List of Contestants Following Our Site

Friendship Feed thought of the idea of having a list of actual contestants following my site similar to BAV’s Winners List, and that’s exactly what I’m doing. We’ve heard from a wide variety of people including those who have won big, those who haven’t had much luck but still came away w/ something, and people who unfortunately have been gooseegged. We also have heard from a couple people who lost the $100K, but NEVER anyone who won the big one. The people you see below follow me by either email, WordPress, Twitter or Facebook and the results may surprise you. Whoever comes here to write to say hi, you need to conduct yourselves in a civil manner. Use the search engine to find the posting of your show, and be sure you spell your last names correctly when you make your reply. The purpose is to explain to me and my fellow admins about the situation of your show. Name calling is NOT allowed. There are times where episodes can frustrate me to an extent, and I don’t want to lose my patience (I’ve lost one admin due to the chaotic events of Feb. 8, 2023), so please give us at least a decent episode and don’t do anything foolish that could cause you to go viral for the wrong reasons. To give our site a follow, look at the part under the visitor counter where it says Follow Blog via Email. You can also click the WordPress button to follow and you get a username via WordPress. I’ve also added the Facebook and Twitter links below for you to follow as well.

My Facebook Page

My Twitter Site

NameMethod of FollowingWordPress UsernameOriginal AirdateWinningsNotes
Christian DixieWordPress, Twitter, and Facebook Same nameMar. 17, 2020 and May 8, 2023$130,545-Nearly swept the maingame in his first appearance.
Shane O’DonnellWordPressShane O.May 7, 8, and 18, 1992$119,826
Ricky GilbertTwitterN/ADec. 20, 2022 and May 11, 2023$108,570-Swept the entire episode in his first appearance
Matt DeSantoTwitter N/ADec. 26, 2014$91,892-He didn’t win the BR, but he set a new maingame record which is almost impossible to beat
Robert SantoliTwitterN/AMar. 25. 2016$76,086
Ash ColwellEmail and TwitterN/AAug. 3, 2020$72,511-He took the MDW to the BR
Philip CousinTwitter N/AMar. 10, 2011$65,600
Nate CardinTwitter N/ASept. 29, 2022$63,207
Frederick SeltzerWordPressErickDec. 19, 2019$61,311
Cheryl PrinceFacebook and WordPressdarinswife1Oct. 19, 2020$61,200
Arzo MehdaviTwitter N/AApril 23, 2020$56,620-She was a THING picker in the BR, but she got lucky.
Charlie PeveyTwitterN/AJun. 4, 2015$55,250
Valerie MayEmail and WordPressjackiekaitlyn2021Nov. 28, 2005$54,500
Cristi WinklerWordPresscristiwJan. 18, 2018$47,800
Tiffanie TallmanWordPresstiffanietallmanFeb. 20, 2004$47,550Hubby Robert competed Jan. 5. 2006, but didn’t have much luck.
Jeremy HoldwayWordPressjholdway9335847672Sept. 26 and 27, 1996$42,205-Participated in the Friday Fi als
Amy SmithWordPresssimplysmitty1Jan. 22, 2022$37,948
Stephen RobbEmailN/AMar. 26 and 27, 1990$32,950
Jen AdamsTwitterN/AMay 13, 2013 in NYC$29,650-Teamed up w/ Adam Hildebrand
Robb Le VienFacebook N/AMay 2, 2023$28,675
Paul KendoWordPresspkendoFeb. 18, 2015 in Vegas$27,910
Patti LaFleurTwitterN/AOct. 4, 2022$23,282
Christie DoughertyWordPresssandiegolady75Apr. 24, 2019$22,948-Played with hubby Trevor
Rebecca FoxTwitterN/ASept. 30, 2011$20,810
Kaden NyeTwitterN/AFeb. 22, 2023$19,334
Natalie HowardEmailN/ASept. 19, 2011$18,200-Played with sister Shayla
Ashish PalTwitterN/AMay 4, 2022$16,900
Jerry O’BrienEmail and TwitterN/AJan. 18, 2019$16,800-Wife played in S30 on March 28, 2013 and won $48,480
Marcy RotheiserEmailN/AJan. 24, 2019$16,250
Dawn EvansEmail and Twitter N/AOct. 1, 1999$14,296Played w/ her sister Barbara Grau
Jaclyn BonsecourTwitterN/AApril 11, 2018$12,650-Played with yours truly
Alex BraunTwitterN/AMay 17, 2006 in Denver$6K
Seth GoldmanFacebook N/AFeb. 13, 2024$6KPlayed with wife Karen
Chuck KrausTwitterN/ADec. 3. 2015$5,850-Played with sister Jenny
Christopher FrancisWordPress and Emailchristopherfrancis6113Dec. 11, 2011$5,300
Alyssa FawbushTwitterN/ANov. 24, 2022$4,500
Dave MorseEmailN/AFeb. 7. 2019$4,200-His wife Ellen made a VERY FOOLISH CALL of Z in Round 3, but I’m very glad he explained to me about this.
Annie Merovich-WolfWordPressamerovichMay 29, 2023$3,900
Curt ChristensenTwitterN/ANov. 30, 2018$3K-His competitor Immani made a return appearance
-Son Dane appeared Apr. 4, 2023 but didn’t fare any better
Erica JoostenWordPressevd121187Mar. 10, 2023$2K
Jason BlockTwitterN/AOct. 8, 1992$1,500
Eugene ByonTwitterN/AMay 7, 1998 in Houston PARTING GIFTS

My Site Turns 11!

11 years ago, I’ve launched this personal site of mine and have been making a name for myself ever since. I’ve worked hard to make this my virtual home away from reality. Unlike the message boards, this is where I do recaps personally for contestants coming to my site. Thanks to the assistance of my fellow admins, my site now has over 6K recaps whether it’s syndicated, primetime, daytime, or international. I’ve got well over 200 followers to date including some past contestants whether they follow me via email, WordPress, Twitter, or Facebook.

I’ve built a lasting legacy through the years — potential contestants should know how the game works, watch the show as much as they can, and PLAY SMART (and hopefully NOT make any foolish mistakes). I do have a heart and I would appreciate it if smart contestants make a good effort. Millions of viewers at home would appreciate the same. The ideal contestant should also be likable, enthusiastic, and not over the top.

It’s such a shame we lost fellow admin @skippslargo due to the chaotic events of Feb. 8 earlier this year. According to @jliu23232’s “10 Words or Less” post, this was the WORST episode of Season 40 and it was so bad it totally broke him (even some episodes throughout the years broke me as well). He’s done a terrific job helping me out in the last five years. I could really use someone to help fill the void.

