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Thomas Reinke is Running Out of Victory Cigars

1st Thomas Reinke swept through all four of his opponents like a raging whirlwind (wordwind?), going 4-0 +327 and averaging 461 points per game. He got his big score out of the way quick by dismantling Andy Bohnsack in a lopsided 536-324 affair. Despite the large gulf between their scores, both players found two bingos: EGALITES and NARRATED for Andy, COARSEN and SEICHES for Thomas. Bryan Benwitz put up considerably more of a fight against Thomas, but the best he could muster was a high-scoring six-point loss, 466-472. This falls one point shy of Bryan's highest-scoring loss ever, an eerily similar 467-472 game against the same opponent just two months prior [cue spooky music]. Bryan got INCLINE, TIRELESS, and BRASILS, but was outdone by Thomas' four bingos of REROUTE, TETANAL, MOMENTO, and the phony GROVERS. To finish up the night, Thomas defeated another one of the club's top players, Aaron Bader, by a score of 434-376. Aaron found the cool ESTOPPEL but, at only sixty points, it could not stand up to Thomas' DECADENT, PALEWISE, and NITERIES.

2nd Peter Schmiedicke, like Thomas above him, played a tough lineup of opponents, and should be happy with his 3-1 +293 outcome. He defeated Richard Lauder by nearly a hundred points, 428-330, but the sanctity of the victory was desecrated by Peter's phony of SCLERID (CLERIDS and SCLEROID are good). Peter also found POITREL in that game, while Richard had a pair of 63-point bingos, CORNIEST and SIDEWAYS. Andy Bohnsack, who seemingly couldn't catch a break, found himself losing to Peter by more than a hundred, 331-445. Andy found KERATOSE (one of the highest-probability eight-letter words with a K in it); Peter had MORTISE and DOMAINE as his bingos. His loss came against Bryan Benwitz in a very close game, 419-425. Bryan had the related words of AIRLINES and AVIATED; Peter's two bingos of TREACLES and SEETHING could only be related by the sickest of minds.

3rd Charles Reinke also went 3-1 with a smaller +259 spread. His evening started off badly with a 320-407 loss to Peter Schmiedicke; thus, it is fitting that Peter ended up above him in the standings. Peter only bingoed once, with IRRITANT, but was able to hold on for the win despite Charles' OILIEST and CARIOCAS. Susan Vergeront put the fear of god into Charles as she played a close game with him, 392-415. FOLIAGE and HOISTING were Susan's bingos; Charles got down SURMISES and COTENANT. Richard Lauder was not given the benefit of such a tight game; his match against Charles ended at a 343-507 score. ANESTRI and THEOREM were Richard's bingos; YARDAGE, VIRIDIAN, and the low-probability SUCCOUR were Charles' rebuttals.

No new bingos were played this week. Lynda's nice play of LATAKIAS (n. LATAKIA, a type of Turkish tobacco) was Word of the Week.

For April Fools Day, Andy Bohnsack Fools People Into Thinking They Can Beat Him

1st Andy Bohnsack uncorked a masterful 4-1 +649 performance to attain the first spot in the weekly writeup. At the end of the first round, his record sat at 2-0 +567, so while his scores were rather pedestrian the rest of the way, it didn't even matter. Against Barb Besadny, Andy let loose with five bingos: OUTRIVAL, DERATES, LAICISES, ASTONIED, and REFILING. This torrent of bingos led Andy to a 520-276 win. That large margin would be made even greater against Michael Siebers, who lost to andy 215-538. At least in that game, Andy took it easy on the bingoing, only getting STAMPED and ENGAGED. Andy's sole loss of the evening was courtesy of Lynda Finn, whose suffocating defense resulted in a low-scoring 377-311 final.

2nd Richard Lauder also went 4-1, but his impressive spread of +546 was not impressive enough to beat out Andy for first place. Like Andy, Richard found success in playing two players at once, beating June Scott 500-230 and Betty Hasselkus 477-312. A game versus Lynda Finn was more tightly-contested, with Richard barely escaping with his life, 376-375. The two combatants exchanged bingos; INFARES for Lynda, DURATIVE for Richard. Nobody save Charles Reinke had the answer for beating Richard, and Charles isn't telling his secrets; they must be good secrets, though, because Charles won 442-396 despite letting Richard's phony GRINGOES slip by.

