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Peter beat everyone he played. He was bingo king with 11, had the highest average of 450 and played two of the three challenged bingos of the evening SEEDMAN and RURALITY (Renato's play of SINOPIA was also challenged).

Andy Bohnsack Escapes With One Loss, First Place In Experts

1st Out of four players with just one loss, Andy was the best of them, with four wins and a healthy +364 spread.  In his matchup versus Peter Schmiedicke, a predictable five bingos ended up on the board, but four of them were Andy's (INGOTED, GUILTIER, OUTBRAVE, and ENDMOST), giving him a big 547-353 win. Andy was also bingo king with an obscene total of 14 rack-clearing plays.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +222 and was the player to hand Andy his only loss, winning their first-round contest in convincing fashion, 496-411.  He bingoed with MANITOS, RATLINS, and SEMIDOME in that game, giving him the interesting distinction of playing more M's than there are M's in the tilebag.  His sole loss came against his brother Thomas, a heartbreaking 451-457 affair in which he played SUNDECK and VERDANT.

3nd Thomas Reinke finished 3-1 +118.  He won two games where his opponents scored over 450: the previously-mentioned 457-451 win vs bro Charles, and a more comfortable 507-453 victory against Lynda Finn where finds like SPRINGAL and ATHENEUM made the difference.  His stroll along the path of undefeated-ness came to a dead stop when he ran against the considerable obstruction of Andy Bohnsack's bingo-finding ability in the last game.  He scored an uncharacteristically low 333 to Andy's 435.

Harwinder Dowd Again Tops In Intermediates

1st Harwinder Dowd finished a perfect 3-0 +185.  She did not limit her victories to the intermediate group, beating club director Richard Lauder in a 300-276 upset.  Showing no mercy whatsoever, Harwinder also held her opponents to a brutal 273 average for the night.

2nd Sue Goldstein ended up 1-3 -293.  Her win was against longtime sparring partner June Scott, 326-310.

Bingo Observations:

Thomas Reinke played INSHEATH, which is notable for just being the common SATINE stem plus two H's.  INSHEATH also takes an E to make INSHEATHE.

Thomas' SPRINGAL, meaning a young man, can be extended with a D to make SPRINGALD.  A springald is a medieval artillery device.

Peter Schmiedicke got down the word of the week, ALLELUIA, which is a praise song and takes an S.  Presumably it is related etymologically to the much-less-likely-to-ever-be-played-in-my-or-anyone-else's-lifetime HALLELUJAH. 

Harwinder played the believable phony EASINGS, which is good in the British scrabble dictionary.  Meanwhile, Lynda Finn played two valid -INGS bingos, COOKINGS and KEEPINGS (the latter of which looking so ridiculous as to draw a challenge).

Andy Bohnsack played TROPINES, which Charles Reinke extended with an A to make ATROPINES.

Charles was faced with the valid word MIMEOED on his rack, but saw an S in the right spot to make SEMIDOME.  A semidome is a half-dome, and it takes both a D and an S. 

Thomas Reinke Gaining Ground in Experts

1st Thomas Reinke went a perfect 4-0 +421, and has now won 13 of his last 15 games.  His 476 average for the night was somehow not the highest, as his brother Charles averaged 477.  In the matchup of the twins, Thomas emerged from the fray with victory held high, bingoing out with CREEPIER to turn a formerly-close game into a 505-342 rout.  Thomas also shamefully played two phonies on the night, GILLETS and ANGLICES (ANGLICE is an adverb meaning "in readily understood English").

2nd Mark Kenas overcame a first-round 373-543 loss to Charles Reinke to win his next four games by over a hundred points each, erasing his initial negative spread to finish up 4-1 +449.  He bingoed at least twice in each game.  His highest score of the night came versus Betty Hasselkus, where he scored 468 (to Betty's 299) and played the bingos ADAGIOS (a musical composition played at a slow tempo), ESERINE (a toxic alkaloid), and TERRELLA (a spherical magnet).

3rd Peter Schmiedicke was two turns away from a perfect night, but was unable to score enough with his X in an endgame against Thomas Reinke, resulting in a 3-1 +486 record on the night.  His 462-462 loss came despite four bingos: FOOTNOTE, TRAVELER, TREASON, and REANOINTS through the disconnected E and first N.  However, that was not his most bingo-tastic game of the night!  He plopped down an impressive five bingos while cruising to a 520-259 victory over Barb Besadny: TABLING, RETINAS, REUNITES, RADOMES, and STAYING.

Honorable mention to Charles Reinke for scoring 586 against Chris Vergeront.  Charles was greatly aided by the timely triple-triple INQUIRER (though a dangling Q) for 185 points.  Charles also played the word of the week, ALIZARIN, onto which Mark Kenas smartly hooked an E to make the also-valid ALIZARINE.  Both words mean the same thing, an orange-red compound used as a dye.

Harwinder Dowd Remains Comfortably Atop Intermediates

1st Harwinder Dowd went 2-1 with a -57 spread.  She played latecomer June Scott twice, scraping by in the first match 345-333 before winning the next one 371-310 with the help of her bingo LINGERS.

2nd Barb Besadny had two good wins, including a 382-252 drubbing of current intermediate leader Harwinder Dowd, before losing to bingo-prone expert Peter Schmiedicke, the gory details of which can be read above.  She finished 2-1 -79.

3rd Sue Goldstein ended up 1-2 -67.  Her spread got a boost thanks to a 116-point win against June Scott, 353-237.

In other club news, Barb Besadny has decided to step down as club treasurer, photocopy-maker, and box-toter.  Charles and Thomas Reinke are picking up those duties in her stead.  Many deserved thanks to Barb for her many years of service to the club.