Someone Stop Thomas Before It's Too Late, Oh No, Please, No.....

1st Thomas Reinke, for the second week in a row, navigated the stormy waters of the Madison Scrabble Club without encountering a single iceberg, going 4-0 +518. Faced with Andy in the first round, he earned victory by playing LAVATORY and (foreshadowing alert) TRIODES. Feeling that a mere +74 spread wasn't enough, he then vowed to win his next 2 games by a combined 1000 points. He came up short of this lofty and, frankly, laughably unrealistic goal, but still managed to earn a pair of big wins against Dennis and Helen. In the last game, with perfect nights on the line for both players, Thomas defeated Bryan 437-392, playing CANINES, HEARTILY, and (again!) TRIODES. With that win, he has now won nine straight; the club had better act fast if they wish to stop him from earning the $5 prize for winning 10 straight. Something in the vein of Nancy Kerrigan might do the trick.

2nd Bryan Benwitz topped the pack of four 3-1 players with his +266 spread. He opened up his night with a convincing win over Susan, 443-249. This was followed up by a close win over Charles, 421-386. His bingos of DOTTRELS (n. a shorebird) and STUIVER (n. a former Dutch coin worth 8 duit) helped, but the game was won by setting up an unblockable S-hook on a triple-word so that he could play SPEAK for 75 points. Pretty good! After beating Betty in a high-scoring 477-395 five-bingo contest, he faced the tough task of ending Thomas' winning streak. Though he came up short, he always be remembered for his bravery in the face of insurmountable odds.

3rd Andy Bohnsack had the second highest spread in the pack of four 3-1 players with +219, earning him third place and a whole paragraph dedicated to his accomplishments. A tough loss to Thomas set the stage for him to narrowly defeat Joe, 374-364, with his double-double TRIDENTS overcoming Joe's BAWDIER and UNCOATED. This, in turn, set the stage for a not-so-narrow victory over Dave, 544-267, a game that featured the highest scoring bingo of the night, REWEAVE for 116. In the final round, narrowness returned to Andy's night in the form of a 383-377 win against Charles. Charles' late challenge of HUCKS (n. a durable fabric) was the difference maker. Remember, folks, always save time for the endgame lest you fall into the trap of desperation-challenging when you don't need to.

Charles played the bingo of the week NAPHTHA (n. an old term for crude oil). APHTHA (n. a small blister) is also acceptable. In other bingo news, the word EASIEST was played twice tonight, bringing it up to 4th place on the club's "most played bingos" list, trailing only AIRIEST, ATONIES, and ETESIAN. There's a joke there somewhere, I just know it.