1st Bryan Benwitz claimed hte undisputed top spot in a field of fourteen players, going 4-0 +317. He saved the bulk of his scoring punch for a second-round match against Beth Amos, where he won by a score of 510 to 344. Beth fought valiantly with bingos of CANDIES and STRIATED, but Bryan one-upped her with RALPHED, ONSTREAM, and VOLTAGE. Bryan then went on to face both Reinkes in succession and held them both under 400 points, a rare feat that of course resulted in two victories and a guarantee of an undefeated night. He won 402-383 against Thomas Reinke in a match that saw some well-balanced bingo action (LOANEES and CRADLED vs. BRUNETS, ARTISTES). Then, in the fourth-round clincher, he fought to a (relatively) low-scoring 404-345 win against Charles Reinke, where each player anomalously bingoed only one time: OPIATES for Bryan, VIBRATES for Charles.
Co-2nd Helen Flores went 3-1 +44, exactly tying the record of another player with whom she will share second place. She got her loss out of the way quickly, falling to Thomas Reinke in round one, 497-343, despite a find of HINTERS with two blanks. Things soon turned around for Helen as she went up against the husband-wife tandem of John and Wendy Bialek, winning both games with relative ease, 386-337 against John and 393-297 against Wendy. Helen's spot in the writeup was secured when she faced off against Ron Malzer in the final round of the evening and scored another comfortable win, 409-356. Ron got down a bingo of RENAMES, but Helen flaunted her own bingoing ability with SORDINES and BEARINGS.
Co-2nd Charles Reinke went 3-1 +44, and is now spending many sleepless nights wondering if even one additional point of spread could have been scrounged up in any of his four games. A veritable bingo bonanza was experienced in round one against Mark Kenas, as Charles played five bingos (ACRONIC, AIRBOUND, FELLATOR, BENDIEST, ESTRAGON) en route to a 519-423 win. Mark also made a significant contribution to the game's bingo list with finds of GRUTCHES, NAIADES, and OVARIES, putting the total number of bingos at eight, which ties a club record. A rematch, which Charles barely won 430-429, saw just half that amount of bingos on the board; MUSTARD, IDEATION, and DIATRETA# were played by Charles, while Mark got down SNOTRAG#. In between those two games, Charles squeaked out another close one, 355-349 against Richard Lauder. Richard's nice play of OPTIONEE (an example of an always-handy five-vowel-eight) was effectively nullified by Charles' higher-scoring ICEBERGS. The previously recapped 345-404 loss to Bryan Benwitz in the fourth-round battle of undefeateds was the only blemish on Charles' record.
1st Thomas Reinke repeated as weekly champion with his 4-1 +392 record, a feat that is becoming so common that he probably doesn't even feel joy when it happens. His per-game average of 488 points was also clearly tops among all players. Thomas started off in exciting fashion when his game against Mark Kenas fell just four points short of the vaunted "1000 combined" mark, with the final being 521-475 in Thomas' favor. Mark found bingos of ALLEDGED#, DICTATED, and MISWRITE, but was matched every step of the way by Thomas' ARTICLES, MANROPES, and FONDUES. A round three rematch saw Thomas suffer a rare defeat, with Mark prevailing 466-430. In that one, Thomas again bingoed thrice (ACEDIAS, DEALATE, and METAPLOT#), while Mark was limited to two bingos of NONACIDES and BETONIES. At the same time as that game was occurring, Thomas beat his brother Charles 456-410, thanks to finds of FLAVONOL, FOETIDER#, and TAWNIER. The first-place finish was secured when Thomas whomped Lynda Finn, 556-336, this time dishing out four bonus plays: TANDOORI, UNSERVED, COINAGE, and INSPECT.
