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Lynda Finn Takes Month Off, Probably Learned Whole Dictionary In That Time

1st Lynda Finn won four relatively close games to finish 4-0 +126, her first undefeated performance since March of last year. Mary Becker nearly changed all of that, with only five points separating her losing 396 and Lynda's winning 401. Mary played PACTION to Lynda's OBVIATE. The bingo train began to roll in earnest when Lynda matched up against Richard Lauder for a high-scoring 464-404 victory. Richard's three-bingo assault of REAGINS, DRUTHERS, and CRISPING was offset by a similar assault from the other side of the board; Lynda played DESTINY, PIONEERS, and EGALITE. One could say that it was destiny which led her to beat club leader Thomas Reinke in the final game, 392-350.

2nd Andy Bohnsack overcame a rough initial game to finish in second at 3-1 +354. That opening round loss against Charles Reinke, 438-241, was Andy's worst game since we started keeping track in 2011, but Andy proved himself a resilient competitor (with a short memory to boot) by winning the next one 542-304 against Barb Besadny. Four bingos found their way from rack to board: SENARII (n. SENARIUS, a Latin verse of six metrical feet), ROUTINES, SUNLIKE, and STEADILY. Only two bingos were on hand against Helen Flores, but Andy did not find himself too inconvenienced, and won by a score of 436-276 on the back of TAILORED and SOLVATE.

3rd Thomas Reinke looked to be headed for another first-place finish after three games, but lost the last one against Lynda Finn to end up at 3-1 +324. For the seventh straight game, he beat his brother Charles, this time with a final tally of 453-389. The bingos to be found on the board afterwards were somewhat uninteresting, with Charles finding SIENITE and Thomas unloading ENTHRAL, LENITED, and DUSTRAG, the last one being an out-bingo to win the game. A match against Susan Vergeront needed no such endgame heroics, with a final of 473-265. Susan had ATTUNED; Thomas played ISOLATED and TELAMON (n. a male figure used as a supporting column, plural TELAMONES).

Bryan Benwitz and Peter Schmiedicke also went 3-1 but failed to place due to inferior spreads. Because +311 +244 respectively are "inferior." Bryan enjoyed his second ever five-bingo game at club, beating Charles Reinke 543-408. His bingos were (deep breath) STATION, PRETTIER (anagram PRETERIT), METERING, LOUVERED, and DILLIES. Charles hoodwinked everybody with his nine-letter phony RATTINESS (TARTINESS was available, STRAITENS and RESISTANT are the anagrams) but was otherwise fully stymied.

Barb Besadny played JONESES for 85 and was rewarded with Bingo of the Week for her troubles.

Sue Goldstein Arrives Late, Departs Victorious

1st Sue Goldstein played three games against June Scott and won two of them for a 2-1 +141 night. Most of that spread was gained in the first game, when she clobbered her opponent 342-228, a score which included REBOUND for 72 points.

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.