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Aaron Bader: "My Assimilation Into Their Club is Complete; Next Step: Total Domination!" [maniacal laughter]

1st Aaron Bader strengthened his iron grip on the yearly standings, going 4-0 +475.  He is now at eight wins in a row - we are all hoping that Mark Kenas shows up and smacks some British-style sense into Aaron before it is too late.  Mary Becker attempted to do some smacking of her own, but fell just short, 351-374.  Aaron had the high-scoring DIPNETS for 92, but Mary had the even higher-scoring INQUIRED for 103, the highest-scoring bingo of the evening.  Aaron followed up that too-close-for-comfort win with a more decisive win against Leslie Seltzer, 525-201, a match that saw Aaron monopolize the bingo tiles for ACROTISM, SNOOPED, and VEALIER.  Three bingos were again in store for Aaron in his deciding bout against Bryan Benwitz, but two of them turned out to be phony: AUDIOED and METAFILE.  He did play the valid YEASTING to leave his phony percentage for the game at a brazen 66.6%.  Bryan played RATOONS and NEARSIDE, but his triumph in the "number of valid plays" category was not enough to secure the win, with Aaron prevailing 414-349.

2nd Bryan Benwitz averaged a club-leading 438 per game on his way to a 3-1 +268 finish.  He pulled off the elusive "Anti-Reinke", defeating both members of the high-powered duo.  Against Charles, even the twin's flagrant phony of ROBUSTO (only ROBUSTA) could not stop the Bryaniac, who won easily, 458-376.  Bryan's bingos of UPLANDS, RESTRUNG, and TAENIAE were instrumental in locking up the victory.  Domination even more ruthless than previously displayed was reserved for Thomas Reinke, with Bryan cruising to a 466-327 win.  Thomas had JILTERS, but it was no match for LOGIEST and PATINAS from the other side of the table.  Lynda Finn, despite not being a Reinke, was not spared, losing 365-477.

3rd Chris Vergeront continues to make the most out of his limited appearances at club, going 3-1 +153.  I bet that kickball team doesn't even do writeups.  Anyway, Chris improved on his yearly average by averaging 395 over his four games (scoring 400+ in each win), but hindered his bingo average by only playing four.  The scorecard tells no lies, and his told tales of big wins, not-so-big wins, and even a 345-417 loss against Helen Flores.  Dave Gilligan was the target of Chris' vengeance, the final score being 402-272.  Chris had SETTLES and EASIEST in that one.  Gail Salm was the recipient of Chris' highest-scoring output, their game ending 434-354.  Gail won the bingo tally, playing UNRAISED and TABORINS to Chris' TERMING, but sometimes bingos aren't enough by themselves.

Lynda Finn played OXAZINES to score word of the week.  An oxazine is a heterocyclic compound containing one oxygen and one nitrogen atom.  Thanks Wikipedia!

Sue Goldstein: "Losing is for Losers"

1st Sue Goldstein took all three of her games, finishing with a 3-0 +178 record and pushing her current streak to five wins, halfway to the magic number of ten.  She got her highest score of the year, as well as her highest winning margin, when she put the hurt on Aki Miura, 390-251.  A subset of that hurt was SALUTER for a cool 79 points.  June Scott was also made to know Sue's wrath, falling 311-293. 

2nd Sharlie Miura came back from a few-week absence, reminding us that she still knows how to play with a 1-1 +80 record.  She was merciless in her dismantling of June Scott, 344-235.  A score that high seemed unattainable in her matchup against Sue Goldstein, with a closed board resulting in a 250-271 loss.

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.