Blog

Lynda Finn Perfectly Embodies "The Finnisher" Nickname

1st Lynda Finn enjoyed her second undefeated performance of the year, going 4-0 +169. None of her wins were blowouts, but you can't argue with the results. Lynda started the ball rolling with a 411-358 win against Helen Flores, playing STOTINS (n. STOTIN, a former monetary unit of Serbia which also pluralizes STOTINOV) and REDLINER along the way. That two-bingo precedent would not be disrupted the rest of the night. She then snapped a year-long drought against Charles Reinke, scoring 402 to his 371 and unleashing three bingos: REVISIT, TWEENIE, and ELOIGNER. Charles got down ASPIRATA to maintain at least some of his shredded dignity. Another three-bingo assault was set forth upon Bryan Benwitz, and the result was similar, a 442-385 victory for Lynda. Bryan played SORPTION and the phony CRENATES (only CRENATE and CRENATED are good), but was effortlessly sent back by Lynda's ORIGINAL, FOLIAGE, and TESSERA.

2nd Charles Reinke continued to gain on his brother in the yearly standings, finishing 3-1 +285. His closest victory came against the wizened veteran Richard Lauder, 426-388. Richard played the Word of the Week, MUSTACHE, as well as NIGGLIER in his losing effort. Meanwhile, Charles found ANEMOSIS (n. separation of growth rings in a tree due to wind) and RATTRAP. Gail Salm would not come as close to victory, with Charles breezing through that matchup 467-299. FANNERS was Gail's attempt to stay competitive, but it was not enough, as Charles had three bingos of his own: TRENDIER, GROOVES, and RETREADS. In the final game of the night, Charles made a small amount of progress on erasing the win deficit he currently faces against his brother by winning 433-323. Thomas had just EOSINES as he limped towards the finish line, while his brother finished strong with DELETION and GRANITA.

3rd Andy "Mr. B" Bohnsack celebrated the almost-end of the school year by going 3-1 +239 and attaining the highest per-game average of the night at 448. His loss was dealt to him by the coldly calculating Thomas Reinke; even though their bingo output was the same (STROPHE and SENORITA for Thomas, YEARLIES and RADULAS for Andy), Thomas ran away with it, 494-340. The rest of Andy's games all featured 100+ margins in the other direction. One of those games was a 467-323 drubbing of Leslie Seltzer, wherein Andy played AVULSION and STRINGED. Andy then got one of only two 500-point games of the evening by defeating Dave Gilligan by a score of 518-393. Dave played TRUDGED as his only bingo; Andy had IRRITATE, QUAILING, and TELLERS.

All Shall Tremble in Fear of Steve Busalacchi

1st Steve Busalacchi finished at 2-1 +68. He defeated Sue Goldstein in a very low-scoring bout, 303-280. Things improved considerably when he matched up against Susan Vergeront, whom he defeated 341-284. His bingo of HOGTIES for 77 points certainly came in handy in that one. Dave Gilligan was the one to hand Steve his only loss, another low-scoring affair that ended at 289-301.

Just two new bingos were played: TWEENIE (Lynda) and EPATERS (Thomas). Recently relocated Floridian Dennis Lloyd made his first of hopefully many appearances at our club, and proved he belongs with a 3-1 +52 record.

Aaron Bader Doesn't Miss Mark All That Much

1st Aaron Bader proved that he can seamelssly jump between our "normal" dictionary and the "weird" British dictionary by going 3-1 +380. One of his few slipups was playing the Collins-only STEMLET during a rout of Bryan Benwitz that ended with a final score of 483-349. Aaron's three other bingos were all valid: ANDIRON, PAESANI, and HOUNDED. Bryan, meanwhile, was held uncharacteristically bingoless. Aaron achieved the same feat against Peter Schmiedicke in another rout, 473-311. This time, Aaron limited himself to only real words, those being MONERANS, DENTURE, and PRATIES. The lucky streak could not continue forever, though, as Aaron found that Charles Reinke was not willing to sit and watch all the good tiles drawn out of the bag by his opponent. Their matchup ended at 418-435 in Charles' favor, with Charles' sole bingo of CADASTER (also CADASTRE) overcoming Aaron's FURIOSO and SENTINEL.

2nd Andy Bohnsack fell only 24 points short of first place with his 3-1 +356 record. The night did not start off well for Andy as he was downed by Gail Salm, 452-399. Gail was able to stifle the effect of Andy's find of OOCYTES (anagram: COYOTES) with three bingos her own: STRIPER, INCITERS, and "Appropriate Word of the Week" WINNERS. After that setback, Andy found the rest of his games to be smooth sailing. He used dubious tactics to defeat Barb Besadny, playing the phony INTERLIE along with his valid play of SNEERED on his way to a 512-302 clock-cleaning. Meanwhile, no shady plays were attempted as Andy won a clean bout against Thomas Reinke, 446-359. Thomas watched with envy as Andy played a trio of bingos: INCENSED, HURLIES, and  TOILETED.