I owe you people a big thanks for following my site over the years. Here’s to another year of blogging episodes from today and from the past!

Season 40 Saturday Reruns

Since the Season 39 Saturday Reruns have ended, here is the list of Season 40 Saturday Reruns which will begin after the first week of S41.

Legend

The symbols and colors mean the episode…

  • 🟢 …featured a grand prize win
  • 🔴 …featured a grand prize loss
  • 🔵 …reran at least once previously
  • 🟣 …featured a $10K MW win
  • 🟡 …featured a BaV Boards member
  • 🌟 …featured the first appearance of a “Fan Favorite” contestant
  • 💲 …featured a Million Dollar Bonus Round
  • ♂️ …featured at least two male contestants (four for team weeks)
  • ♀️ …featured an all-female panel
  • 👥 …is part of a team week
  • …was recapped by jpgenius
  • …was recapped by former member Skipps Largo
  • …was recapped by Adam Alam
  • …was recapped by nickskapower
  • …was recapped by yours truly

♂️Sept. 16: Wednesday episode of Week 5 (Oct. 12)

UGH, Skipps’ birthday episode was painful to watch. Round 1 had a handful of duds plus three consecutive BANKRUPTS and two LaTs in a row, and late in the round we had this…

B E A C _ / B A L L
B E A C _ / B L A N _ E T
B E A C _ / B _ _

Tony Reale was incorrect on the last word with BOD, so $6,400 was at risk for him. Suzanne Alaouie fell for the O trap shortly after and Malcolm Brown solved BEACH BALL, BEACH BLANKET, BEACH BUM after he SPINGLED. The next round didn’t fare any better because…

_ A _ L E / A N D
S E A / S A L T
K E T T L E / C O R N

…after Tony landed on the MW near $650, he shockingly decided to risk $5,450 and his WCBAD IDEA. We got another $0 puzzle win as a result. Eventually, Suzanne was the winner with $19,200 cash & prizes and she chose PHRASE as her category. This puzzle is similar to that agonizing $1M loss on Jan. 11, 2019…

_ L _ _ / T _ E
_ _ _ E

PCHA gave her a shot…

_ L _ P / T H E
P A _ E

…but she BLEW IT with FLOP THE PACEKEEP THE PACE, and FLAP THE PACE, so she didn’t FLIP THE PAGE to an easy $40K payoff.

Sept. 23: Tuesday episode of Teen Week (Feb. 21)

This episode featured two kids whose mothers were on the show before: Kennedi Williams (her mom Dr. Kchristshan Howard appeared on Feb. 3, 2022 and won with $31,506 cash & trip) and Joel Foster (his mom Iren appeared on Jan. 18, 2017). It also had a crossword with only three words. Molly Pitzen and Kennedi had a good match with each other even though the game was pretty shaky with all those duds and repeated letters, but it was Molly who won with an all-cash total of $24,700. She chose PHRASE as her category and got an easy BR puzzle…

_ T / _ L _ _ _ S
_ _ _ _ E N S

HPMA should do it even though C was no good…

_ T / A L _ A _ S
H A P P E N S

I can’t say IT ALWAYS HAPPENS regarding a possible BR win, but she made the $40K solve to leave with an all-cash total of $64,700.

♂️Sept. 30: Thursday episode of not-so-Fabulous Food (Oct. 20)

There were too many duds throughout the game (sans the PR in the Mystery Round) and in the second Triple Toss-Up…

P _ P _ _
_ _ _ _ _ S

It can’t be PAPER PLATES again according to Jacob Borcover (that was the solution to the first Triple Toss-Up). Despite this, he was the winner of the game with $17,200 cash & St. Maarten and he chose PLACES as his category. You would see plenty of these during the time of year this episode aired…

_ _ _ _ _ _ N
_ _ T _ _ E S

He chose CDMA…

_ _ M _ _ _ N
_ A T C _ E S

…and he had no trouble navigating through these PUMPKIN PATCHES for $40K and a final total of $57,200 cash & trip.

Speaking of pumpkins, the hosts sampled cherry, pumpkin, key lime, and cookie dough pies from Winston Pies in Bentwood. While Vanna couldn’t pick a favorite flavor because they’re all delicious, Pat enjoyed a mix of all four… but then said he was “gonna be sick” after eating all of them (uh oh 🤢).

Oct. 7: Thursday episode of the awful America’s Game IV/5-year anniversary week on that chaotic Wheel Across America set (Apr. 13)

This was a low scoring game and late in the PP/Express Round…

_ A P P I N E S S
_ _ _ E S / I N / _ A _ E S

Ray Norfleet didn’t count the I’s carefully and flubbed with HAPPINESS LIVES IN WAVES. Shortly after that, Melissa Durante said a baffling dud of K resulting in a $0 Prize Puzzle win. During the Speed-Up, Melissa questionably called F

F _ _ _ N D S / _ N
_ _ _ _ / _ _ _ C _ S

…and fell $320 short of the victory since she didn’t go for the H’s, resulting in Brittany Ward winning with a measly $11,720 cash & Antigua. She chose PHRASE as her category and got this much to start…

_ T / _ _ S / _ _ S T
_ / _ _ N _ _

GHPO only added two in the last word…

_ T / _ _ S / _ _ S T
_ / H _ N _ H

Unfortunately, we had another loss by just one lousy letter at the time– she said “IT HAS JUST A HUNCH” instead of the right one of “IT WAS JUST A HUNCH”, costing her $40K and resulting in her being the second-lowest winner that season.

Oct. 14: Tuesday episode of College Week (Nov. 22)

This episode was a flunk-fest like the episode before it (botched Toss-Up solves, painful BANKRUPTS, critical duds, a SEASON-WORST BANKRUPT TRASH at the time of $21,500 cash & prizes, nobody having five figures after the Prize Puzzle…). It also had a crossword round with only three words and a category strip error (in the second shot of the board during the Mystery Round, the category strip accidentally displayed WHAT ARE YOU DOING? instead of the actual category of WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?). Eventually, Sarah Spakes was the big winner with $21,950 cash & Barbados and she chose PERSON as her category. Here’s a trio in this one-wordy…

_ _ _ T _ _ E R

This YOUTUBER would be uploading a video of her WIPING OUT with MPDI and losing $40K.

