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1st Charles Reinke went 3-1 +266 and didn't score below 400 in any of his games, good enough for first place. He started off with a big win over Bryan Benwitz, 452-367, where Bryan's late bingo of OCREATE was immediately met with an out-bingo of REVIVES from Charles (to go with his RIALTOS and CATENARY played earlier in the game). The time-tested strategy of playing three bingos to win was again put to good use against Gail Salm, as Charles bingoed thricely* with IMPASTED, FERMATAS, and the nine-letter DESTINIES on his way to a 464-347 win. Gail played HOOFERS and LIVENERS to ensure that the margin wasn't too catastrophic. Charles' third and final win was against James Frankki, 416-348; ENTANGLE and OKAYING were Charles' bingos, while James had TOONIES. Hopes for a perfect evening were dashed, however, by Mary Becker in round 4, as she emerged victorious in a close endgame, 410-406. Her high-scoring bingos of BISECTED (89) and POACHER (86) easily outclassed Charles' lower-scoring plays of PINTADO (72) and RAINLESS (59).

(*THRICELY is phony - don't study words using these writeups!)

2nd Thomas Reinke tested out his newfound Collins knowledge with a four-game series against Mark Kenas using the international dictionary, and it didn't turn out so bad, with Thomas going 3-1 +88. The single loss came in the first game: Thomas fell 348-413, playing DILUENTS against Mark's FANCIES. Thomas rebounded in the second game to win 436-379, playing LEANNESS, DOUGHIER, and NANOBEE#. Mark countered with his own Collins knowledge, playing TOOLMEN# in addition to TRAJECT. Thomas' best game came next when he won 494-418, again playing three bingos: CHOLENTS, WEASAND, and INCAGED. The final game was another win for Thomas, but it was a bit closer at 424-404. More Collins bingo knowledge was on display from both players: Mark played BAINITE#, but Thomas got down the fancy VILLAGIO# for maximum style points.

3rd Mary Becker claimed third place by nineteen spread points, her 3-1 +9 record beating out Bryan's 3-1 -10 record. Her first game was a low-scoring 324-313 win - we can all imagine the torments that both players faced. Mary did bingo with ANTSIER to ease the discomfort somewhat. She had another close game, this time a loss, against James Frankki, 354-361. The only bingo on that board was James' phony SHIVING*. If you thought those first two games were closely-contested, think again; Mary's third game of the night, this time against Helen Flores, ended in the slimmest of margins: just one point, 319-318. The trend of nailbiters continued into the fourth and final game, where Mary clinched a spot in the top three with a higher-scoring 410-406 match against Charles Reinke.

1st Thomas Reinke once again reaped the benefits of his decade-and-a-half-long word study regimen, finishing with a perfect 4-0 +334 record. He came out of the gate strong with a 517-305 victory over Dave Gilligan in round 1, playing ENCINAS, TOASTIER, and ENROLLEE en route to an easy win. His bingoing tapered off after that point, but the wins did not. A round two win against James Frankki, 412-378, saw him play just one bingo, SMILING (something that Thomas was doing as he imagined the flood of dopamine that would be unleashed within his brain once he won the game). Similarly, Thomas' next win, 423-343 vs. Lynda Finn, only featured one bingo from the victor, OUTRAGE. Lynda, meanwhile, played EBONITES and SNORTED. Thomas flexed his emerging Collins-dictionary knowledge in the final game by taking down Mark Kenas 443-435, a close score that carries within it a hidden tragedy: Mark went over on his clock by 37 seconds, costing him ten points and thus the victory. Thomas' bingos were WIRETAPS and the Collins-only #OUTASITE (it means what it sounds like it means).

2nd James Frankki rebounded from a rough tournament in Chicago over the weekend to go 3-1 +588 with a dizzying 471 per-game average. Astounding all onlookers (mostly the Star Wars X-Wing players at nearby tables), James absolutely crushed Charles Reinke in round one, 552-309. Charles had one bingo, FINNIEST, while James had GLACIERS and WORDIEST (the latter of which is always appropriate in a Scrabble context). James was rewarded for his dominance of one Reinke twin by being paired with the other won in round two, but the result, a 378-412 loss, wasn't as favorable for James despite his triple-triple of EARRINGS for 113 points. Brushing off the loss like it meant nothing to him, James went on to defeat Helen Flores by a score of 470-288. His bingo play of CARFULS drew a challenge, while his other bingo of TURBINES drew no suspicion at all. James topped off his night with a decisive win against Mary Becker, 484-287, although his hopeful high-probability phony of UREDIAE* (just UREDIAL and UREDIUM) cast a shadow over the proceedings.

