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Thomas Reinke Thwarts Bryan Benwitz - And Everybody Else Too

1st Thomas Reinke made easy work of his opponents, going a perfect 5-0 +459 despite only scoring above 400 in two of his games. He ended Bryan Benwitz's winning streak at nine, leaving Bryan agonizingly close to the coveted ten-in-a-row. The final score of that game was a decisive 545-376 despite each player getting three bingos: NEURONS, ESPALIER, and SIENITES for Bryan, WAVIEST, DIORITE, and a 105-point TRUANCY for Thomas. Gail Salm was the closest to defeating the T-Twin, with only four points separating the winner and loser, 363-359. This time around, both players were limited to just one bingo apiece: SANGERS (n. SANGER, a temporary fortification) for Gail and DENATURE for Thomas.

2nd Andy Bohnsack went 4-1 +183, losing his first game to Thomas Reinke 248-486 and then reeling off a series of increasingly angry wins. He got the highest-scoring bingo of the night, a 110-point SQUARISH (also word of the week!), in the course of defeating Dave Gilligan 478-294. Andy also got GRANDER and ENTASIA in that whupping; Dave found PURLOIN. A game against Charles Reinke was a little bit closer, ending 457-436. Again, Andy had a trio of bingos: STAGIER, YEASTING, and PERCOID. Charles managed TOADIES and OUTGNAW, the latter of which takes an N for OUTGNAWN.

3rd Richard Lauder finished at 3-2 with an unfortunate -51 spread. He wasn't his usual high-scoring self, but managed to parlay his defensive skills into some wins. The cagy veteran defeated Barb Besadny 395-339 for his highest game of the night, playing HISTONES and INERTIA along the way. Simultaneous to that game, he took down Helen Flores 374-355 with nice finds of CHATTIER and WATERMAN. Chris Vergeront was more resistant to defeat, unleashing the expanding power of his word knowledge to win 440-273. He held Richard bingoless while playing three for his own nefarious purposes: ADVISED, PETALINE (anagram TAPELINE) and BLOTTED.

We were happy to see newcomer Jane Woods enter our midst. She managed one win against June Scott and also got two bingos of SAINTED and ENTAILED in her four games, a better showing than many newbies. We hope she comes back!

Bryan Benwitz' Streak Now At Eight After Second Consecutive Undefeated Night

1st Bryan Benwitz unleashed a performance somehow more dominant than last week's, going 4-0 +454 and averaging 440 points per game. There was little in the way of "mercy" or "sympathy" displayed when Bryan faced off against Thomas Reinke, with a final score of 438-325. Thomas did not manage to bingo, while Bryan had three for himself: ENVIABLE, FOMENTER, and the 104-point EJECTION. Bryan turned it into a family affair by proceeding to dispatch Charles Reinke, 413-377. Bingos of ULTRARED and PREVISED prevailed over Charles' INCENSED and DELETION. Bryan's longest-ever winning streak is nine games, done back in late 2013, so he just needs one more win to tie that mark, or two to break it and also become a five-dollar target.

2nd Andy Bohnsack went 4-1 +212, showing that no rust had built up after a month-long absence. He scored well in every game save the one he lost, a 305-479 contest against Thomas Reinke that could only be accurately described as a "demolition". Andy did not bingo while letting his opponent have four: ERISTIC, ANOXEMIA, KERNITES, and ABRUPTER. However, Andy ran wild in his other four games, negating the effects of that one loss. Twice he held his opponents to under 300 points: he beat Leslie Seltzer 440-292 and Lynda Finn 422-298. In both games he got two bingos: FINIALS and GRIEVOUS against Lynda, LABRETS and word-of-the-week VERMUTHS against Leslie.

3rd Aaron Bader stayed for four games despite his tiredness, and is glad he did, as he finished at 3-1 +303. Like Andy, he successfully prevented two of his opponents (victims?) from reaching the 300-point mark. First, he defeated Barb Besadny 457-252 with the aid of his bingos KERNITE and SYNODIC, the latter for 102 points. Then, he took down Dave Gilligan 382-265 despite both players getting one bingo: FOUETTES for Aaron, HORNIER for Dave. Charles Reinke successfully stopped Wisconsin's second-most-popular Aaron, defeating him 448-425. The C-Twin won the bingo battle by playing three bingos of ERRANTS, EPILEPSY, and NICOISE; Aaron had SEAROBIN and the fun SHITTIM, which is a type of wood.

Sue Goldstein's Win Streak is Just One Game, But that's Better than Zero

1st Sue Goldstein finished at 2-1 with an anomalous -94 spread. Her negative cume was courtesy of Bryan Benwitz, to whom she lost 297-469. Both her wins came against June Scott, including a 347-276 romp.

Bryan Benwitz Gives Thanks For Perfect 4-0 Night

1st Bryan Benwitz served up a special Thanksgiving feast of word-powered punishment, going 4-0 +130. He started things off with an extremely tightly-contested 334-333 win over Thomas Reinke, a game in which only two bingos were played: COOLNESS for Thomas, OPALINE for Bryan. Things were not much easier against Gail "Gailstorm" Salm; Bryan had to overcome three bingos from his opponent (JOSTLING, MARINER, and SCARIEST) to edge out the win, 419-392. He did get the high-probability ONERIEST (anagram SEROTINE) to help his cause. These two bingo-deficient performances were offset by a high-scoring victory over Charles Reinke, 498-447. Bryan played four bingos (only three being valid): HEFTIEST, TRASHIER, BODICES, and UNLODGED. Charles got down three of his own: TRAILED, CLAIMANT (anagram CALAMINT) and ERINGOS.

2nd Charles Reinke finished 3-1 +495 and was also undisputed bingo king with thirteen such plays. He displayed an uncharacteristic lack of Midwestern hospitality when he blew out the visiting David Weiss by a score of 477-273. Everything went right for Charles that game, as he held his opposition bingoless while hoarding all the bingoey tiles for himself: ATROPINE, SILVERS, MANACLES, and GLAIRES were his bingo plays that game. Not content with just one drubbing, another four-bingo beatdown was in store for Lynda Finn: bingos of DERISIVE, TRAINED, SEAGULL, and TINKERS were deployed to secure a 528-326 victory.

3rd Helen Flores snuck into third place by just 13 spread points, going 3-1 +65. Her biggest victory came against June Scott, 406-254. A hefty bingo of CHEQUERS for 86 points helped put that game away. Her other wins weren't as high scoring, but still granted Helen some valuable checkmarks in the "W" column: 363-334 vs. Gail Salm (playing GARDENED) and 355-331 vs. Richard Lauder (playing GREASED). Charles Reinke proved to be the only one who could prevent Helen from going undefeated, with that game ending 454-314.

We welcome David Weiss back to our club after a who-knows-how-many-years-long absence. He stepped up to the plate with a 3-1 performance, including a win over current club leader Thomas Reinke, 429-425. David will soon have to return to Albuquerque, and thus, his winning percentage this year will likely remain at a respectable 75%.

Richard Lauder won bingo-of-the-week voting in a landslide, playing BEAUCOUP against Lynda Finn and later extending it to BEAUCOUPS.