1st Bryan Benwitz prevailed over an evenly-matched field where nobody went undefeated (but six players went 2-2), finishing at 3-1 +277. He used up a significant chunk of his good fortune in round one (if we all agree to buy into the concept that good fortune is a finite resource that can be expended over one's lifetime), roundly defeating Richard Lauder 527-282. A significant percentage of Richard's final score came from his bingo of ORGASTIC, while Bryan threw down MORTARED, GOLDENLY, and ENSNARL. Bryan got another sizable win in round two, this time against Dennis Lloyd, 427-342, playing PERSONA to Dennis' STANCES. The "1" of Bryan's 3-1 record reared its head in the next game, as Bryan lost to Andy Bohnsack 317-429 (it seems like I have to describe a match of theirs every single week so I'm refusing to write any more on the subject). Bryan bounced back with a 414-355 win against Steve Hartsman, bingoing with MUSTANG and PATCHER.

2nd Andy Bohnsack went 3-1 +196, with an Andy-esque statline of 400 points and 2.25 bingos per game. He started things off with his sixth straight win over familiar foe Lynda Finn, 406-336, bingoing with BEGALLS and SPINATE while holding Lynda to a grand total of zero bingos. Andy repeated that feat in round two, locking down Steve Hartsman for a 370-292 victory. Of note in that one was Andy's TRASHMEN, which, if changed slightly to TRASHMAN, becomes the anagram of Steve's last name. Andy continued the name-calling with an additional find of DETRITUS. In round three, Andy got a win against Bryan Benwitz 429-317 (enough said), but was stopped short of an undefeated record by a 395-459 loss to Thomas Reinke in the final game. Andy can point to his acceptance of Thomas' phony INOSITIC* (INOSITE has no adjective form) as a potential game-loser.

3rd Thomas Reinke used his extra game to prevail over the teeming horde of 2-2 finishers, ending up at 3-1 +110. It was a rough start for Thomas as he elected himself the lucky recipient of a 2-on-1 game, only to lose both of them, 392-396 vs. Charles Reinke and 395-489 vs. Mark Kenas. Thomas hit on bingos of YAUTIAS, OILSEED, and ASTEISMS# (sadly, never extended to the more familiar CASTEISMS) in those games. Taking the first step on the long road towards recovery, Thomas won his next game, beating Lynda Finn 392-375, finding SPONGER to Lynda's AREOLES and REMAILED. He then got major revenge on Mark, triumphing in their rematch by a score of 486 to 359. Thomas' bingo mojo (bojo?) returned with INHOLDER, CASITAS, RELEARNT, and ARROZES. Round four saw Thomas complete his comeback (or whatever you would call it) with a 459-395 victory over Andy Bohnsack, getting down REFERENT and the previously-noted INOSITIC*.

Sara's BIGWIGS was word of the week, beating out Charles' SHOPGIRL (SHOPBOY and SHOPMAN are also good, but SHOPWOMAN# is only good in Collins).