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Thomas Reinke's Free "Scrabble Clinic" Provides the Needy With Complimentary Butt-Kickings

1st Thomas Reinke topped a group of five players who all went 3-1, thanks to his humongous +647 spread.  Bill Rexhausen was a generous donator to the cause, as Thomas walloped him 642-319.  Thomas had three bingos in a row: VAMOOSE, DOOLEES, and the triple-triple RUNAWAYS.  642 is the third-highest game score in the past two club seasons, with the two higher scores also belonging to Thomas.  However, the evening was not perfect for Thomas, as his fifteen-game win streak, built of vanquished foes upon a foundation of their unplayable bingos, finally came crashing down.

2nd Steve Hartsman made the long trek from Milwaukee to join us, and his effort was not wasted, as he went 3-1 +246.  In a primal display of territorialism, he took down club-leader Charles Reinke 448-329, playing KNITTING, AUGITES, and BLOUSED as his bingos.  Mary Becker proved to be the only player capable of besting the bearded behemoth, defeating Steve to the tune of 427-355 with the aid of bingos SESTINA and LEASINGS (to Steve's sole LOAMIER).

3rd Andy Bohnsack finished 3-1 +188, but more importantly, he was also the one to bring Thomas' fifteen-game winning streak to an end.  That game ended with a score of 444-384 and Andy strutting away proudly with a five-dollar bill clutched in his hand.  In that very same game, Andy played the word of the week, GALILEES.  A galilee is a type of porch found on some churches.  Unofficial "Phony of the Week" honors also go to Mr. B, who played the only phony bingo of the night, PALEATES, in a 377-463 losing effort against Michael "Mr. D" David.

June Scott Also Has A Scrabble Clinic That Also Provides Butt-Kickings

1st June Scott averaged a robust 359 points per game, a full sixty above her average, on the way to 2-1 +117 and first place in the Intermediates.  June played bingos in each of her wins: SHARING while beating Aki Miura 374-308, and SETTLER in a 384-312 victory versus Sue Goldstein.

2nd Sue Goldstein finished 2-1 +3, holding both Miuras under 300 points before the defense fell apart against June Scott.

If Thomas Reinke Were a Hurricane, He Would Be a Category Five

1st Thomas Reinke was the only undefeated player out of nineteen attendees, going 4-0 +527.  His closest victory was not close at all, as he defeated Shayla Dunn 452-341.  Thomas played the words NOTARIAL and UNWIELDY (an adjective which perfectly describes the letters EDILNUWY) while Shayla got down ALOETIC and the two-U USURERS.  Thomas' highest game came against the player two spots below him in the yearly standings, Andy Bohnsack.  Andy played GENTLES and HARLOTS, but lost 372-547 as Thomas landed NEROLIS (N. A fragrant oil), NICTATES (V. to wink), and the phony DRYBOARD.  There are plenty of weird -BOARD words, but DRYBOARD isn't among them: PEGBOARD, MOPBOARD, RUBBOARD, and BOXBOARD are just a few examples.  As Thomas is now the proud owner of twelve wins in a row, five bucks will go to the next person to beat him. 

2nd Charles Reinke finished 3-1 +252 for second place.  Taking a break from fathering duties, Michael David beat him in a tightly-contested game, 376-361.  Super secret hint of the day: all you need to is out-bingo somebody and you'll usually win!  Michael can attest to that, as he got two bingos (ENGINEER and INSISTER) with Charles only getting one (SAURIAN).  Charles scored 456, 470, and 506 in his other three games while getting three, three, and four bingos respectively.  A small excerpt of that bingo list: INTROFY (V. to increase the wetting properties of), MAQUETTE (N. a small preliminary model), DEVILTRY (N. mischief), and SATYRIC (adj. resembling a satyr, a woodland deity of Greek mythology).

3rd Bryan "Bryaniac" Benwitz also ended the night at 3-1, with a cume of +53.  Both of his first two games featured three bingos: CERTAIN, SAGIEST, and REVISION in a 414-378 win over Richard Lauder; and PRICIER, UNIVERSE, and UNSTATE in his high game of the night, 477-390 vs. Helen Flores.  Then the wheels fell off the bingo wagon, and he played no more valid bingos.  He did, however, get two phonies to stay on the board: BAPTISER (which really should be a word, as BAPTISE and BAPTIZER are both good) and OUTSOWN.

Helen Flores played the word of the week, GAVOTTED, when she beat Andy Bohnsack 416-381.  GAVOTTE is a verb meaning "to dance a gavot". 

Harwinder Dowd Enjoys View From Top of Intermediates

1st Harwinder Dowd went 2-1 +94, handily defeating Aki Miura 357-271 along the way.  Her loss came to expert Gail Salm, who played the word REINVITE on the way to a 361-312 victory.

2nd June Scott also went 2-1, but her -8 spread relegated her to second place in the intermediates.  She nearly had a 100-point win against Aki Miura, 371-277, but was then matched against expert Shayla Dunn, to whom she lost, 215-366.

Four people came to Hy-Vee to engage in some word warfare.  Bryan Benwitz emerged unscathed from the fray, winning all his games to go 4-0 +725.  He easily dominated every statistical category and played the word of the week, EVOLVES.  Maybe Scrabble should start testing for roids?  (ROIDS is phony.  Don't play it, kids)

Peter Schmiedicke came in second with a 2-2 +82, losing twice to Bryan and defeating Scott and Ruth Ann each once.