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1st Charles Reinke went 4-0 +314 to prevail over a smallish field of six players and carry good Scrabble vibes into the holiday week. He started off with a 457-337 win over Lynda Finn where he got down bingos of ORECTIVE, SOLIDAGO, and GROSSER. Lynda had LABIATE to ensure that the final score wasn't too out of hand. Charles then went up against Mary Becker and played a close, high-scoring game which ended with a score of 490-465 in Charles' favor. Mary's losing score of 465 is the fourth highest this club season and also her highest losing score ever! Her bingos of BANANAS and INSURED, plus huge nonbingo plays of ILEX and ZAP, seemed like they would be enough until Charles hit a trio of bingos late: AGONISES, FLAUNTER, and LOITERS. In round three, Charles triumphed over Bryan Benwitz, 442-406, getting bingos of MISGREW and RAVIGOTE (Bryan had RELOADED and INNARDS, and also found out that having a blank on your last rack is only a good thing if you don't have three I's to go with it). Charles wrapped up his perfect night in shiny paper (and put a big red bow on top) by showing no Christmastime cheer in a domination of his brother Thomas, 429-326. An outbingo of PANICLE, to go with TAUTEST, spelled doom for the losing side (who played RAINIEST).

2nd Michael David went 3-1 with an unfortunate -8 spread. His first game was a win against Mary Becker, 398-325, with bingos of SPINNER and DEMOLISH (Mary had MALTIEST). The trend of collecting positive spread totals continued with a 391-355 victory versus Bryan Benwitz where Michael played LUNIEST and AEDILES; those keeping track at home will note that Michael's point spread was well above zero at this point. That pattern of victories ended abruptly and savagely when Michael lost to Thomas Reinke 284-526. Thomas played a foursome of seven-letter bingos: REPINED, RUPTURE, POSITED, and SIMLINS (also spelled CYMLINGS), while Michael was held tragically bingoless. Winning ways were once again established when Michael made easy work of Lynda Finn, 461-336. His three bingos of DEIFYING, TANGLIER, and SAVVILY aided him greatly in his quest for Scrabble glory (joke's on him, though, as there isn't all that much glory to be found in Scrabble).

1st Bryan Benwitz went a perfect "four-and-oh" (said breathlessly and with reverence) and amassed a dominant +520 spread, winning each game by a margin of more than a hundred. It was also his first undefeated club performance since March. His crowning achievement was pulling off the rare "Anti-Reinke" in the first two rounds, defeating the Reinke twins one after the other in ruthless fashion. In the first round, he took down Thomas 438-319 thanks to a pair of bingos, PEAVIES and BELCHES (Thomas was held bingoless, which is rumored to be a good strategy against him). Bryan went on to defeat Charles with similar ease, 494-355. In that one, he played four bingos (another good strategy for beating a Reinke): URINATE, EARTHING, SEQUINS, and word-of-the-week CLABBERS (the anagram of our beloved word game). The run of strong play wasn't done there as Bryan trounced Betty Hasselkus, 420-290, in round three, playing SPROUTED as the sole bingo for either player. Bryan wrapped up his undefeated run with a round four victory against Helen Flores, 444-312. Helen had a bingo of CASINOS, but Bryan outdid her with DETERGE and EXILIAN.

2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 with a comparatively wimpy +92 point spread. He started off strong with a 517-332 victory over Dave Kinzer, fueled by a four-bingo onslaught of EXCITORS, RUNNERS, MANATOID, and GUILTIER. Much of the large point spread gained in round one was erased in round two, however, as Charles ran up against the unstoppable Bryan Benwitz and found himself on the losing end of a 355-494 contest. In the third round, Charles played a close game against Dennis Lloyd, barely squeaking out with a 413-405 win. Both players had two bingos: INVADES and NUTRIAS for Dennis, FLAWIEST and GLANDULE for Charles. A high-scoring 474-436 win against fraternal foe Thomas in the final round propelled Charles into prestigious "writeup territory"; Charles' bingos of VERATRIA and INHERED were certainly crucial as his brother got down OVULATES and SOILAGE.

1st Charles Reinke showed off his consistency (except in the "winning" department), bingoing twice in every game while going 3-1 +341 and coming in first place. His first game was a 433-315 win against Helen, where he bingoed with BEAKIEST and SOFTENED. He upped his scoring a little bit against Richard in the next round, 446-361. Richard bingoed with VOIDABLE (Charles later extended it to AVOIDABLE) and PETROLIC, while Charles played STYRENE (the anagram of YESTERN) and a nine-letter SLANGIEST through the GI that was on the board. In the third round, he faced off against a familiar (literally!) opponent, and lost 373-433. Charles did get down two nice bingos, MANEUVER and the very recently-added SCHNEID (n. a losing streak). Charles avoided going on a schneid of his own by beating Dennis 490-292 in the final game. His big play that game was BUTYLENE for 101.

2nd Thomas Reinke put together another outstanding performance in terms of bingos, playing 12 on the night, and came in second at 455-398 +226. He started off his night against Bryan, and won 459-372. Bryan bingoed with AETATIS (the obscure anagram of SATIATE) and GRIEVING, but couldn't get another bingo down with his blank at the end of the game. In the second round, Thomas lost to Dennis 363-490. Despite the drubbing, he managed two bingoes, WATERMEN (the M was a blank, so he could've played WATERHEN instead) and MONITIVE (adj. conveying admonition). In the next round, against Charles, he won 433-373, with a bingo trifecta of EPILATES, TRAMELED, and RECANES. Thomas saved his best for last, beating Helen 563-357 with bingoes of DANKEST, ALBIZIAS, IODINATE, and the triple-triple ALIENORS. To add insult to injury, Thomas blocked Helen's late triple-triple possibility of FROTHIER that would've won her the game; some say her anguished sighs can still be heard echoing in the First Congregational basement.

3rd Dennis Lloyd returned from places afar and displayed little rust, coming in third at 3-2 -7. His opening win against Sue, 394-328, was notable in that all three bingos that were played in the game were phony, two for him and one for sue. Sometimes you just have to make your own best play when the words in the dictionary do not suffice. He atoned quickly in his 490-363 win against Thomas, opening with the very non-phony PROLATE (adj. extended lengthwise). He also played LIGHTEST and DATINGS to win easily. In the third round, he faced Betty and Helen simultaneously. His game with Helen ended as a 331-419 loss. Against Betty he was more successful, countering Betty's bingoes of TENNIES and THORNIER with ETESIAN and WALLOPS and winning 465-379. He then lost all of the spread he had accumulated to this point, losing to Charles 292-490. Luckily, by application of the transitive property, since he beat Thomas, you could also say he beat Charles as well.