Oct. 21: Monday episode of Great American Cities (Apr. 17)

KOMO 4 Seattle anchors Eric Johnson & Molly Shen gave their 40th anniversary greeting to start this episode. Mike Bush & Anne Allred of KSDK in St. Louis gave their congratulations to the show going into the first break, and before the Triple Toss-Up, Beth Hunt & Chris May of KATV in Little Rock gave their congratulations to the show.

The first half of the maingame was riddled with penalties, but Lashawn Marshall’s BIG (and intense) PR in the PP/Express Round was the real highlight. She went on to be the big winner of the game with $29,724 cash & Bahamas. She chose AROUND THE HOUSE as her category and got a few up top to start…

_ _ N _ _ E L _
_ _ _ _ _ _

HMBA gave her a chance…

H A N _ H E L _
_ A _ _ _ M

In about three seconds, she broke the eight-day BR losing streak at the time and would likely need a HANDHELD VACUUM to clean up her new Ford Escape SEL worth $34,635, giving her a final total of $64,359 cash & prizes!

Pat & Vanna stood in front of the Washington Monument at the end.

Oct. 28🎃: Wednesday episode of Weekend Getaways (Dec. 21)

This episode was originally pre-empted in most 7:30 PM Eastern airings due to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. president Joe Biden holding a joint press conference at the White House. Some Mountain Time Zone airings were also joined in progress during Round 1 or 2 due to the special reports.

Lydia Burnett and Nick Romero had a tight match with each other, although there were quite a few duds in this episode, mostly Round 1. In the Mystery/Crossword Round, Nick made the CRITICAL PURCHASE of O to throw away $10,250. It was Nick who won with $17,700 cash & NM and he chose PHRASE as his category. This long one started as…

_ _ / _ _ _ / _ N _ _
_ _ _ T / _ / _ E _ N

AMCP gave him a little run on the bottom…

_ _ / _ _ _ / _ N _ _
_ _ A T / _ / M E A N

This is a classic case of “close but no cigar” IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, because he just missed the first word with DO so he wasn’t the third $40K winner that week.

At the end, we saw a photo of Vanna and some of her high school friends at their annual weekend getaway in North Myrtle Beach.

Nov. 4: Friday episode of not-so-Fabulous Food (Oct. 21)

It may have been worth the wait for Lisa Hinshaw to appear on the show after panicking for 40 years (she was scheduled to appear on a Teen Week but she panicked during rehearsals in spinning the wheel and couldn’t say a word), but boy did this episode leave a sour taste in our mouths. We had this in the opening Toss-Up…

I / M A _ E
_ E S _ R _ A T I O N S

Brian Moran blew it with “I MAKE INSPIRATIONS”, which had nothing to do with the theme. And in the next Toss-Up…

A / C R _ A _ U R E
O _ / _ A B _ T

He blew it again by adding -AT at the end of his answer (he said A CREATURE OF HABITAT) and later realized his mistake. There were so many penalties in the next three rounds, and eventually we had this…

S T U N N I N G
T _ O _ I _ A _
S E T T I N G

Tracey Augustine said a CRITICAL DUD of D on the WC to throw away $5,950. And the duds didn’t stop in the Speed-Up which caused her to fall $530 short of the victory. Lisa was the winner with just $12,130 cash & Barbados and she chose FUN & GAMES as her category. This is what we at home and the contestants on stage are doing while playing along with the show…

S _ L _ _ N _
_ _ _ _ L E S

CMPI added a key letter on the bottom besides the obvious I…

S _ L _ I N _
P _ _ _ L E S

Ironically, she didn’t realize that she was SOLVING PUZZLES in the maingame to make it here because she blew it with PEOPLESPEBBLES, and SLIPPING PUDDLES, so she was the other Infiniti QX50 loser that week and went down as the lowest-winning champ of the season at the time.

The hosts weren’t eating any food at the end because they’re “full”.

♂️Nov. 11🎖️: Friday episode of Veterans Week, fittingly (Nov. 11🎖️)

This was an ugly end to the week. In Round 1, Deb Inovejas got hit with a PAINFUL LaT to put over $11,750 cash & CHICAGO on the table, Curtis Durham got a BANKRUPT (near $2,500) right after, and Chris Anger solved for an unnecessary house minimum instead of going for 2 D’s. In the next round, Deb SPINGLED after Chris’s bad MW flip which resulted in nothing over the house minimum (assuming both opening Toss-Ups were solved) being given out at this point. Eventually, Deb was the winner with $15,999 cash & Oahu and she chose PHRASE from that DREADED trio. She needed some serious help on the bottom…

_ E / L _ _ E
_ _ _ _ _

MBOV was an interesting combo, but it was only good for the first line…

_ E / L O V E
_ _ _ _ _

…and she got the bottom word wrong with VANNA (LOL!), MILITARY, AMERICA, WHEEL, and DEBBIE, so we were SKUNKED for the first time that anniversary season. Though WE LOVE PIZZA, we didn’t love the fact she lost $40K. That was just cruel, Bellamie & Co… 😑

💲Nov. 18: Monday episode of WoF XL III (Feb. 27)

There were too many penalties in the game (especially in the second and third rounds, and I’m kind of surprised that Andy gave this one a 7 despite the penalties). In the Mystery/Crossword Round about desserts…

TPUDDING
_I
B___NIE
T

Michelle Jones got the across word of BROWNIE, but missed the down word with TORT when it was actually TART. Alex Pimentel was the winner with $21,960 cash & Cancun plus the MDW while La Donna Chandler got gooseegged, and he chose PHRASE as his category. I knew this one already…

T _ _ T / _ _ S
_ _ N N _

HMGA pretty much gave him the top line…

T H A T / _ A S
_ _ N N _

Well, THAT WAS FUNNY he would get it even without any help on the bottom, and he won…

…the BMW X1 worth $43,565 for a final total of $65,525 cash & prizes! The million dollar envelopes were under the  (2 away) and (9 away).

Nov. 25🦃: Friday episode of America’s Game III on the Collette Show You the World set (Feb. 3)

Although Tom O’Neill was dominant, this wasn’t such a good end to the week. In Round 1…

C A R R O T
C A K E / &
C I N N A M O N
C _ I _ _

He didn’t count the R’s carefully and blew the solve with CARROT CAKE & CINNAMON CRISP to watch $10,800 cash & Zazzle gift tag go down the drain. In the PP/Express Round…

H O W / D O / Y O U
_ _ Y / T H _ _ _ / Y O U
_ _ / _ T _ _ _ _ _ ?