2nd Richard Lauder overcame somewhat adverse levels of ambient noise in the playing area to finish 3-1 +103. He got his singular loss out of the way early when he was felled in round one by none other than Helen Flores, 308-347. That was the only game where Richard was held bingoless, while Helen got down REDDENS and DELATION. Richard followed that up with two well-contested wins against Margie Van Handel (352-336) and Sara McLaughlin (369-321). Each of those games saw one bingo from Richard: KAOLINES against Margie and PINTADAS against Sara. However, it was obvious that Richard was just saving up all his scoring power for the final game, woe betide his unsuspecting fourth round opponent. In the end, it was Bryan Benwitz who received the full might of Richard's built-up power, as Richard played four bingos (SAUTOIRE, CARBINE, HOUNDER, and GENITAL) en route to a 484-406 win.
3rd Bryan Benwitz topped a group of four players at 2-2, all with negative spreads, with his 2-2 -60 final tally. Things got off to a good start with a 408-392 win against Charles Reinke, aided by bingos of SEICENTO and BEDWARFS. However, that was immediately followed by a less successful Reinke match, this one ending 479-353 in Thomas' favor despite Bryan's high-prob bingos of NEGATES and TERTIAN. Bryan's best game was a solid 440-322 win over Lynda Finn, where a large chunk of his score (140 points of it, to be exact) came from his triple-triple bingo of PATENTED. A high-flying 406-484 loss to Richard Lauder in the final round sadly nuked Bryan's spread into the negatives.
1st Thomas Reinke finished at 4-1, but his usual dominant spread total was nowhere to be found, as he finished with a "mere" +98 point differential. His first two games were quite high-scoring overall, and they were also both wins for Thomas: 476-400 against Charles Reinke and 474-470 against Mark Kenas. As both games were in the Collins lexicon, some odd words were played: Thomas' bingos were SARNIES, ORBITIES#, DERNIER, UNGUENTA, RIBSTONE#, FEATURE, and SPHERULE. Switching over to the American lexicon, Thomas received his only loss at the hands of the unstoppable-as-of-late Bryan Benwitz, 393-441. Thomas got down DWINDLED and RETIARII (the plural of RETIARIUS, a type of gladiator that is armed with a net and is apparently notable enough to have its own Wikipedia article). Bryan had ARILLODE and REFORGES for his two bingos in that game. After dispatching Mark in a rematch, 460-423, Thomas ended the session in fine fashion with a well-fought 451-422 win over Richard Lauder. Both players had three bingos in that game: TRACHEID, AIRWISE, and AUDIENCE for Thomas, while Richard contributed RIVETING, ENCLOSED, and LIEVEST.
2nd Bryan Benwitz went 3-0 +86, but was robbed of first place by a ranking algorithm which prioritzes total wins over win percentage. His total of three bingos is well below his average of over two per game, but the perfect record gets him ever closer to overtaking Thomas for the top spot in the club standings. His round-one game against John Bialek was a real nailbiter, but the final tally was just barely in Bryan's favor, 393-379. John managed to outbingo Bryan two to one (REMAINED and BANSHEE for John, GRIEVANT for Bryan), but it wasn't quite enough (next time John should play three bingos - that should do it). Bryan then defeated Beth Amos for the second straight week, 386-352, despite not playing a bingo. Beth had PARENTED and TOELESS (next time Beth should play three bingos - that should do it). Bryan finished off his shortened session with a 441-393 win against Thomas Reinke.
3rd Beth Amos continued her strong comeback tour with a 3-1 +212 record. Her only loss was the aforementioned game against Bryan Benwitz in round two. Her closest win was a 368-342 win over Dave Kinzer, where her 92-point LEATHERY and 68-point CAROLERS were of clear benefit for her winning chances. In rounds three and four, she faced off against both members of the Bialek power couple, and won both games with scores above 400. Against John Bialek, she won comfortably, 402-327, thanks to a bingo of GENUINE. An even more confortable win was scored against Wendy Bialek, 463-318, this time with two bingos for the winning side: NOISIER and the phony UNMASTED* (DEMASTED is valid).
Wednesday, January 7:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
Wednesday, January 14:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
Wednesday, January 21:
Scrabble at Misty Mountain Games
Wednesday, January 28:
Scrabble at Covenant Church
Saturday, January 24:
Madison Scrabble Club Party and Tournament
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