Blog

1st John Bialek enjoyed his first-ever (but hopefully not last-ever) perfect evening, going 4-0 +195. He crested the 400-point barrier with a strong 412-344 win over Ed Nawrocki in round one, fending off Ed's AMIDONES with his own DELUGES and the ever-popular STAINER (played more often than any of the many words in AEINRST, although NASTIER is close). Changing tactics in round two, John got no bingos against Carol Ormand (who got SCABIES), but still won comfortably, 382-308. John's highlight win came in the next game, as he downed the menacing Charles Reinke by just ten points, 370-360. LEAVING was John's bingo in that one, while Charles had ACCEPTEE. In the fourth and final game, John got EXALTING for a 358-315 win against Helen Flores. Given John's strong performance, there's gotta be a way to weave the word EXALTING neatly into this narrative, but I'm not coming up with it.

2nd the rarely-seen Beth Amos emerged from her veil of secrecy to play three games of Scrabble, and won them all with a 3-0 +99 record. Her first-round match against Lynda Finn ended with a final of 434-341; of note was Beth's nine-letter RESERVOIR, a play so fantastic that it should entitle one to an automatic win (this rule change request has been mailed to Hasbro headquarters). Beth's next two games were won by three points apiece, which seems unnecessarily stressful. She beat Ed Nawrocki 340-337 with a bingo of ANKLETS, then beat Dave Kinzer 374-371, bingoing with MOISTEN and DILUTER.

3rd Thomas Reinke finished 3-1 +274, beating out Richard Lauder, who was also 3-1 with less spread. Thomas' night didn't exactly start according to plan (assuming the plan is to win every game of Scrabble you play), as he lost in round one, 456-471 to Charles Reinke. Thomas had the high-probability LOCATER and IGNEOUS; Charles had HOSTELER, FAILURE, and ANECDOTA. Things improved noticeably after that point, starting with a 474-331 victory over Lynda Finn, aided by POCOSIN (also spelled POCOSEN and POCOSON) and NAVETTE. Against James Rollins, Thomas flexed his word knowledge with the strange-looking ZOOGLOEA (the alternate spelling ZOOGLEA looks only slightly more plausible) to get a 453-369 win. Thomas finished his comeback by taking a rematch win against Charles, 412-350, bingoing with KOTOWING and EMMESHED#.

1st Andy Bohnsack squeaked into first place with a 3-1 +230 record. Round one saw him get a convincing win over Helen Flores, 452-304, bingoing with RESORTED. His bingo output went up threefold for the next game (ALARMING, RENVOIS, OUTSAIL), but it was actually the only game he lost, as Charles Reinke also got three bingos (TEACAKES, COMETARY, INUTILE) for a 438-480 final score. Against John Bialek, Andy recovered to take a 433-313 victory, responding to John's ROADIES with his own INULASES. In round four, Andy prevailed in a high-scoring bout against Thomas Reinke, 470-466, finding ENSNARED and SONGFUL - Thomas got down RATLINS, DAINTIES, and VOTARIES. Reminder for anybody who might need it: you can add a T to DAINTIES to make DAINTIEST.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +228. For the second straight week, Charles' first opponent was his brother. Also for the second straight week, Charles won their match. Also for the second straight week, Charles got five bingos; this time, it was ECHOISED#, IRENICAL, LAUWINES, SKITTLED#, and EDITION (fun note about IRENICAL: it's been played four times at club, all by Charles. It also takes an E in front for EIRENICAL). Charles continued stacking up bingos with three more (enumerated earlier in the writeup) for a 580-438 win against Andy Bohnsack. Against Dave Kinzer, Charles suffered his only defeat, falling to Dave's finds of ABLUTION and OUTLETS for a 391-411 final. Dave now has a winning record against Charles this year, something that very few players can claim. Charles wrapped things up with a 451-377 win over Helen Flores, thanks to OLDWIFE and ZEOLITE.

3rd Dave Kinzer won his first three before sadly losing the final game, leaving him at 3-1 +219. He fought out a bingoless win against Lynn McDonald, 332-247, to get his first win of the evening. Deciding that bingoing is more fun than not bingoing, Dave then dropped three bingos on Ed Nawrocki (BANDAGES, REVOTING, TITRATES) for a mammoth 426-257 win. The strong play continued as Dave took out heavy-hitter Charles Reinke 411-391, thanks to ABLUTION and OUTLETS. 4-0 was in reach, but Dave was stymied by the late-arriving Dennis Lloyd, who won their fourth round match 421-366. Dennis got down the stylish FABULIST in the course of his win, while Dave had SLATHER. Demonstrating how the cruelty of fate is unbounded, Dennis was actually the one finishing with an undefeated record, going 1-0.

1st Steve Hartsman unambiguously dominated a smaller-than-usual crowd of seven Scrabblers, finishing 4-0 +310 with a 452 average. His first game was also his best, as he took down Andy Bohnsack in a slugfest, 498-421. A wide selection of high-probability bingos was on display: Andy found EROSIONS and BERATING, but was overwhelmed by Steve's finds of OESTRIN, REVOTED, HIRSUTE, and GIRASOLE. Steve then went on to achieve the rare feat of beating both Reinke twins back-to-back, 426-398 vs. Charles and 409-377 vs. Thomas. The third Reinke twin was too busy playing Yu-Gi-Oh! to get in on the action. Undefeated going into the final game, Steve kept the bingos flowing with a 473-300 win against Dennis Lloyd, slapping down BOLETES, GRANOLAS, and WASTERS to take home a shiny trophy all the way back to Milwaukee. (Just kidding. The budget doesn't allow for weekly trophies.)

2nd Thomas went 3-2 +295, playing thirteen bingos, which is honestly a kind of normal number for him these days. A first-round Collins-lexicon brawl with Charles Reinke ended badly for Thomas; his brother bingoed the first five turns of the game (COURAGE, LOCAVORE, ENDORSE, FREEING, RETINAE) to take a lead that no amount of counter-bingos (EULOGIST, PATINED, RAILROAD) could hope to overcome. Thomas stormed back with a pair of wins in round two, felling Dennis Lloyd 494-308 and Andy Bohnsack 453-437 in a two-on-one. Of note was Thomas' bingo of SIXTEEN, which scored 100 points and was ripe for all kinds of jokes about the score of the play. After dropping a game to Steve Hartsman, 377-409, Thomas ended his night with a convincing win against Richard Lauder, playing JAROSITE, ORIOLES, and AROINTS for a 546-254 win.