Madi Smith made a CRITICAL PURCHASE of E to throw away $10,550 plus the $12,400 Italy trip. Tom had $28,950 cash & Italy going into the BR and he chose WHAT ARE YOU DOING? from that DREADED trio. This puzzle was last used on the next-to-last night of the first-ever Secret Santa sweepstakes on Nov. 21, 2011 (and wasn’t solved for a Chevrolet Camaro convertible)…

T _ _ _ N _ / _ _ T _
T _ E / _ _ E _

HDPA gave him besides the obvious H…

T _ _ _ N _ / _ _ T H
T H E / _ D E A

The producers were TOYING WITH THE IDEA of giving away another vehicle… but he painfully missed the first word with TAKINGTONING, and TAMING, so he lost the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport and Meg from Monday was excused for blowing her easy BR puzzle.

Dec. 2: Monday episode of Teacher’s Week (Sept. 26)

Ladies Jen Hwang and Tracy Oswalt had a tight match in a shaky BANKRUPT-fest episode on the eve before that heartbreaking loss. It was Jen who won with $22,360 cash & Antigua and she chose PHRASE as her category. This was the name of an early S24 week that had a SKUNKING…

_ _ S T
_ _ R / _ _ N

BFWO was an interesting combo…

_ _ S T
F O R / F _ N

JUST FOR FUN, she would be driving around town in the $37,410 MINI S Hardtop 2dr, giving her a final total of $59,770 cash & prizes.

Dec. 9: Friday episode of Winter Hideaway (Jan. 6)

Noora Barakat cleaned up nicely winning $38,332 cash & prizes although she lost her MDW to BANKRUPT in the Mystery Round, and Rob Daniel finished with a nice 2nd-place total with $18,150 (including the $10K Triple Toss-Up sweep bonus). Noora chose PHRASE for her BR and got this much to start…

_ N / _ _ _ _
_ E _ R

BCHA gave her…

_ N / H _ _ H
_ E A R

As it turns out, Marissa’s bad BR loss on Wednesday did cost us a PBRW, but Noora’s mind was IN HIGH GEAR for the $40K, giving her a final total of $78,332 cash & prizes!

In the end, Pat and Vanna sat by the virtual fireplace on set and drank with their WoF mugs. Noora sat with them during the credits.

Dec. 16: Tuesday episode of Week 5 (Oct. 11)

This episode features a former Jeopardy! contestant named Cody Lawrence (he finished in third place on Dec. 8, 2020 and later appeared on Sept. 12 during the Second Chance Tournament Semifinals this season). There were too many penalties in the game including an EXPRESS crash by Nicole Roberts (who got gooseegged at the end of the game), but he and Cindy Jansen had a tight match. The first Triple Toss-Up BUYING A NEW CAR had two spaces between the last two words for some reason. Cody was the winner with an all-cash total of $16,700 and he chose FOOD & DRINK as his category. This BR puzzle was the longest puzzle of this episode (the only known time since 1985 where this has happened)…

_ _ N _ _ _ E S / _ _ _ E
_ R _ _ / S _ R _ T _ _

CPMO was a PERFECT combo…

P _ N C _ _ E S / M _ _ E
_ R O M / S C R _ T C _

He ate up these PANCAKES MADE FROM SCRATCH for $40K and a final all-cash total of $56,700.

♂️Dec. 23: Monday episode of not-so-Fabulous Food (Oct. 17)

Josh Burstein and Kelsey Lock had a tight match, but it was Josh who won with an all-cash total of $17,500. He appropriately chose IN THE KITCHEN and got this much to start…

_ _ _ L _ T _
_ _ _ E _ _ R E

BCDO didn’t add much…

_ _ _ L _ T _
B _ _ E _ _ R E

He wasn’t even close with BLENDERSPOONS, or AIR FRYER, and he didn’t win $40K to help purchase some QUALITY BAKEWARE thanks to that QU- trick.

At the end, the hosts ate pizza from LaRocco’s pizzeria (Pat ordered the thin crust one with sausage, mushrooms, onions, and jalapeños).

Dec. 30🍾: Wednesday episode of Happy New Year! (Dec. 28)

Although there were no penalty spins in this episode, there were too many duds including not one, not two, but THREE CRITICAL AND BAFFLING ONES from Alexandra Cook

_ _ _ N T _ _ N
_ H _ P P _ N _
C E N T E R

M thinking of MOUNTAIN for the first word (UGH! -__-) in Round 2 to throw away $14,150, and in Round 3…

 _ A C _ _ R _ N _
A C C _ M M _ D A _ _ _ N S

L to leave $11,450 sitting there (Maggie Polk, who was wearing $5K wedge earrings custom-made by her female friend Kyle, repeated the A after this, and she tried to change it but was too late), but then she was given another chance at it a little later…

_ _ A C H _ R _ N T
A C C _ M M _ D A T _ _ N S

…but she BOMBED OUT on the very next pick of W while on $3,500, so $12,100 went down the drain for her. In the second Triple Toss-Up…

_ _ _ _ _ S _ N G 
_ / _ _ _ _ E R

Maggie botched the solve with WRITING A LETTER when there’s an S on the top word (and she knew that wasn’t right). In the end, she was the winner with $31,704 cash & trip while Alexandra got the DESERVING $1K GOOSEEGG from us. She chose PEOPLE as her category and got a trio to start…

_ R _ _ _ T
_ _ _ S

DGBI put her in good shape even though M was no good…

B R I G _ T
_ I D S

She said, “I’m a teacher, so I know these people- BRIGHT KIDS” and those kids would be happy to hear that she’s won $40K for a final total of $71,704 cash & trip!

Jan. 6: Thursday episode of Winter Hideaway (Jan. 5)

There were too many duds in this episode and you won’t believe what happens in the PP/Express Round…

I N C R E D I B L _
B E A _ T I F _ L
L _ C A T I _ N

David Bise CRASHED VIOLENTLY HARD ON EXPRESS SAYING THE ADJECTIVE FORM OF THE FIRST WORD NOT COUNTING HIS E’s CAREFULLY WHEN ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE DESPITE NOT YET RUNNING OUT OF CONSONANTS, and he threw away $11,850 plus the expensive $11,190 Barbados trip with that EPIC FAIL (and he looked very shocked and confused when he found out about his error)– UNBELIEVABLE! UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLE!! We got a $0 Prize Puzzle win as a result. Jamie McMahon Carrillo was the winner with $14,590 cash & Barbados and she chose PLACE as her category. This was used as a Speed-Up puzzle on Jan. 20, 2016 featuring that foul-mouthed Christine Kennard…

_ _ _ E T
N E _ _ _ _ _ R _ _ _ _

All of GHBI were there…

_ _ I E T
N E I G H B _ R H _ _ _

She would be driving around in her QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD in the Mazda CX-9, giving her a final total of $61,535 cash & prizes (and she twerked on Pat after solving- LOL! 🤣).

