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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.

Thomas Reinke 23 of last 24...Everybody Go Home

1st Thomas Reinke went 4-0 +399, an almost routine performance for Thomas by this point. He ruined the lossless aspirations of two players who finished 3-1, Charles Reinke and Bryan Benwitz. Against the similarly-last-named Charles, Thomas faced his most tenacious opposition, only winning by twenty points, 378-358. Charles was held to a singular bingo of EXISTING; Thomas had RANCORS and SOBERLY. The game against Bryan was significantly less contested, with the T-Twin getting four bingos (TIMEOUT, DENTALIA, BASINET, SERIATE) en route to a 511-374 victory. Bryan had BREADING, which was later extended to the surprisingly-phony BREADINGS. Another phony snuck onto the board when Thomas faced Helen Flores; BATEAUS can only be spelled BATEAUX or BATTEAUX. The word stayed, however, and Thomas cruised to a 488-314 win.

2nd Mark Kenas faced fellow Collinser Aaron Bader in all four games, coming out ahead, 3-1 +201. Their lifetime series is now slightly in favor of Mark, 15-14. He played four bingos in a first-round 505-420 victory: WATCHET#, BECRIMED, HEREUNTO, and OSMIATE# (which has three TWL anagrams, ATOMIES, ATOMISE, and AMOSITE). Later, he would put forth a dominating 491-337 performance despite getting just one bingo of DERIDERS. Aaron had two in that game, but still couldn't make it close: OOGAMIES and word-of-the-week MOROCCOS, a word which approaches ZYZZYVAS in terms of probability.

3rd Charles Reinke finished at 3-1 +163. In a matchup against Lynda Finn, the C-Twin prevailed 441-385 despite getting outbingoed two to three. Lynda had NINNIES, ARGENTS, and RAINOUTS; Charles found REMELTED and the second-highest-scoring bingo of the night, SANCTIFY for 99 points (Peter Schmiedicke's 167-point 3x3 STABBING was easily first). Gail Salm also put up a good fight, with both players knotted at two bingos apiece as the final score went Charles' way, 440-396. Gail played TENSION and COATERS, with Charles getting JINGLES and FIELDING.

June Scott Takes Best-Of-Three Series

1st June Scott went 2-1 against Sue Goldstein but still ended up with a -69 cumulative. Both of her wins featured a bingo; NEARING in a 322-301 win and TRAILER in a very close 339-335 victory. However, three times was not the charm for June as she lost the last game 294-388 thanks to Sue's find of BLISTER.

Thomas Reinke's Streak Ends, But He Dominates Anyway

1st Thomas Reinke averaged over 500 points per game (specifically, 506) in his four games, but only went 3-1 +706 as Peter Schmiedicke ended Thomas' win streak at 12 games. That game was a low-scoring 377-350 affair, with just one bingo for each combatant: KIDNAPS for Peter and LIZARDS for Thomas. After that game, Thomas violently turned on the bingo spigot and would not shut it off, playing ten more bingos through his three remaining games. He absolutely smashed his brother Charles Reinke, 571-347, playing ENTOZOA, DECIARES, VELARIUM, and PUPATION. Thomas' three-game streak against his brother has the lifetime series deadlocked at 49 wins apiece. Lynda Finn would be a victim of even greater magnitude, losing 350-577. She played ETOILES and GRIVETS, but was outmatched by a 176-point trip-trip WANNABEE from her opponent. Thomas also played DRAWERS and FEDERALS to add injury to injury. The yearly standings are now struggling under the weight of his 456 per-game average.

2nd Peter Schmiedicke went 3-1 +430, impressively holding his opponents to an average under 300 points. He also won five bucks for ending Thomas' streak, so it was a great night for Peter overall. It was also a record-setting night: he notched his largest winning margin ever, beating Leslie Seltzer by 333 points, 557-224. INFLATOR, OREIDES, and SETTLED were his bingos in that one. Dave Gilligan was held to a similarly low final score, with a final of 247-366. Peter just had one bingo in that game, a word that may have described his opponent after the game: SADDEST.

3rd Lynda Finn finished at 3-1 +38, putting her above the other 3-1 finisher, Richard Lauder. She handed Peter Schmiedicke his only loss of the evening, 367-318. Peter had OVERDOSE, but Lynda's FLINDERS cleanly counteracted that scoring attempt. Lynda took a more ruthless approach against Helen Flores, walking away with a 431-266 victory. Helen was limited to a grand total of zero bingos as Lynda found two that materialized on her rack: PENTAGON and DIARIST. Helen did later have the highest-scoring bingo of the evening, a 185 point triple-triple BREATHED. Aaron Bader also found himself invited to the triple-triple party, playing the super-useful ANEROIDS for 131 and bankrupting the club in the process.

Sue Goldstein First in Intermediates, but Also Second-to-Last

1st Sue Goldstein finished 2-1 -20. Both of her wins were against June Scott, and both were somewhat low-scoring: 339-288 (okay) and 280-278 (that sounds painful). However, a win is a win no matter how much or little you score!