3rd Aaron Bader escaped while the going was good, finishing 3-0 +83. He anti-Reinked himself by defeating both Reinke twins, this time in sequence. Three bingos were in order for a 430-407 victory over Thomas: EROTICA, UNHARMED, and ALIENERS. Thomas played BILIOUS and the new word DARNEST (anagram of STANDER). Charles fared even worse, losing 379-427. His ETESIAN and UNEASES were outmuscled by Aaron's FAGOTERS and NONIDEAL. Aaron finished up his abbreviated club session with a high-flying 453-441 triumph over the formidable Bryan Benwitz. Bryan got down TORSADE and the Scrabble-appropriate OUTSPELL, but was outspelled by Aaron's three bingos: BALMIER, DACITES, and ACHIOTE.

Lynda's DEIONISE was chosen as word of the week. It was one of several new words that were played: DARNEST (Thomas), GAITERED (Gail), and TENNESI (Bryan) were the others.

Charles "Winwraith" Reinke Throws All Opponents into Mount Doom

1st Charles Reinke unleashed a devastating scoring assault over the course of his four games, winning them all with a total spread of 565 and averaging 490 per game. This makes him winner of thirteen of his last fifteen contests. Much of his wrath was reserved for Peter Schmiedicke, wrath that was delivered in the form of a 541-369 final score. Peter managed to console himself with a bingo of GARDENER, but that consolation was short-lived as Charles deposited four bingos onto the board: ASTHENIC, COSTLIER, ROBUSTA, and word-of-the-week FAUTEUIL, a type of chair. Somehow dissatisfied with the amount of anger he had unfairly directed towards his opponents, Charles went on to defeat Gail Salm 502-291. Gail struck with STRUDEL and PIERCING, but Charles lashed back with AENEOUS (adj. bronze-colored), SQUANDER, and DELATES. The night came to a close with a closer, but not all that close, 446-343 win over Chris Vergeront.

2nd Aaron Bader also had four wins, but his bonus fifth game turned out to be a loss, resulting in a final record of 4-1 +424. Fittingly, that loss was against first-place finisher Charles Reinke, 392-471. Aaron played SHEBEAN (anagram BANSHEE) but was turned away by Charles' ENGINES and triple-triple RATANIES for 122 points. The rest of Aaron's games went smoothly enough, with the smoothest by far being a 540-282 romp over Mary Becker. Despite playing in a two-on-one, Aaron found bingos of CELESTAS and SPAWNING, the latter for 106 points. That mark of 540 points, while lofty, would eventually be eclipsed when he crushed Andy Bohnsack, 574-410. Andy valiantly tried to stay in the game with his finds of TELECOM and DIAGONAL, but Aaron's quad-bingo assault of CAMELEER, REBODIES, LEDGIER, and FANTOOSH (Collins dictionary only) was just too much to overcome.

3rd Thomas Reinke enjoyed a 3-1 +408 performance, but would have enjoyed it more with just one more victory. He graciously welcomed back club director Richard Lauder, having just returned that day from warmer climes, by losing 366-409. Thomas played CURIOSA, but Richard was not to be denied, doublng Thomas' bingo output with his own plays of DEPRIVE and LISENTE. That was the first game, and Thomas would up his bingo count by one in each game. In the third round, Thomas defeated Peter Schmiedicke 435-393 on the back of this bingo-bango-bongo of EXERTION, AERATION, and GREATEN. Peter got down AREOLAS and SIDEARM to make it close. Betty Hasselkus did not enjoy the luxury of a close game, with her game against Thomas ending 586-266 for the largest single margin of the night. The bingo well flowed without inhibition for Thomas, as he got EXILIAN, HOTELIER, EDITION, and FORMATS to build up his huge score.

Again, only one new bingo was played this week, Gail's OATIEST.