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Charles Reinke Plays Scrabble Good; Thomas Reinke's Streak Ends at 12

1st Charles Reinke averaged 478 a game over the course of his 4-0 +464 evening.  He started off strong with a decisive 530-276 victory over Gail Salm, playing BROIDERS and LIVELONG to Gail's INTONATE.  His high-scoring tendencies again manifested themselves when he defeated Andy "Bonestorm" Bohnsack in a high-scoring shootout, 524-473.  Their combined score of 997 is the ninth-highest since 2011, and Andy's losing score is the tenth highest lost since that same date.  Andy played CREATORS (a 90-point double-double), ELOIGNER, and ENDITER (combination of INDITER and ENDITE), but his three bingos were outshone by Charles' four: MARTENS, STYLITE, ABIDING, and MODIOLUS (n. a bony shaft of the inner ear).  Lynda Finn was closest to defeating Charles, but even that game was not truly "close", as it ended in a 407-330 Charles victory.

2nd Aaron Bader stayed for only three games, but made the most of his abbreviated evening, finishing 3-0 +289.  A sizable helping of smack was unleashed against Helen Flores in a game that ended 477-322, Aaron's win.  He played OFFERED (later extended to PROFERRED to a TWS) and RONIONS; Helen had LAMINATE but may have had more success playing its anagram, ANTIMALE.  That win may have been a moderately pleasant experience, but it paled in comparison to the $5 that Aaron was awarded for defeating Thomas Reinke 440-392, thus ending Thomas' winning streak at twelve games.  Thomas, meanwhile, was awarded $7 ($5 for ten wins plus $1 for each game won past ten), an amount that may have somewhat eased the agony of not making it into the top three.  Aaron pulled out the big guns to secure the win, playing the uncommon words BRONCHUS and ORTHICON while Thomas was stuck with the prosaic TAENIAE and LEISURE.

3rd Bryan Benwitz went 3-1 +228, edging out the only other 3-1 finisher for an appearance in the top three and his very own paragraph.  He held two of his opponents to under 300 points, defeating Leslie Seltzer 447-269 and Andy Bohnsack 453-299.  In the latter game, Bryan had the nice find of EMISSARY as well as SOLOING; Andy was unable to bingo the whole game, a rare occurrence for a player who is widely acknowledged to be a bingo-finding robot.  However, not all was peaches and cream for Bryan, as he himself was held under the 300-point mark by none other than Richard Lauder, who whupped him 448-273.  Richard had three bingos: WINIEST, SOPRANI, and BLEACHED.  If it's any consolation, Bryan still has the edge in the lifetime series, 11-10. 

Richard also played the word of the week, UGLIFIER.

Today's Forecast: Chilly, with 100% Chance of Susan Vergeront Domination

1st Susan Vergeront went 2-1 +158 before calling it a night, thus guaranteeing a plus-.500 record for the night.  Bingos were absent from the menu when she defeated Sue Goldstein 298-287, a game that maybe wasn't as fun as a higher-scoring game would have been.  However, fun times were had by all (or at least one person) when Susan crushed June Scott 458-224, playing VIEWINGS for 68 points to further the cause.

2nd Sue Goldstein's 2-1 +65 record left her at an exact 50% winning percentage on the year.  She had the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, SQUARER for 99 points, while also securing the win against Barb Besadny, 347-314.  Sue's phony of ELIXERS (real spelling: ELIXIRS) stayed on the board against June Scott, a blight on an otherwise solid win for her, 364-321.

It is Confirmed: Thomas Reinke is a Hyper-Intelligent Alien Shapeshifter

1st Thomas Reinke, with a dominating 4-0 +653 performance, has reached the fabled "10 wins in a row mark", strengthening the theory that he might be an extraterrestrial sent to our planet in order to beat us at Scrabble.  His lowest score in that ten-game run is 433; what more evidence is necessary?  "Thomas" got off to a strong start by manhandling Aaron Bader 498-323, starting a trend that would prevail through his next two games by playing four bingos: OUTRACE, SNOOZIER, FALCONER, and GURNEYS.  That game was closely-contested compared to a Thomas-Richard matchup that ended 583-227 in favor of the twin.  His four bingos were ACYLOIN, LORGNON, SUGARED, and MIDSOLES.  To cap off his run of four-bingo games, Thomas defeated Peter Schmiedicke 460-345 while playing OUTPREENS, DERISION, SHAIRDS, and REASCENT.  Both Peter and Richard were held bingoless, while Aaron was restricted to just one bingo.  With his strong showing, Thomas is now averaging 457 on the year.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +331, a more sedate performance than that of his brother's, suggesting that Charles is in fact merely a human and not an otherworldly being.  Against Leslie Seltzer, Charles pulled out the words MARTINET and TARSIER (n. a very cute monkey-type thing whose most noteworthy feature is having eyes larger than its brain) to win 403-330.  His big score would come against Lynda Finn, 527-323.  Lynda's TRAINING came up well short of Charles' BECURSED, ADENITIS, and PAYOLAS (n. a secret payment for favors).  Charles seemed primed for an undefeated evening, but was turned away by his own brother, 456-449.  Thomas played ORANGES and AMANDINE (which sounds like the recipe for a vile dish), while Charles seemed to have an "A" fixation, playing ACERBER (adj. ACERB, sour), AIRINESS, and AVIATES.

