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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.

Lynda and Renato battled it out in HyVee Scrabble. Lured by 99 cent pizza, they braved the cold to play a three game showdown. Renato's Halloween inspired bat-blanks were split evenly, two to Renato in game 1, two to Lynda in game 2, and then one each in the tie-breaking showdown. 

Next time you see Renato, congratulate him and his wife Sarah on their good news. Their first baby is due December 25th.

Andy Bohnsack Knows Not the Concept of Mercy

1st Andy Bohnsack wisely skipped the first game of the World Series in order to dominate the expert division, finishing 4-0 +557.  Dismissing wholesale the concepts of lenience, pity, and mercy, Andy averaged 482 points per game.  Asa Miura bore the brunt of Andy's punishment, with Andy winning 574-306.  Valiantly, Asa played the bingo ALIENATE, but was overcome by the bingo onslaught from the other side of the board: GRANDAME, BANTENGS (n. banteng, a wild ox), RATLINS, and ADORNING.  Andy's lowest game was still a big win: 415-259 vs. Peter Schmiedicke. 

2nd Lynda Finn averaged a not-too-shabby 473 points per contest while going 3-1 +331.  She trounced fellow east-sider Shayla Dunn 503-328 while only playing one bingo, RAILINGS.  Shayla played the Word of the Week, MENINGES (n. meninx, a membrane enclosing the brain and spinal cord), in that same game, so even though she lost, she still kinda won...right?  While we're on the subject of losing, Lynda's only loss was 467-472 against Andy Bohnsack, which prompts the question: just how many points are necessary to beat Andy, anyway?  A total of six bingos were played in that game: Lynda played EPIGONE, GOURAMI, and REVOLTS, while Andy played STEADIES, STURDIER, and INHAULER. 

3rd Bryan Benwitz ended up at 3-1 +282, but more importantly, he beat both Reinke twins.  If losing to both of them means you got reinked, that must mean that Bryan got anti-reinked.  Unintimidated, he took down Thomas Reinke 431-354 with the aid of his bingo TOLUIDS, then coolly exacted the same fate upon Charles Reinke, winning 454-365.  The bingo list from the latter game was somewhat more impressive: FIERIER, ETAGERES (n. etagere, and ornamental stand), and almost-but-not-quite-bingo-of-the-week CRONYISM.  Predictably, his one loss was against the unstoppable Andy Bohnsack, 468-350.

June Scott Asserts Dominance Over Intermediates

1st June Scott went 2-1 +81.  Agonizingly close to a 100-point win, she beat Sharlie Miura by just 99, 344-245.  Asa Miura then defended his mother's honor by defeating June 454-256 with three bingos: FATHERS, CLINGING, and the excellent (although phony) find of NATTERERS.  It should be a word!

2nd Harwinder Dowd went 1-1 +19, losing a close game againt June Scott 303-311 (June's GIRLIER making the difference) before defeating Asa Miura 329-302.

3rd Sharlie Miura finished at 1-1 -86.  For the second straight week, she was made to play Aki in the first game, but unlike last week, she won, 337-324.