Jan. 13: Wednesday episode of Hawaii Week (Mar. 22)

Nicole Griep and Cory Houser had a very nice match with each other, although the former fell a consonant short of the win after solving the Speed-Up for $13,300. Therefore, it was Cory who won with $30,340 cash & Barbados and he chose PHRASE as his category. This one was a biggie…

_ / N _ _ E / _ _ E _
_ R _ _ / T _ E / T _ _

He knew it already and settled on PVWI…

_ / N I _ E / V I E W
_ R _ _ / T _ E / T _ P

…and there will be A NICE VIEW FROM THE TOP of him winning the 2023 Ford Mustang GT Premium convertible worth $55,825, giving him a total of $86,165 cash & prizes!

🟡Jan. 20: Thursday episode of Teachers Week (Sept. 29)

Although Nate Cardin (eero on BaV) cleaned up, this episode was mostly painful to watch. In Round 1 on the HOME ______ crossword puzzle, Kara started an odd and unsurprising dud of T, and then later, after all but the left column is filled, she FLUNKED OUT with L (HOME LAKE wouldn’t work when there’s only one K up here), and 1 $650 P later, Paula Drutz TOTALLY BLEW IT with Y (PAYE?! -__-). In the next round, Paula painfully BANKRUPTed near $650 to lose $7,350 and the BANKRUPTS didn’t stop coming in that round. In the end, Paula ended up being the first gooseegg victim of the season which I say is half BAD LUCK and half DESERVING while Nate had $23,207 cash & Aruba going into the BR. He chose IN THE KITCHEN as his category (ON THE MAP was also offered for the only time since the S37 premiere) and got this much to start…

_ _ _ _ L E
_ R _ N

BGDI only added the vowel…

_ _ _ _ L E
I R _ N

…but he woke up to $40K located near this WAFFLE IRON to salvage this episode giving him a final total of $63,207 cash & trip.

♂️👥Jan. 27: Thursday episode of Sweethearts Week (Feb. 16)

This airing is pre-empted on ABC affiliates by an NBA tripleheader.

This episode features the first known LGBT couple, Charlie Brown & Kelly Pierce, the former who also has the same name as the famous yellow-shirted Peanuts character. It was Heidi & Jeff Szekeley, however, who won with $32,400 cash & prizes and Heidi chose FOOD & DRINK as their category. Take away the first word and you get a puzzle used on Dec. 20, 2012 (it wasn’t solved for a Jeep Grand Cherokee)…

_ _ R _ / _ _ _ E _
_ R _ _ N _ E S

DGPAM gave them a run on top…

_ A R M / G _ _ E _
_ R _ _ N _ E S

They struck out late with WARM BRUNCHES, which isn’t even a food. And Heidi was going to be kicking herself, because she does baking- the foods were WARM GOOEY BROWNIES and they lost $40K.

Feb. 3: Tuesday episode of not-so-Fabulous Food (Oct. 18)

Although Liz Mendez had a nice Round 3, it was Ashwin Vaidyanathan who won with an all-cash total of $21,850. He chose PERSON as his category and got this much to start…

_ _ N _ N _ _ _ L
E _ _ E R T

MCVO only added…

_ _ N _ N C _ _ L
E _ _ E R T

MECHANICAL, PRINCIPAL, and WHIMSICAL won’t cut it for the top word, so he disappointed his FINANCIAL EXPERT and didn’t get their approval to drive off in the Infiniti QX50.

The hosts tried chicken wings with assorted sauces from Holy Cow BBQ. While Pat ate Nashville hot wings, he “tricked” Vanna into trying one of her Buffalo wings with Kickin’ Hot sauce. Her response: “It’s hot.” So he’d try buffalo sauce with his wings.

🔵🟡Feb. 10🏈: Tuesday episode of Week 20 (Jan. 24; previously reran Sept. 7)

The maingame was underwhelming at best with Raul Villanueva (who blew the second Toss-Up with STAGE BRIGHTS, which makes no sense with or without the S at the end; he’s also bearishplains on BaV) barely needing the PP to win with $13,990 cash & Barbados. He chose the rare IN THE KITCHEN as his category and got this much to start…

_ E R _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ R E

CPHO gave him some great help…

C E R _ _ _ C
C O O _ _ _ R E

He won $45K to help buy some CERAMIC COOKWARE for a final total of $58,990 cash & trip.

🟡Feb. 17: Thursday episode of Great American Cities (Apr. 20)

To start, sports commentator Ducis Rodgers of 6ABC Action News in Philadelphia gave his congratulatory message to the show. Margot Kim & Warren Armstrong of ABC 30 in Fresno, CA gave their congrats to the show going into this first break, and Andrew Kinsey & Yolanda Harris of 10 TV WBNS in Columbus, OH gave their congrats before the Triple Toss-Up.

Cody Horton (cjbojangles on BaV) cleaned up nicely in the maingame after the $6K Final Spin winning $46K cash & prizes! He chose EVENT as his category and minus the first word, this is the puzzle that wasn’t solved for a Ford Escape at the start of American Heritage week in S30…

_ R _ E _ / _ _ _ E R
_ _ T _ _ E

MDCI only added the vowel, but there was a B courtesy of his WC

B R I E _ / _ _ _ E R
_ _ T _ _ E

The WC saved his bacon, and hopefully he didn’t experience a BRIEF POWER OUTAGE as the second owner of the Ford Escape SEL that week! His final total was $80,635 cash & prizes!

At the end, we saw the hosts standing in front of the USS Midway in San Diego.

Feb. 24: Thursday episode of European Vacation (Nov. 3)

You may recognize Owen Panno from the official series premiere (and 2nd overall aired episode) of the 2019 ABC reboot of “Press Your Luck” where he nearly won but then WHAMMIED after being passed the very last spin of the game. He was a powerful spinner in this episode, but that got him into trouble several times. In Round 1, he PAINFULLY BANKRUPTed near $650 to lose $8,950. In the Mystery/Crossword Round, he made a CRITICAL PURCHASE of O to throw away $8,700. In the PP/Express Round, his powerful spinning got him into trouble again with an untimely LaT resulting in a $0 Prize Puzzle win. Despite this, he managed to win the game largely thanks to his total Toss-Up sweep with an all-cash total $18,650 wile Jess Lapensee left with a $1K gooseegg. He chose EVENT as his category and got this much to start…

_ _ _ _ R
_ _ _ N _ _ _ R

DPMO was a PERFECT combo…

M _ _ O R
D O _ N P O _ R

…and he got caught in a MAJOR DOWNPOUR of cash in the amount of $40K, giving him a final all-cash total of $58,650.

