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1st Bryan Benwitz romped over a hardy group of four players, finishing 4-0 +775 despite being forced to step out of his comfort zone and play a two-on-one match. He enjoyed particular success early in the night, vanquishing Sara McLaughlin and Richard Lauder in short order with scores of 509-271 and 482-256. He also got word of the week by playing CARSPIEL in a 410-339 rematch win against Richard. A carspiel is a bonspiel in which the winners receive a car, and this was apparently enough of a cultural phenomenon in 1950s Canada that they invented a new word for it. All those cars are probably defunct now, while Bryan continues to make good use of the concept by using it to win games of Scrabble.

2nd Richard Lauder went 3-2 -69, winning all games not played against players named Bryan. A 419-290 win over Sara McLaughlin was aided by the 95-point FIDDLES (against Sara's lower-scoring OUTLINE), although Richard's high-water mark was a 427-383 win against the latecoming Dennis Lloyd where bingos of NATTIER, HOODLESS, and THULIAS were played by the winning side. Notably, Richard played the bingo OESTRINS two separate times, both against Bryan, which makes one think that Richard might need to revisit his "play OESTRINS at all costs" strategy, at least against that particular opponent.

This week's write up is brought to you mad-lib style. Go here to enter the words and see the results https://www.thewordfinder.com/wordlibs/story-20552/ or follow along below. I really recommend the link above for maximum enjoyment. Note if you use fill all random at the link, you must edit the results as they don't pluralize or use the proper tenses.

Mad-Libs Write up: Mad-Libs Write up: Richard [ADVERB] Crushes All Comers

1st. Richard Lauder  [PLURAL VERB] anyone who dared sit across from him in the basement of the  [PLACE] which was filled with Scrabblers and  [PLURAL NOUN] . He went 4-0 + 343 and almost  [PAST TENSE VERB] from the combination of his skill and amazing  [NOUN]. He averaged a breathtaking 453  [PLURAL NOUN] per game with the high  game of the  [NOUN] of 511  [PLURAL NOUN]. His  [ADJECTIVE] massacres included  Dennis in a tight,   [ADJECTIVE] matchup, as well as Ron, Bryan and the complete [VERB] of Lynda who turned over a [ADJECTIVE] club record of 50 points on her rack at the end of the  [NOUN]. Richard and Lynda share  [ADJECTIVE] honors with 7 bingos each.

2nd: Bryan Benwitz claimed the  [ADJECTIVE] second spot with a 3-1 +104. With 5  [ADJECTIVE] bingos along the way his only loss was the  [ADJECTIVE] Richard, shattering his  [NOUN] of the coveted first paragraph.

3rd: Ron Malzer also went 3-1 but had only 24 [PLURAL NOUN] left over to show for it. His only loss was [PAST TENSE VERB]  by Richard. 

Word of the week honors go to Beth for COMEDOS which is  [ADJECTIVE]  [COLOR] puss exuded from  [PERSONS NAME] 's pores.

1st Thomas Reinke put on a display of pure domination, finishing 5-0 +729 while averaging a neat and tidy 500 points per game on the dot. His first-round two-on-one matchup was a romp, as he scored 500 in both games while holding both opponents to under 300: 540-292 vs. Richard Lauder, and 565-230 vs. Helen Flores. A plausible GIRTHIER* marred a bingo list which otherwise contained DESTRIER, IDIOLECT, SNAILED, GULLIES, TRIBUNE, and CAPRESE. Thomas also won a pair of games against Mark Kenas, 439-415 (thanks to a 124-point DERVISH, among other bingos) and 488-396 (playing the eights GASOLENE, DUATHLON, and CALEFIED#). Rounding out Thomas' list of wins was a high-scoring 467-437 against the visiting Iowa contingent of one, Mike Johnson. Mike had SLATIER and TONSURE, demonstrating the undeniable utility of high-probability seven-letter words, while Thomas had FIREMEN, SOUVENIR, and ISOTOPE

2nd Lynda Finn followed up last week's 4-1 record with a similar 3-1 +135 record this week. She started with a 403-354 win against Sara McLaughlin, finding COVERLET and PETERING for her bingos. The bingo well dried up as Lynda lost to Bryan Benwitz 327-403, but partially returned in round three when Lynda played BEADIER in the course of a 416-282 win against Ron Malzer. In the final round, Lynda secured second place with a 405-377 against Renato Umali, who was making a rare club appearance (maybe they would be less rare if people stopped beating him...just saying). Lynda hit APNOEIC and SPOILER there, while Renato had SIGNETS.

3rd Bryan Benwitz was the model of consistency, scoring over 400 (but not too far over 400) in all of his games and going 3-1 +56. His final record was very nearly 2-2, but a one-point win against Ron Malzer in the first round, 410-409, averted that fate. Ron did outbingo Bryan in that one, getting AVOIDED and COUNTERS to Bryan's NONCORE. In round two, Bryan cranked up his bingo output, playing three of them (MISEATEN, DICROTAL, REDDLING) to beat Lynda Finn 403-327. Bryan followed that up with his only loss of the night, 434-458, despite bingos of SEEDMAN and FLINGER; Charles' 115 point HEXOSAN was certainly a devastating blow. In the final round, Bryan scored another close win, this time against Mike Johnson, 432-429. A 98-point AIRWOMEN was the highlight for Bryan there.

Charles Reinke's IDIOTISM was word of the week, and he also got the highest game of the evening with a 607-point game against Ron Malzer. A laundry list of useful seven-letter words comprised his bingo list: SANTERA, APOLUNE, PIETIES, and DONEGAL.