Blog

Andy Bohnsack, Like an Angry Polar Bear, Thrives in Cold Weather

1st Andy Bohnsack averaged a club-best 459 over his four games, all of them wins, resulting in a 4-0 +377 finish. Embroiled in a high-scoring shootout with Bryan Benwitz, Andy emerged victorious, winning 472-427. Bryan played the phony RERATING; Andy had a good reason for letting that one stay on, as it gave him the necessary triple-triple lane for his 122-point GARRISON. Three bingos (not an uncommon feat for Andy) were unleashed against Susan Vergeront: INEDIBLE, ORDINATE, and MATTERS, resulting in a 442-325 win for the Bonestorm. Susan did find GIRAFFES (the new dictionary, whenever it is put into effect, introduces an anagram: RIFFAGES). In the final game of the night against Aaron Bader, who was also 3-0, Andy needed just one bingo of PASSABLE to pull out the win, 438-415. Aaron had three in his losing effort: TOWNLET, REREADS, and AUDITEE.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-1 +283 while also snagging the Bingo King crown with ten bonus plays. He laid down a hefty amount of smack upon Richard Lauder, defeating the tile-pushing veteran 481-300. Richard played UNITIES, but there was not much unity at that table as Thomas played TARRYING and BASTERS. Against Bryan Benwitz, Thomas stepped up his bingo game, opening with INJECTS for 98 and later getting LOBATED and REALIZER (104 points!). The result of these high-scoring plays was a 459-343 Thomas win. His one loss came against Aaron Bader, 416-459. Thomas came out ahead in the bingo battle, but games are not won on bingos alone, as Thomas was so cruelly reminded. Aaron had TAUTEST and the phony REDECREE; Thomas played PTYALISM, RETORTER, and FEELERS.

3rd Charles Reinke put together a 3-1 +156 performance. He barely escaped with the win in a closely-fought match against Helen Flores that ended 368-354. Helen won high B play for JUMBLES; Charles won no money for his play of TRIMMEST. He, did, however, get word of the week for his play of BARESARK (n. a berserker, a Norse warrior), played against Gail Salm in a 491-394 win. He also played CYANITES while Gail found three bingos of her own: YEARLING, ETESIAN, and HANDLER, each worth more than 80 points. Like his ill-fated brother, Charles also found Aaron Bader to present too much of a challenge, losing 421-466. Both players had three bingos: GATEPOST, OUTGAZED, and INTERAGE for Aaron; NONUPLES, RUDDIER, and the phony CURVETTES for Charles (CURVET and CURVETTED are good).

Gail salm joined Andy in the exclusive "get paid money for playing triple-triples" club by playing RESEATED for a 131. We are now at 14 3x3's since we started keeping track.

Charles Reinke Enjoys Racks Full of Bingos, Face Full of Cookies in Closing Out 2014

1st Charles Reinke went 4-1 +570 to top a small field of seven players (everybody else missed out on the champagne fountain). He poured in the bingos like so much alcohol into a glass, getting fourteen through five games. Eight of these came in a pair of 500-point games which both featured four bingos. Against Mary Becker, Charles played ADVISOR, TAENIAE (remember that one, it comes up often), PUERILE, and DEPORTS; he went on to win 512-269. Against Gail Salm, the bingos were slightly less prosaic: CANZONI (plural of CANZONE, a type of poetry), ARMIGERO, CALIFATE, and TONGUES. The score of that game was also an improvement; Charles set a new yearly record for himself with his final tally of 583.

2nd Bryan Benwitz also had a strong bingo showing, playing ten on his way to a 3-1 +206 record. He reeled off three tri-bingoed games to start the night before being halted by Charles Reinke, 347-431. In that game he was sadly limited to a sole DEPOSITS; Charles had SCALENI and TITTERED. Bryan's best game was a bout against Leslie Seltzer which ended strongly in favor of the Bryaniac, 473-327. Leslie did not bingo, but Bryan made up for it by playing DROSERA (double-double for 90 points), MINTIEST, and CREAMING. Bryan also took down club leader Thomas Reinke, 434-337. There he played DRAINING, NATIONS and ENDOSTEA (another one to remember); his opponent found the odd-looking but perfectly valid DISMALER.

3rd Thomas Reinke lost a small amount of ground in the club leaderboard, going 3-1 +174. He made Richard Lauder suffer a weighty 481-354 defeat despite both combatants finding and playing two bingos: INSECTS and SANGRIA for Richard, KNITTER and LISENTE for Thomas. A brother-on-brother matchup was somewhat closer, but still ended in a convincing Thomas win, 452-401. In his "only" three-bingo game, Thomas played MEUNIERE, MISDIAL (anagrams: MISLAID and MILADIS), and OSSATURE. His similar-looking but non-bearded opponent found DUNGIER as well as the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, RELAXING for 98 points. 

Holiday Cheer Noticeably Absent for Thomas Reinke as he Romps

1st Thomas Reinke. The well-decorated Christmas Tree, shimmering with white lights and golden baubles, formed a stark contrast with his stony visage as he mercilessly defeated his opponents. A second-round matchup with lifelong foe Charles Reinke ended with him the victor, 570 to 331. Thomas' score, while impressive, was made impure with the playing of the phony EXIGETE*, a creative combination of the valid words EXEGETE and EXIGENT. His other three bingos in that game where a little more reasonable: DAMMARS (n. A hard resin, also DAMMER or DAMAR), HARPIST, and SEAFLOOR. His only scare came in the last game, against Peter Schmiedicke, a contest he won by only two points, 444-442, featuring his play of CROUPIER(n. An attendant in a casino, or adj. resembling croup). A complicated endgame sequence proved to be the downfall for Peter.

2nd Andy Bohnsack for the second consecutive week lost his first game to a Reinke, became enraged, and reeled off 4 straight. His 354-437 loss saw Charles play MOONRISE but saw neither play SUNRISE or EARTHRISE. His largest win came against Helen Flores, 528-373, with Andy getting down the 131-point triple-triple DUALIZES. It would have been more impressive had he not used a blank for the Z; as it stands, the council of club elders has convened and decided that the 4 dollars triple-triple prize he was awarded shall be unawarded, and the money instead used to fund public infrastructure projects.

3rd Peter Schmiedicke returned from Missouri, ready to win some Scrabble games and eat baked goods again provided by Leslie Seltzer. His opening 406-401 match against Dave Gilligan was a nail-biter, thanks to Dave's 122-point JIGGERED (adj. Damned, also v. to jerk up and down), not to be confused with REJIGGED. Against Helen Flores he came close to the fabled "play the same bingo twice in the same game" achievement, playing SANTERO and then TREASON. Sources say that he started putting down SANTERO again, thought those sources cannot be verified as of press time.

The hardy members of the club will have to wait an extra week for their scrabble fix; there will be no meeting on the 24th. The composer of this writeup would like to politically-correctly wish everyone happy holidays, but not a happy new year. That one can wait.