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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.

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.