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1st Charles Reinke recorded the first undefeated performance of the young club season, going 5-0 +622 to extend his early lead in the yearly standings. He started with a solid 418-359 win over Bryan Benwitz, finding DIVERTED and CAVEOLA (which anagrams to COAEVAL if CAVEOLA doesn't fit) to Bryan's SCREWUPS, a rare UW bingo. In round two, Charles became embroiled in a high-scoring Collins shootout which ended in his favor, 563-484. The phony PUNCTAL* for 101 points, possibly a combination of valid words PUNCTA and PUNCTUAL, was crucial for Charles' victory, as were his valid bingo finds of QUARTIER, TORTIES#, and OROLOGY. The flow of bingos continued unabated in the next round as Charles got six bingos across the two games of his two-on-one: GROWTHS, MONTAGES, and TENONING in a 440-422 win over Dennis Lloyd; ANORTHIC, BEWIGGED, and UPSTAIRS to defeat Lynda "Provider of Delicious Birthday Cake" Finn 465-336. Charles' evening ended with a total drubbing of Mark, his 599 winning score coming tantalizingly close to the season's first 600 game.

2nd Dennis Lloyd was the only other player to finish with a record above .500, going 3-1 +220. Despite being rendered temporarily sightless by a reading glasses mishap in round one, Dennis wiped for the floor with Sara McLaughlin, winning 538-385. The suspicious-but-valid GRUNTLES, and a 103-point ACHIEST, helped him out thee. That big win was followed up by a smaller win (but a win nonetheless) against Dave Kinzer, 378-349. Dave won the bingo battle (RESEATS and MEANINGS vs. Dennis' CAVITIES) but would probably have preferred an actual win. After a well-fought 422-440 loss to Charles Reinke in the third round, Dennis was faced with the prospect of back-to-back Reinke-provided defeats, but rather than roll over and take the punishment, Dennis turned the tables and toppled Thomas Reinke by a score of 404-348.

A notable loss occured in round one when Thomas lost to Mark by one point, 510-511. That is tied for the fifth-highest losing score since 2011. Bryan Benwitz also made an early entry on the "highest-scoring bingo of the year" list with a 140-point GAINLIER.

1st Bryan Benwitz regained his typical top spot in the weekly standings with a 3-1 +257 record, although his stats weren't as eye-popping as they usually are, with a "mere" 412 points-per-game average and "only" seven bingos. He faced a tough opponent in round one, but needed little time to warm up as he got the win over Thomas Reinke, 419-384, finding STOMATE and NEROLIS in the process. In round two, Andy Bohnsack discovered that if you prevent Bryan from bingoing so dang often, your chances of winning drastically go up; their contest ended 405-349 in Andy's favor, with Andy getting two bingos (TINGLED, GLIMPSE) to Bryan's one (RELOADER). The rest of the evening went quite smoothly for Bryan, as he made easy work of Lynda Finn, 439-317 (playing RAMOSELY and DUNITES), then made even easier work of Ron Malzer, 440-284 (playing TOASTIER and TAPERERS).

2nd Charles Reinke finished at 3-1 +34, a good enough record to keep him in first place on the yearly standings after two weeks (this writer will refrain from hoping for a premature end to the club season, as that feels dangerously like summoning another COVID). The source of Charles' small spread total was a somewhat disastrous first-round game against the capable (too capable) Mark Kenas; in the end, Charles was knocked flat by Mark's grand total of 592 points, compared to Charles' paltry 354. Mark played RARITIES, PENNERS, MUENSTER, and a 176-point 3x3 SLABBERY. For future reference, SLABBERY means "abounding in slabber (drool)", not "a place where slabs are made". Charles was a bit shellshocked going into round two but managed to secure the win against Sara McLaughlin, 369-343, finding DOTIEST against Sara's SANDERS. Sweet, sweet revenge was savored in round three as Charles got a win in a rematch against Mark Kenas, 469-445. He then finished his night by defeating Lynda Finn 552-330, thanks to bonus plays of OZONISER, NEGATING, and a low-probability nine-letter CABOCHONS.

3rd Thomas Reinke went 3-2 +159, finishing ahead of the other 3-2 player, Lynda Finn, on spread. Thomas had mixed success in round one as his two-on-one win over Ron Malzer, 460-385, was counteracted by his loss to Bryan Benwitz, 384-419. He then sunk further into the negatives with a tough 450-474 loss to Mark Kenas, where his ACEROLA and BASTIDE# fell short against Mark's VIRGULES and TENSING. In the third round, Thomas faced off against noted bingo fiend Andy Bohnsack, and while Andy did win the bingo battle (BOOTEES, LAMINATED, STEARIC vs. YESTERN, TARRIER), it was Thomas' win by a decently-sized margin, 481-406. Thomas concluded his evening of wordy warfare with another Mark Kenas rumble which he won 468-400, finding the nifty FROSTNIP in addition to the more prosaic PALTERED.

Many Word of the Week candidates were present in players' bingo lists, among them Mark's SLABBERY and MAGMATA, Thomas' FROSTNIP, and Lynda's SHOWGIRL, but Word of the Week went to Charles' CABOCHONS.

1st Charles Reinke started the new club season with style, finishing 4-1 +486, playing 16 bingos, and averaging 489 points per game. The year couldn't have started any better as he prevailed mightily in a two-on-one game, defeating Mark Kenas 498-435 and crushing his brother Thomas Reinke 561-319. Both games saw Charles play four bingos: PETIOLED, RAVIOLIS, REENACTS, and HEDERAS# against Mark, BONNIER, ANGORAS, INSANITY, and SAVOYARD# against Thomas. In round two, Charles felled last year's club champion, Bryan Benwitz, by a score of 501-363. Bryan had an uncharacteristic total of zero bingos in that game, while Charles played PIRATES, RANDIES, and INTERRED. A third-round rematch against Mark Kenas saw Charles' fortunes reverse, as this time Mark was the one to get four bingos (TRAMCAR, GLOOMIER, UPDATES, SEALINE#). It was an easy win for Mark, 523-434. With the weight of a (somewhat unreasonable) "win every game for the entire year" goal now removed from his shoulders, Charles won his final game against Sara McLaughlin, 451-319, finding PINTADA, RETIEING, and SAUNTER vs. Sara's SPOOLERS.

2nd Thomas Reinke went 3-2 +152, a healthly-looking 60% win percentage which is nevertheless lower than his 2024 win% of 66%. The new club season started with a whimper as he was trounced by Charles Reinke 319-561, but a 549-280 win over Dennis Lloyd (playing SORTABLE, NEONATAL, and CHORINE) undid all the damage and then some. Unfortunately, a 403-443 loss to Mark Kenas put Thomas back in the losers' bracket, despite bingo finds of CINEASTE, URETERAL, and INTROFY. Thomas was able to vanquish two-time champion Bryan Benwitz in the next round as they fought to a close finish, 439-428. The bingo situation in that game was even, with Thomas playing ABALONE and PINAFORE to Bryan's BASINETS and DANGLES. A landslide rematch win versus Mark Kenas, 479-324, helped boost Thomas into second place on a sparsely-attende first session of the club season.

We welcomed "new" player Dora Kilburn into the ranks, and while she did not manage to snag a win in her three games, she had a few close ones and did get down three bingos: STRIKER, ORANGES, and DAISIES. "New" is in quotes because Dora has played at our club before, way back in the late 90's.