Val has graduated, but three out.
It was a balmy spring evening at Como for our penultimate gaming session for 2026, but we were missing three players – Pete was drawn away with work commitments, Louise got caught up with an unexpectedly lengthened baby sitting job, and Nicole couldn’t make it either, so it was just the five of us.
The soon to be non-rookie Val finally scored a main game win in Word Power, and also came second in the backup Uno which was won by Tara. Both Val and Wayne grabbed two helpings of points with the only WHP being Matt.
Take a look at the competition graph:- It shows Tara’s steady progression upwards, 50 points scored at each of the last 6 meetings. There are the three leaders – Tara 130 points clear of Louise who is 30 points clear of Rob. Then there’s a 90 point gap to the rest of the bunch which has now been joined by Val, the bunch being separated by only 50 points. So while Tara is looking pretty safe for the championship trophy, second place is not so certain, and the Wooden Spoon is by no means easy to predict.
Mention was made of Rule 7.5 in our Charter – the famous Rookie Protection rule, as it was assumed that Val couldn’t be awarded the Spoon due to her rookie status. I have just looked up that rule, and it turns out that it’s designed to protect rookies who have missed one or more meetings due to joining the group after the start of competition. Check it out here and you’ll see what I mean. I believe Val has missed no meetings due to not being a member (please correct me if that’s not true), so there are no rookie protection points available for her – assuming she doesn’t rise above last place by winning some points in November. She is only last by 10 points, so any kind of win could still save her from the Spoon.
At the next meet we need to discuss venue and date for the annual presentation dinner, Wayne has proposed the Taren Point Bowlo.