Mar. 2: Tuesday episode of America’s Game V/season finale week on the College Week Spring Break set (Jun. 6)

Kira Paskett and David Avelsgard had a tight match with each other, but this was just an underwhelming game overall and we had an awful Round 2 that had three consecutive penalty hits (Kira’s BANKRUPT near $650 and Catie’s and David’s LaT). Kira was the winner with $14,800 and she chose WHAT ARE YOU DOING? as her category. Opening setup…

_ E _ _ _ _ N _
_ _ R / _ _ T _ _ N S

MCHA only added…

_ E _ _ H _ N _
_ _ R / _ _ T _ _ N S

She only got the second word and wasn’t even close on the first word with PAYINGPATENT, or PURCHASING. Since she didn’t realize that we’re WEIGHING OUR OPTIONS when it comes to decision making, she lost $40K.

Mar. 9: Thursday episode of WoF XL II (Nov. 17)

Praveen Pamidi cleaned up really nicely in the maingame with $52,384 cash & trips including a major EXPRESS run! He chose PLACE as his category and got this much to start…

_ _ R _ L _ N E
_ _ N _ _ R

DMHA gave him…

A _ R _ L A N E
H A N _ A R

This came out of the AIRPLANE HANGAR and into his garage — the Lincoln Corsair worth $45,070, giving him a final total of $97,454 cash & prizes!

Mar. 16: Friday episode of Teacher’s Week (Sept. 30)

Angie Twiss really picked it up with that big Prize Puzzle PR and Triple Toss-Up sweep after a rather slow start in the first two rounds. She was the winner with $28,600 cash & Curaçao and she chose PHRASE as her category. Lead-offs…

_ _ N ’ T / _ _ _ E
_ _ _ E S

DMPA gave her some more help…

D _ N ’ T / M A _ E
_ A _ E S

But she didn’t listen to us when we told her “DON’T MAKE WAVES” with us, the viewers, by not solving this puzzle since the last word eluded her, so she lost $40K and million-dollar loser Alane was excused. That was some FORCED LOSS setup right there.

Mar. 23: Wednesday episode of European Vacation (Nov. 2)

Lamont Ross and Stephanie Peterson had a nice match with each other one, but the one scary moment from this episode came from Round 4 when…

G A R D E N S / A N D
G R E E N _ _ _ S E S

Melissa Miller still didn’t know it and goes on once more… and TOTALLY BLEW IT thinking the last consonant was P (first dud in the game) to throw away $7,700– GREENPOUSES?! UGH. -__- It was Stephanie who won with $25,850 cash & Bahamas and she chose PHRASE as her category. I knew this one already…

_ _ _ T E
_ E R _ L E _ _ N _

MPCO added just 2 P’s, but that should’ve been enough for the bottom word. Could she get the top, however?

_ _ _ T E
P E R P L E _ _ N _

Yes she could! It thankfully wasn’t QUITE PERPLEXING for her to defeat the QU- and X tricks as she won the Mercedes-Benz GLB250 worth $45,140, giving her a final total of $70,990 cash & prizes!

🟡🌟Mar. 30: Tuesday episode of Weekend Getaways (Dec. 20)

This episode was a wild one. In the Mystery Round, we had TWO INTACT NULL CYCLES (one had FIVE STRAIGHT PENALTIES and **one** good B was in between them). Although we had extra time in Round 4 for the first time in over two weeks at the time, Ricky Gilbert PAINFULLY BANKRUPTed both his extra cardboard pieces which also started another aired NULL CYCLE and wasted away potential for a fifth round.

In the end Ricky pulled off the first maingame sweep by the red panel since Nov. 26, 2008 with $49,120 cash & Antigua. I wasn’t sure if he would be able to pull off a total clean sweep after he was given that DREADED trio. He chose WHAT ARE YOU DOING? and got this much to start…

_ L _ _ _ N _
T _ E / T _ _ _

Pat thought Ricky knew it with GPBO…

P L _ _ _ N G
T _ E / T _ B _

There was no need for us to be PLAYING THE TUBA, because HE HAD JUST PULLED OFF THE FIRST TOTAL CLEAN SWEEP SINCE S35 ON DEC. 13, 2017 AND FIRST IN THE TRIPLE TOSS-UP ERA for $40K and a final total of $89,120 cash & trip!!!

Apr. 6: Friday episode of Week 20 (Jan. 27)

The original airing of this episode was at least partially pre-empted on some East Coast airings by the following events:

  • all CBS airings for the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament
  • 7:30 PM Eastern airings on ABC for a special report on the public release of the video of the police killing Tyre Nichols (the airings don’t begin until Round 2)
  • 7:30 PM airings on NBC around the end of the maingame for a special report on the same matter
  • Philadelphia and Kansas City markets for local specials
  • first Toss-Up and part of the interviews in Washington, D.C. due to WJLA accidentally switching to the ABC network feed showing part of a repeat of ABC World News Tonight

Hypnotist Brandon Broda was a decent player in this episode winning the New Orleans trip in Round 1. However, the one downer from this episode was in Round 4 when Anne Brady (who solved the third Triple Toss-Up SUIT OF ARMOR with only the F revealed) called a FATAL DUD of L on $5K, which proved costly assuming she were to have solved before the Speed-Up bell rang or first to it after if she had called a key letter like the S’s instead. Brandon had $21,150 cash & trip going into the BR and he chose AROUND THE HOUSE as his category. The bottom word of this one should remind you of the first-ever $1M win by Michelle Lowenstein…

_ _ R _ _ E
_ _ _ _ E T

He picked a good time to go for CDMA even though P was no good…

C _ R _ M E
_ A _ C E T

He turned on the CHROME FAUCET to win the 2022 Ford Escape SE worth $31,100, giving him a final total of $52,250 cash & prizes.

In the postgame chat, Vanna claimed that Brandon hypnotized Pat after the BR. Vanna conducted an experiment where Pat would do anything she asked of him. Every time she whispered in Pat’s ear, he silently gave her money.