3rd Bryan Benwitz finished 3-1 +179, a welcome return to the top three after a monthlong absence.  Bryan only got one bingo in the course of his 509-302 win over Dave Gilligan, but he made it count, scoring 176 points for his triple-triple PRECITED.  His winning margin would go from "comfortable" to "anxiety-inducing" when he narrowly defeated Aaron Bader 404-397.  Both combatants had two bingos make it onto the board: SAVARIN and CLAIMED for Bryan, ACINOSE and EPIGONUS (n. an inferior imitator) for Aaron.  Leslie Seltzer was the perpetrator responsible for the lone loss on Bryan's scorecard, winning that fight 434-364.  Bryan was limited to just NOONTIDE for 70 points; Leslie had KETONES (80) and ERUPTING (78).

Aaron Bader had the highest game of the evening, scoring 631 against Dave Gilligan.  The 167-point triple-triple of REGIMENS certainly had a part in that huge score.

Barb Besadny Unleashes her "Inner Barb" to Good Results

1st Barb Besadny was a perfect 3-0 +135 despite not playing a bingo in any of her games.  She toughed out some defense-themed contest against June Scott (304-252) and Sue Goldstein (318-273) for two of her wins before turning on the jets and defeating Susan Vergeront 412-374.

2nd Susan Vergeront went 2-1 +81 for a second-place finish.  She was not above playing phonies to get her way, using the plausible SHIRTED (so plausible that it was not indicated as phony on her sheet!) to defeat Sue Goldstein 357-302.  DITHERS is the valid word in those letters, although SHIRTED will be added in the next dictionary update, which will be (hopefully) sometime in early 2015.  Against Barb Besadny, Susan played three (valid) bingos of RELIVING, REDIALS, and STRAINS, but even three bingos weren't enough to secure a win; she lost 374-412.

Thomas Reinke Might Be a Hyper-Intelligent Alien Shapeshifter

1st Thomas Reinke was the only undefeated player out of fifteen attendees, rightfully earning first place with his dominant 4-0 +420 performance.  He also averaged 482 over his four games, bumping up his yearly average by a considerable amount.  Bryan Benwitz was treated to an unwelcome beating at the hands of the T-Twin; Thomas' 540 was the highest scoring game of the evening, and the margin of 211 was also not too bad.  Bryan did play INTINES for a cool 90 points, but Thomas unleashed CARLINGS, SPIRULAE, and PARODOI (plural of PARODOS, an ode sung in an ancient Greek drama) to make the game a non-contest.  Against Aaron Bader, bingos were thrown around like lexical confetti; despite a two-to-three bingo deficit, Thomas won out, 461-440.  His bingos were the pedestrian ORIENTAL and REPRISE, whereas Aaron's were more exciting with DEVOUTLY and a pair of nines, BALLERINA and word-of-the-week METAGENIC.

2nd Charles Reinke went 4-1 +427, his own undefeated efforts kiboshed at the last when he was taken down by his own brother in a fraternal fistfight, 405-444.  In that contest, Charles was held to just one bingo of COWBIRDS; Thomas had LOONEYS and INDITER.  An earlier contest had Charles defeat Peter Schmiedicke 526-303, using his advanced tile-drawing skills to get bingos of EGALITE, DOZENTHS, and INVOICES.  Peter was able to get OUTSTARE to blessedly break the 300-point barrier.  Of all Charles' wins, his game against Leslie Seltzer was the closest, ending with a difference of only six points, 404-398.  Leslie had the nice find of CAUDATES, which drew a challenge (ECAUDATE is the one which doesn't pluralize), with Charles getting down LEAGUES and DOLESOME.

3rd Dave Gilligan, as the only 3-1 finisher, made the race for third place a no contest.  He handily defeated Mary Becker 381-312 in the last game of the evening, thus securing his top-three finish.  A significant 2-to-0 bingo advantage (SPARSER and OVERLENT) aided him greatly.  Such a bingo advantage was not present in a matchup against Gail Salm, with Dave playing RELINED to Gail's WINTRIER, but this proved not to be a problem as Dave won that one as well, 384-356.  Second-place finisher Charles Reinke was the only thorn in Dave's side, that game ending 491-355 in favor of the C-Twin.

Sharlie Miura Splits Games, but That's Good Enough

1st Sharlie Miura went 1-1 -9 for a pleasingly even evening.  In their first-ever contest, Dave Gilligan won out with a 387-303 victory, but Sharlie rebounded to beat June Scott 373-298.  A bingo of SAILING no doubt contributed much to Sharlie's victory.