Blog

Bryan and Ruth Ann met up for a triple-header at Hy-Vee on Sunday.  Bryan won the series 2-1, displaying his bingo-finding prowess with a four-bingo, 478-295 in the first game.

Thomas Reinke On Top...Again!

1st Thomas Reinke suffered through lower scores than he is accustomed to, averaging only 412 on the night, but still finished with a perfect 4-0 +172.  Always the picture of consistency, Thomas' high game was a middling 422, and his low game was a sparkling 391.  In his high-powered matchup against Andy Bohnsack, Thomas prevailed 418-370 thanks to his bingos of DESERVE and TONTINE.  Andy played the odd-looking but very useful ENDOSTEA (n. endosteum, a bone membrane) in his attempt to unseat the club's second-place player.

2nd Peter Schmiedicke began the process of working his way back up the yearly standings, going 3-1 +322.  The highlight of his night was demolishing Charles Reinke 512-308, outbingoing him four to nothing in the process: REBUFFED, STROYED, INVOICE, and AERATES.  He also had a three-bingo game against Matt Rust, but that one turned out a lot closer, with the final score being 442-412 in favor of Peter.  Matt got down REVALUED; Peter played QUINOLS, SHEENIE, and FINGERS.

3rd Charles Reinke also went 3-1, but his depressing spread of -1 relegated him to third place.  The cause of that lowly spread total can be found in the above paragraph.  Charles did manage to gain back some of that spread in a 473-352 win versus Betty Hasselkus.  Betty struck first with UNCOILS, but was held bingoless after that point as Charles played QUAVERER and STARING. 

Andy Bohnsack gets a mention here as he achieved the coveted five-bingo game against Helen Flores.  He played SAMOYED (anagram SOMEDAY), TOLIDINE, INDORSEE, SENARII, and TREELAWN.  561, Andy's final score, was the highest game score of the session.

Sue Goldstein Bulldozes Intermediates

1st Sue Goldstein, always working for that elusive ten-game winning streak, got a good start with her 3-0 +191 record.  Sharlie Miura tried valiantly to nip the streak in the bud, but fell to the Sue-inator 364-292.

2nd Harwinder Dowd went 2-1 +123, with a convincing victory against Matt Rust, 364-305, being her best game of the night.  She got down two bingos in that one, ASSAULT and RANGERS.

3rd Matt Rust, sometimes expert and sometimes intermediate, finished at 2-2 +133.  He showed off his "expert" side by walloping June Scott 370-284, a game which included his find of ROUTERS.

Word of the Week as ULTRAISM, played by Richard Lauder.  it anagrams to ALTRUISM and MURALIST, the latter of which would have been a very appropriate bingo in the same way that a Reinke playing TWINSET would be appropiate.

We welcomed new player Dave Gilligan.  He didn't manage to win a game, but he did put up a good fight, and played two bingos: EARLIEST and ALIENED.

Charles Reinke Manipulates Letter Tiles in an Expert Fashion, Besting Other Tile-Manipulators

1st Charles Reinke won all four of his games with a +318 spread.  To put that in perspective, in baseball, four wins in a row would win the World Series, and a 318-run differential over four games is unheard of.  Can somebody explain to me again why Scrabble players aren't multi-millionaires?  Charles' big win came against his brother, Thomas, 464-398.  The lesser (for now) twin had REMINTED and EOLITHS (n. eolith, a prehistoric stone tool), while Charles had PEREONS as well as the triple-triple RESORBED.  This win now deadlocks the lifetime matchup at 34 wins apiece, with both twins averaging 425 points.  As it is the Halloween season, feel free to put on some spooky music in recognition of this eerie occurance.

2nd Thomas Reinke averaged 473 points per game while going 3-1 +423.  He had two-three bingo, 500-point games in rounds three and four, which does not bode well for whoever has to play him first next week, as that streak will almost surely continue.  Lynda Finn took a 508-266 beating (with Thomas playing ILMENITE, AIRBORNE, and POUNDER), while Peter Schmiedicke was smashed to the tune of 518-370 (CONNOTES, MIGHTIER, BRAVING). 

3rd Lynda Finn finished at 3-2 +82.  She brought some kind of chocolatey cakey thingy (note from Lynda: it was a BABKA, which has a valid anagram) for all to enjoy, but clearly her motive was to appease the opponents she so unmercifully pummeled.  While dispatching Helen Flores 462-365, she played the nice Q word QUINONES as well as the Word of the Week, SPOOKIER.  No word could have been more appropriate!  Helen played GRIDIRON (also relevant to this time of year) and TWANGERS. Her highest game and biggest win was versus Mary Becker, 466-288, where the common -EST suffix was used to great effect: MEANEST and RISKIEST were Lynda's bingos in that game.

Harwinder Dowd Back To Her Winning Ways

1st Harwinder Dowd went 2-0 +104, defeating twice the only other intermediate present, June Scott.  The first game ended with no plays available on the board, but the second game was a little more free-flowing, with Harwinder prevailing 362-285 thanks to her find of TEASING.