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Thomas Reinke Dislikes Losing So Much That He Vows Not To Lose For an Entire Club Session

1st Thomas Reinke averaged 495 points per game while enjoying an undefeated 4-0 +528.  Only visting Racinean Bill Rexhausen was able to slow him down even the slightest; that matchup ended 541-481 in Thomas' favor.  A 149-point 3x3 CROSSEST was a key cog in the machinery of Thomas' dominance.  Bill's losing score of 481 is currently tied for highest losing score of the season, with Peter Schmiedicke having also lost with that score back in December.  Their combined score of 1022 is also the first 1000-total-point game this season after having four such games the previous season.  Not content with just one 500 game, Thomas derived great pleasure from curb-stomping his brother Charles 534-361, playing CROSTINI, FEASIBLY, GRUESOME, and NITRATED.

2nd Bill Rexhausen went 3-1 +474, an impressive feat made more impressive by the fact that he averaged an obscene 518 points per contest.  Joining the list of obscene acts is his 616-337 whupping of Peter Schmedicke.  That score of 616 is the fourth highest game played this season (of seven total 600+ games).  In addition to the bingos EPIGONE and VERNIXES, Bill scored 120 points for the word ZEBRASS (the offspring of a zebra and an ass...kind of like a liger or a tigon) and 140 for the triple-triple GARMENTS.  Rounding out the list of accolades, Bill also got word of the week for his play of SEECATCH against Richard Lauder.  A SEECATCH is "an adult male fur seal" and it pluralizes SEECATCHIE.  This confirms what we all suspected, that Bill was an Eskimo in a previous life.

3rd Charles Reinke failed to live up to the hype of the two players who finished ahead of him, ending the night at 3-1 with a lowly +74 cumulative.  In his defeat of Helen Flores, 489-355, he got down three bingos: NAVETTES (N. a gem cut in a pointed oval form), EXPANDER, and POINTES.  Helen got down the word HOODIEST (Adj. resembling a hoodlum) and, by way of consolation, walked away with the high H prize.  Charles also took down a chronically sleep-deprived and diaper-traumatized Michael David, 419-355.

We should also acknowledge the two nine-letter words played in the session - Michael David's QUAGGIEST and Helen Flores' ENSHEATHE, both winners of the "Awesome, But Not Quite Awesome Enough Words of the Week" award.  Trophies are in the mail and should arrive soon.

Matt Rust Shakes Off the Rust...Get it, "Rust"?  Sorry, Bad Pun

1st Matt Rust, returning for the second straight week after a yearlong absence, got back into his groove with a 3-1 +11 final record.  His cume was at an impressive +203 after three games, but his reward for such high-quality play was to meet expert Thomas Reinke in the final game.  His big win was a 368-240 encounter versus Sharlie Miura.  Matt played the bingo OUTPLACE (anagram COPULATE) to aid his cause.

2nd Harwinder Dowd went 2-1 -8 and is still comfortably leading the intermediates for the year.  She reduced Sue Goldstein to (metaphorical) tears when she played the bingo SOBBING en route to a 345-318 victory.

3rd Aki Miura finished at 1-1 -7, playing two very close games: a frustratingly low-scoring 284-296 against Harwinder Dowd and a better-scoring 324-319 against June Scott.

Thomas Reinke, Fresh From Dominating Las Vegas, Continues Aforesaid Domination at Home

1st Thomas Reinke cleared the desert sand from his eyes and wiped the sweat from his brow in preparation for a 4-1 +311 performance.  He lost against his brother 345-513, getting down a lonely bingo of BLUSTER while Charles laid down what could only be described as a gaggle of bingos: ANTECEDE, TROWING, PURLINS, and STOMPER.  Thomas would score well above 400 in the rest of his games, capped by a 484-262 pulverizing of Helen Flores where he played FOULNESS and WOOLHATS.  A presumptive person might assume that a woolhat is simply a woolen hat, but it actually is used to refer to a redneck or farmhand.

2nd Andy Bohnsack resumed his teaching activities by instructing his opponents in the ways of losing.  Of course, Andy himself was winning those games, as he ended the night at 4-1 +230.  The 500-barrier was broken only once in the session, but Andy came awfully close when he bested Gail Salm 495-321.  The reader might ask, "what words could possibly have led a mortal man to score that much in a Scrabble game?"  And the answer would be ONERIEST and ECOTONAL.  Gail played SALTERNS in her losing effort.  Andy was sufferingly close to an undefeated night, being taken down by Thomas Reinke at the last, 351-428.  The scoring difference could partially be attributed to Thomas' phony of EUPNOIC (only EUPNEIC and EUPNOEIC are good).

3rd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +410 to claim the bronze.  Usually not one to enlist the help of invalid words, Charles played two of them: FUNDINGS against Peter Schmiedicke (turning down tens of valid bingos in the process) and ALODIAS against Andy Bohnsack (the word ALODIA is already the plural of ALODIUM, which was a type of land ownership in medieval times).  Charles enjoyed a big win, 442-320, versus longtime expert Richard Lauder, and also managed not to play any phonies in that game: his bingos were GORMLESS and REORDAIN.  Richard got down MOTLIER as well as the word of the week, EPINASTY.

Sue Goldstein Evidently Has Been Eating Her Wheaties

1st Sue Goldstein played a series of low-scoring games, but scoring doesn't matter when you're winning!  Her final record of 3-1 +70 was only marred by a 313-290 loss to returning player Matt Rust.

2nd Sharlie Miura finished up at 1-1 +24, losing to Sue Goldstein 307-322 before reversing course and beating June Scott 331-292.

It was a small group playing this week with our best competitors gaming in Las Vegas.  Peter Schmiedicke and Andy Bohnsack ruled the evening, each with 4 wins losing only to each other.  Both played 13 bingoes but Peter had a higher cumulative score.

Barbara Besadny lead the Intermediates with 3 wins.