Apr. 13: Tuesday episode of College Week Spring Break (Apr. 4)

Madeline Ahrens and Sydney Roberson had a nice match with each other, with the former sweeping the Triple Toss-Ups. And for the first time since Apr. 15, 1999, we got to see a Final Spin be redone on air. Dane Christensen spun LaT twice in a row and the BANKRUPT near $650 (and Pat came to his podium and asked for his dad’s phone number!) before spinning $1,550 for the value of consonants. Sydney was the winner with $19,482 cash & Aruba ($632 over Madeline) and she chose PEOPLE as her category. Here’s a trio to start…

_ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ E _
_ _ N S

HDGAC gave her a fighting chance…

A _ _ D / H _ C _ E _
_ A N S

Though she and her family weren’t AVID HOCKEY FANS, she had finally ended the 8-day losing streak at the time and won the $40K for a final total of $59,482 cash & trip. And that was the only BR win that week.

♂️Apr. 20: Friday episode of Great American Cities (Apr. 21)

To start, Frank Vascellaro & Amelia Santaniello of WCCO in Minneapolis gave their congrats to the show. And Pat acknowledged that his wife and Judy Friedman (wife of former EP Harry) were celebrating birthdays back then. Vicki Dortch of WLKY in Louisville, KY gave her congratulations to the show before the first break. The final congratulatory message this week came from Mark S. Allen of ABC 10 in Sacramento.

There were quite a few bumps along the way, especially in the Mystery/Crossword Round, but the men Brent Chinn and Drew Carter (engaged to Meghan Boudreau; she appeared on May 23, 2022 last season) had a match. We also saw a WHEEL Moment of the Week from the 1980s where the hosts were sitting in a spa and Pat says to the camera “We’re practically clothed”. Drew was the winner with $27,502 cash & prizes and he chose PHRASE as his category. I knew this one already, albeit not immediately…

_ _ _ _ L _
_ E _ _ T _ _ L E

PHGO only added a few on top…

H _ G H L _
_ E _ _ T _ _ L E

…but this was not a HIGHLY DEBATABLE result- he got it without any help on the bottom! Although we were denied a car landing sweep, he did win $45K for a final total of $72,502 cash & trips!

👥Apr. 27: Friday episode of Sweethearts Week (Feb. 17)

This was an average end to the first team week in three years, but in the end of the maingame, we saw Jim presenting Miller & Alicia Exantus a unicorn piñata with the WoF logo on it (the daughters made a request for this couple to bring back a unicorn from this show). Jennifer & Jay Chalk were the winners with $20,310 cash & Virgin Islands and they chose WHAT ARE YOU DOING? from DREADED trio. There was a puzzle similar to this one used on Mar. 9, 2020…

_ _ _ _ S _ N _ / _ N
_ _ / _ _ R _

GDPA caused me to stick a fork in them…

_ _ _ _ S _ N G / _ N
_ _ / _ _ R _

While I’m FOCUSING ON MY WORK, they were way off with DANCING ON MY YARDCRUISING IN MY CARS, and DANCING IN MY CARS, so they were the other team to lose the Mercedes-Benz GLA 250.

May 4: Friday episode of Week 5 (Oct. 14)

Ricky Henne was a fine player in this episode although we had our first TRIPLE STUMPER in the first Triple Toss-Up (FRIENDLY FACE) and a rough Round 4. He had $19,570 cash & Aruba going into the BR and he chose PLACE as his category. Only the vowel to start with…

_ _
_ _ _ E / _ _ _

MPGOH was an EXCELLENT combo…

M _
H O M E / G _ M

Although I don’t have MY HOME GYM, he made the solve for $40K and a winning BR week to leave with $59,570 cash & trip.

In the postgame chat, Vanna said she spent an entire day putting together a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle (and shows picture of it for proof) and then Pat asked her if she showered and brushed her teeth and she said she did afterward because she was sweating.

🔴May 11: Tuesday episode of WoF XL II (and Andy’s 10-year anniversary of blogging the show) (Nov. 15)

De’Shawna Yamini cleaned up nicely in the front game with a new seasonal maingame record at the time with $46,690 cash & prizes plus the WC and she chose PHRASE as her category. Lead-offs…

_ _ _ _ T / T _
_ _ _ E / _ _ _

CDMAG didn’t do much good…

A _ _ _ T / T _
D _ _ E / _ _ _

I’m not ABOUT TO DOZE OFF yet, but she flubbed with ABOUT TO DAZE ___, and ABOUT TO DARE ___…

…AND WE HAD OUR SECOND STRAIGHT $100K LOSS ON DAY 2 OF AN XL WEEK. Did this really have to happen on Andy’s blogging anniversary of all things?! Oy vey.

May 18: Friday episode of European Vacation (Nov. 4)

The front game was pretty lackluster although we had time for another fifth round and we didn’t have any BANKRUPT trash. Laura Hansen was the winner with $18,550 cash & prizes and she chose PLACE as her category. Here’s the last letter of each word…

_ _ S
_ _ N / _ _ _ E

HBPU is an interesting combo, but that only added…

H _ S
_ _ N / _ _ _ E

Pat went and searched around in HIS MAN CAVE for $40K to give to her for a final total of $58,550 cash & prizes.

♂️May 25🦅: Monday episode of Veterans Week (Nov. 7)

Tim Johnson had a big haul of $39,750 cash & Caribbean going into the BR largely thanks to finding the Same Letter bonus on $2,500 in Round 1 and his EXPRESS run, plus we had no penalty spins. He also gave us our first $6K Final Spin of the season, but had he solved the Speed-Up puzzle, he would’ve set a new seasonal maingame record of $60,800 (he didn’t get any help on the top row). PLACE was his BR category choice and this is what he got to start…

_ R _ _ _ T E
_ R _ _ E _ _ _

CDMO only added…

_ R _ _ _ T E
_ R _ _ E _ _ _

…and he thought of DRAWERS for the bottom word and the $40K stayed on Bellamie’s PRIVATE DRIVEWAY.

🟣Jun. 1: Monday episode of America’s Game I on the WoF XL I set (Oct. 24)

Ladies LaToya Thompson and Amy Tzagournis had a good match thanks to the former’s $10K MW win and the latter’s  XL PP trip. However, the XL Prize Puzzle mattered for Amy to win so it wasn’t good news for the BR as she chose EVENT as her category. Opening setup…

_ _ N _ _ 
_ _ N _ _ E T

PDCO only added…

_ _ N C _ 
_ _ N _ _ E T

Not a word from her, so she wouldn’t be showing up to a FANCY BOUQUET with $40K.

Season 41 Schedule

Creating this thread, as the first taping dates for Season 41 and Celebrity Wheel Season 4 have been announced.