3rd Charles Reinke's 401 average was quite a bit below his yearly average of 447, but that didn't stop him from getting third place with a 3-1 +53 record. His disastrous first-round encounter with James Frankki was already documented above and, for the sanity of this writer, won't be recounted. In round two, he barely came away with the win against Helen Flores, 359-349; Helen's bingo of BITTERS just wasn't quite enough. Charles showed up in fighting form for round three, defeating Barb Pratzel 460-306 thanks to bingos of CABILDO and INBURST. His best game was saved for last as he triumphed over Lynda Finn, 475-343. Charles got down PORNIER and DEACONS while Lynda had SEQUENT and GENITURE (while also wisely turning down a possible play of PORNILY*).

1st Charles Reinke sliced through the assembled competition like a hot knife through butter, coming in first with a 5-0 +590 record. He won big against Dave in the first round, bingoing with RUDERIES (n. RUDERY, a rude act) and MAGNESIC. Simultaneously, he faced James, and came out on top in a close one, 408-390. Against Bryan in the second round, he won 455-397. Bryan played bingos of RESHONE and SHOUTER, while Charles played PIRATIC and LATEENER. In the third round, he faced an early deficit (some may have even erroneously called it "insurmountable"), but surmounted it and won 440-436 versus Thomas. His bingos were MURRHINE (adj. pertaining to MURRHA, a substance used to make vases and cups in ancient Rome), STOWAGE, and OBELIAS. In the final game, he had his highest-scoring game of the night, dropping an impressive 580 points on Gail, playing ENROOTS, ANVILED, and UNCASED.

2nd Bryan Benwitz had a similar night to Charles but with the metaphorical butter being slightly firmer, and he finished with a 3-1 +349 record. In the first round, he failed to bingo against Betty (who had two, RECOATED and FIRSTLY) but still won 421-353. Such an occurrence was made possible by his play of QATS for 93 points. Against Charles, he gained a small advantage by challening a phony (yes, Charles is capable of playing phonies, don't let his air of confidence deceive you) off the board, but it wasn't enough, and he lost 397-455. In the third game, he won against Helen 482-232. His bold strategy in that game was to play a phony early and have Helen challenge it off, thus making it more likely that she challenge his later plays. Genius! For his final act, Bryan faced Michael and won 461-372. Michael bingoed with SCENARIO and MEDIATE, while Bryan played TURNSOLE, TINEIDS, and PURFLING (v. PURFLE, to decorate the border of). That last one scoring 108 points, and as it came late in the game, was surely the decisive blow.

3rd Thomas Reinke should've quit after two rounds, as he started 3-0 and finished 0-2, ending at 3-2 +206. He won a nailbiter against Richard in the first game, 460-458. It was a back and forth game all the way, with Richard's final play of FAVORERS falling just short. As consolation, 458 stands as Richard's highest scoring loss since we started keeping track. Thomas then faced two in the next game, Helen and Gail. He scored 502 in a win against Helen, bingoing with MEANERS, POOFIER, and SANTOUR. Against Gail, she struck first with UNUNITED, which Thomas challenged unsuccessfully. He recovered, though, playing AGENTRY and RATEABLE, and won 423-335. Against Charles, he lost 436-440, and looking at his scorecard, it looks like the problem was that his bingos all scored in the 60-point range. Just a few more points here and there would've turned that loss into a win! In the last game, he faced Mark and lost 447-497. The two combined for seven bingos: BOSKAGE, ROSEATE, and TUNDRAS for Thomas, and CHAINING, MALADIES, INCUDATE, and ATROPIA* for Mark.

In other news, the high game of the session was a mammoth 613 by Gail against Betty. She had bingos of UNWEARY, ORALIST, QUOTING for 105, and a triple-triple STEEPLED for 158! That's her highest game by far, and is the highest of this year's club season as well.