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +283 to beat out two other players who had 3-1 records. Missing out on "highest score of the evening" by one point, Charles romped over Susan Vergeront, 511-307. Susan got down ASTERIA (the third time she's played that word!), but Charles one-upped her with LENITED and SNOUTING. The bingo spigot ceased to run when Charles matched up against Dave Gilligan, but even getting out-bingoed 0-2 (Dave had SHOWMAN and OVEREATS), Charles eked out the victory, 430-343. Thomas Reinke AKA "The Good-Looking One" was once again the disruptor of Charles' perfect night; the fraternal fistfight concluded with a 401-376 final. Charles did outdo his brother from a bingo perspective, playing SPINULAE and LEARIER to Thomas' INTERBED, but his efforts were for nought.

Both Peter Schmiedicke and Gail Salm also went 3-1. Peter played the word of the week with ZOOPHILE.

Sue Goldstein The Only Undefeated

1st Sue Goldstein averaged 343 per game, well above her yearly average, on her way to an undefeated 3-0 +211 bulldozing through the Intermediate group. Her one bingo came against Steve Busalacchi, RESOLING for 62 points. Sue only won that game by 59, 370-311, so the bingo's appearance on her rack was definitely appreciated. Most of Sue's spread came against the returning Michael Siebers, whom she beat 363-214.

2nd Steve Busalacchi finished 2-1 +128 and averaged an expert-level 377 per game. He took down June Scott 388-346 in what is June's highest-scoring loss this year. Taking the momentum from that game and transferring it to his next, Steve got down two bingos (TEENIEST and NOSIEST) en route to a 433-288 victory over Michael Siebers.

New words played this week were PRATIES (Aaron), EGOTIZES (Peter), and STOVING (Bryan).

Thomas Reinke Doesn't Even Like Losing

1st Thomas Reinke averaged 461 points per game and laid down eleven bingos, going 4-0 +451 and ensuring that his insatiable appetite for victory would not remain unsated. He showed no mercy against Gail Salm in a 472-344 win that saw him play ARMOURS and OPERATE. Things would only get worse for Thomas' opponents as his next two games featured yet more anger in the form of points scored on a Scrabble board. Charles Reinke could only watch as his brother smothered him with three bingos (PALIEST, BASILECT, and ROUTEING) for a 496-341 final score. Also reduced to a mere spectator was Helen Flores, who lost 464-333. She had to endure watching Thomas lay down four bingos (NEGATION, OUTFIRE, GENETTES, and ENTERAL) while being allowed none herself. Initial reports out of the region indicate that Helen will cease any current and future tilebag shipments to Thomas until he backs down from this unwarranted aggression.

2nd Charles Reinke finished 4-1 +221, just one brother-administered loss away from a perfecter-than-perfect 5-0 record. A four-bingo beatdown permanently damaged Andy Bohnsack's point spread, with their matchup ending 492-317. Charles played CAEOMAS (n. CAEOMA, a spore-producing organ of a fungus), RESOLDER, INWEAVE, and CUSTARD; Andy saved himself from an even worse score by bingoing out with CLARINET. Against Mary Becker, who was firing on all cylinders despite her 2-2 record, Charles only just managed to squeak out the win, 418-415. Mary played TINGLING and NATTERED; Charles had TURFIEST and the phony AVULSIVE. Dave Gilligan was not allowed the luxury of a close loss, as he was downed by Charles, 471-353. Dave's bingos were INGRATE and the word-of-the-week EXTRORSE (adj. facing outward, not to be confused with DEXTRORSE, which means "spiraling to the right"); Charles' were CONTUSE, SEMIOTIC, and HEISTED.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke found himself in third place by virtue of there not being any players who finished 3-1, leaving Peter's 3-2 +173 to be good enough. His largest margin of victory came against Barb Besadny, who found out the hard way that the ability to draw good tiles doesn't easily cross state lines; Peter won 377-250 with his bingo of INDUSIAL (adj. pertaining to an indusium, an enclosing membrane found on ferns) being the only played by either player. The bingo gods were a bit more generous towards Peter when he matched up against Gail Salm. That game ended 455-369 in Peter's favor, with Peter getting down NURTURES, MANNOSE, and SANTERA. The gods did not fully ignore Gail, as her 84-point ENTICES scored more than any of Peter's attempts. The night ended in defeat for Peter as Andy Bohnsack prevailed 412-351, a game which saw each player only get one bingo: PERIANTH for Andy, CARBINES for Peter.

A few new bingos were played: Thomas' ROUTEING and Charles' AEGROTAT. Mark Kenas contributed VERONAL (adj. pertaining to suburbs of Madison) to the list, but that word has been good in the Collins dictionary for some time despite being new in ours.

Reminder that next week we take away the cheat sheets of the new words! Does PIEZO take an S? Now you'll just have to remember! (it doesn't)