) despite getting outbingoed (Mary had DIGESTER; Peter had TURNOVER and SWELTIER).

3rd Thomas Reinke averaged a mind-melting, brain-busting, and skull-smashing 507 points per game on his way to a 3-1 +694 output. Things started off well for Thomas as he quickly destroyed any hopes that Bryan Benwitz may have had of extending his eight-game win streak. That game ended decisively in favor of the twin, 480-306. Next up was Helen Flores, who fared just as poorly as Bryan had, losing 270-547. Helen was not able to bingo while Thomas selfishly had three: OVERLATE, PODIATRY, and ANGELICA. However, these winning scores, which might appear impressive at first glance, were rendered totally lame by the score that Thomas would attain against Andy Bohnsack: 658. That is the highest score so far this year and also the third-highest since modern record-keeping began in 2011. Thomas had four bingos: FERULAE, TOURISTA, MOFETTE, and the triple-triple PUNITION for 140. Andy phonied with RECAGES but it was allowed to stay on; Thomas' motivations for not challenging remain unknown at this time.

Helen Flores also went 3-1, making a swift recovery after getting whomped by Thomas in the second game.

This week we had two bingos found solely in the new wordlist: Charles' MODALIST and Gail's LEMONIER (LEMONY was always good, now it compares).

Aaron Bader Takes Mark Kenas Back to School, Then Forces him On Field Trip to Bingo Town, No Permission Slip Required

1st Aaron Bader played Mark Kenas in four straight games and didn't lose a single one, going 4-0 +472. This performance gives Aaron the lead in the lifetime series, 33-31, and his winning streak against Mark is now at seven games. A four-bingo romp proved to be a good way to start off the series; Aaron played ELOIGNED, INSPIRER, RESTORED, and INVERSE, a collection of bingos that resulted in a 519-391 win. However, Mark was no slouch, playing RAINWEAR and TREFOILS. The next game was not any kinder to Mark as Aaron scored 500 for the second and last time. 515-341 was what the scores read once Aaron got done playing his bingos of RATINES, CARNIER#, and BALUSTER. Mark came close to taking the last game of the night, but fell frustratingly short, 436-443, proving once again that fate exists solely to turn us all into failures. Well, most of us. Aaron could argue otherwise as he was again blessed with four bingos: UNFAMED#, DISHABLE#, ENDEAVOR, and GENTOOS. Fun fact: if you look up "baby gentoos" in Google Image Search, your computer screen fills up with cute pictures of little fuzzy penguins.

2nd Bryan Benwitz allowed visions of a dominant eight-game winning streak to take command of his brain as he recorded his second-straight undefeated night, going 4-0 +400. Like Aaron above, Bryan found himself nearly drowning in bingos over the course of the night, playing eleven of them. His first game, a 375-292 victory over Gail Salm, had just one, OVERGAIN; however, four such plays were in store for Betty Hasselkus: SAYABLE, SORDINI, JOSTLING, and ELUANTS. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Bryan came out with the win in that one, 509-285. Bryan then performed an encore of that 500-point performance, winning a game against Andy Bohnsack by the score of 502-434. Andy played BEATING and the triple-triple DIASPORE (122 points), but Bryan stood, unintimidated, against Andy's scoring assault to play three bingos of his own: DEMENTS, IGNORERS, and FISTNOTE.

3rd Thomas Reinke didn't quite win them all, but still had a very successful evening, finishing at 3-1 +357. He scored a solid 446-378 win against Richard Lauder, playing LINTERS, BOATNECK, and CRUISED to Richard's sole FATWOODS. Three more bingos were unleashed during a decisive 498-286 win against Gail Salm: ABROSIA (n. abstinence from food), STENOTIC, and ERASION. Gail contributed TILLERS to the bingo action on the board. Only the aforementioned Bryan Benwitz was able to stop Thomas; their matchup finished with 448-423 upon the scoresheets and assorted evidence of a bloody brawl scattered about the playing area. Bryan got down MIDGETS, TIDELAND, and CALOYERS; Thomas had EOBIONT and word-of-the-week JODHPURS for 101.

In addition to Andy's 3x3 DIASPORE, Gail had a 3x3 of her own, TWIRLERS for 149 against Dennis Lloyd, who will now remember that you ALWAYS block an open W in the second spot because who knows what could happen. Only one new bingo was played this week, Charles' BEJASUS.

Bryan Benwitz is at His Witz' End

1st Bryan Benwitz averaged 477 points per game; with that display of elevated scoring prowess, it should come as a surprise to nobody that he went 4-0 with a large spread (+536 in this case). He initiated the massacre with a pair of 500-point games, both of them involving four Bryan bingos (Bryingos?). The first of those games was a 518-378 win over Dennis Lloyd. Dennis tried to stay in the game by playing DETRACTS, but was wholly overwhelmed by Bryan's bingo parade of WEARIER, DOYENNE, STORAGE, and LENTOIDS. He then upped his game even further, scoring a 537-345 victory against Barb Besadny thanks to bingos of FATTIER, REDLINED, TAMARIN, and ETOILES. Against Mary Becker, a score of 414 would end up being his lowest of the night, but still plenty enough to win: Mary scored just 289 in the face of Bryan's unconquerable might. Bryan had ONLY two bingos in that one, WAITRON and RELENTED. It is worthing noting that Bryan also played the role of "spoiler" this night, as two of his opponents (Mary and Dennis) were undefeated save for their ill-fated encounter with Bryan.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +432, the highest spread out of all the 3-1 finishers. Charles wasted no time in doling out his usual servings of "Charles' Scrabble Surprise", taking down Susan Vergeront 493-255. ACEDIAS, VIROSES, and DUNAGREE (also UNAGREED and UNDERAGE) were his bingos in that contest. Three bingos obviously not being enough, Charles played four against Lynda Finn, a game that ended 511-352 in Charles' favor. Lynda found UNTILLED and TEARGAS; Charles had PLEROMA, NUCLEATE, WIPEOUT, and the 101-point STRAKES. In his third and final win, Charles defeated his twin brother/mortal enemy Thomas Reinke by a score of 450-398. Thomas played BADDEST (BAD is an adjective meaning "very good"??? kids and their slang these days dadgummit), but Charles one-upped him with EARLOBES and CAMPHORS.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke compiled a 3-1 +176 record, averaging exactly his yearly average at 410 points per game. His major accomplishment was pulling off the rare "Anti-Reinke", defeating both Reinke brothers, this time back-to-back. He started out by bulldozing Thomas 458-290; the twin was prevented from bingoing entirely while Peter leisurely laid down words like DETAILS, ANGORAS, and BLOWZIER. The next twin matchup would prove to be a bit closer, ending with a score of 416-399. This time, Charles would get down a bingo (PSORALEA), but would still get outdone by Peter's related bingos of MALTOSE (n. a type of sugar) and SUGARERS. Mary Becker would be the person responsible for Peter's sole loss, defeating him 418-376 and temporarily nullifying his unearned "Peter the Defeater" nickname. There were just two bingos in that one: Mary's DENIERS and Peter's GINNIEST.

Thomas played the word of the week, AGUISHLY. There were two new bingos played: Charles' PLEROMA and Gail's GAITERED (the second time she has played that word!).