Air Dates (will be filled in as the season goes along):

September 11-15: European Vacation, taped on August 9.

September 18-22: Weekend Getaways, taped on July 20.

September 25-29: Rail Tour, taped on August 8.

October 2-6: Teacher’s Week, taped on July 27.

October 9-13: Wheel Across America, taped on July 21.

October 16-20: Bed & Breakfast, taped on August 10.

October 23-27: Halloween Week, taped on September 26.

October 30-November 3: Sixth Episode Week I (order is Rail Tour/Halloween/Getaways/European/Across America).

November 6-10: Veterans Week, taped on September 7.

November 13-17: Home for the Holidays, taped on September 27.

November 20-24: Shopping Spree, taped on September 8.

November 27-December 1: Great Outdoors, taped on October 26.

December 4-8: Disney Secret Santa I, taped on October 12.

December 11-15: Disney Secret Santa II, taped on October 13.

December 18-22: Winter Wonderland, taped on October 27.

December 25-29: Sixth Episode Week II (order is B & B/Veterans/Outdoors/Shopping/New Year’s)

January 1-5: Happy New Year!, taped on November 16.

January 8-12: Collette Show You the World, taped on November 30.

January 15-19: Passport to Fun, taped on November 17.

January 22-26: Sand & Sea, taped on December 1.

January 29-February 2: Wheel Around the World, taped on December 14.

February 5-9: NFL Superfan Tournament, taped on December 15

February 12-16: Sweethearts Week, taped on January 12

February 19-23: Sixth Episode Week III (order is Around the World/Sweethearts/Passport to Fun/Sand & Sea/Expeditions)

February 26-March 1: National Geographic Expeditions, taped on January 11

March 4-8: Fabulous Food, taped January 25

March 11-15: Leave Winter Behind, taped January 24

March 18-22: Marvel Superheroes Week, taped January 31

March 25-29: National Parks, taped February 1

April 1-5: Great American Cities (the first episode was taped on the set of Winter Wonderland)

April 8-12: HSN Make Shopping Fun

April 15-19: Sixth Episode Week IV (order is Show You The World/Food/Parks/Leave Winter Behind/American Cities)

April 22-26: Destination Relaxation, taped March 7

April 29-May 3: Margaritaville Resorts, taped March 8

May 6-10: Grand Getaways

May 13-17: Sixth Episode Week V

May 20-24: Big Money (Episode #8K on Friday), taping on April 4.

May 27-31: Fan Favorites

June 3-7: Thanks for the Memories, taping on April 5

Follow Us on Facebook!

Hey folks, I have officially created a Facebook page (“WoF with Andy Nguyen”; I am the one who will be managing this) to hopefully attract more viewers to this site. Click HERE for this link. All of our recent postings will not only be only shown on Twitter, but also Facebook. So what are you waiting for? Give us a follow! 🙂

WoF Coming to Pluto TV

This show along w/ sister show JEOPARDY! will soon be getting its own dedicated digital channels, respectively, on the Pluto streaming service beginning on August 1st.

Read all about it HERE.

Current Lists of All Episodes available on Pluto TV

Season 1

Episodes #3, #15, #41, #89, #105, #125, #128, #186, #16-#20

Season 2

Episodes #205, #212, #214, #269, #271, #273-#275, #296, #338, #386, #213, #215, #236-#240

Season #3

Episodes #399, #417, #449, #460, #461, #463, #493, #494, #517, #539, #561, #531-#534

Season #4

Episodes #631, #632, #651, #655, #661, #662, #671, #686, #703, #714, #730, #737. #741. #767, #772-#780, #641-#645

Season #5

Episodes #781-#783, #791-#795

Season #7

Episodes #1174, #1180, #1204-1206, #1251-#1255, #1271, #1280, #1285, #1307, #1276-#1279, #1346-#1350

Season #8

Episode #1366, #1369, #1370, #1376, #1383, #1391, #1394, #1395, #1446-#1450, #1531-#1532, #1534-#1535

Season #9

Episodes #1566-#1570, #1572, #1641-#1650

Season #10

Episodes #1756, #1758, #1762-#1763, #1768 (Pat’s first daytime epipsde)

Season #11

Episodes #1997, #2016 (Vanna’s first daytime episode)

Season #12

#2211 (Dec. 5, 1994)

Season #13

  • #2416-#2420 (Christmas & Family Week)

Season #15

  • #2791 (Start of Best Friends Week and this had the very first deaf contestant on the show)
  • #2858 (Wed. episode of African Safari)
  • #2888 (Wed. episode of California Dreamin’)
  • #2917 (Tues. episode of Summer in the City)
  • #2736-#2740 (Ohio State Fair Week)
  • #2781-#2785 (first week from Denver)
  • #2836-#2840 (Family Week from Las Vegas)

Season #16

  • #2946 (Start of British Isles)
  • #3042-#3050 (all of Hawaii road trip except Mon.)
  • #2931-#2935 (Pittsburgh Week)

Season #18

  • Home for the Holidays
  • Fast Cars Week (Season Premiere Week)
  • Washington D.C. Week

Season 20

  • Seattle Week
  • Family Vacations

Season 21

  • #3958 (Wed. episode of California Coast)
  • Teen Best Friends in Phoenix
  • Mom & Me in San Francisco
  • San Francisco Week
  • Big Money Week (Season Premiere Week)

Season 22

  • Going In Style
  • Kansas City Week
  • Caribbean Week

Season 23

  • Sweethearts Week from Fort Lauderdale
  • Family Week (this was originally gonna air on the New Orleans road trip)
  • Safari So Good

Season 24

  • Going To the Game
  • Teachers’ Week
  • #4539 (Thursday show of Hawaii Week)
  • #4561 (Start of Spirit of the Season)
  • Fantastic Voyages (Premiere Week)
  • North Texas Week from Dallas

Season 26

  • Canada Week
  • Second Honeymoon Week from Hawaii
  • Pet Lovers Week
  • Episode #5000

Season 27

  • WHEEL Around the World
  • International Food
  • America’s Game I (#5121-#5124)

Season 28

  • Spring Fling from Las Vegas
  • Pet Lovers Week

Season 29

  • Spa Fantasy
  • Military Spouses

Season 30

  • Bed & Breakfast
  • Happy Holidays
  • Pure Paradise
  • First of three NYC weeks

Season 31

  • New Year’s Eve Week from Las Vegas

Season 32

  • #6099: Thursday episode of America’s Game I
  • Wheel Goes Waikoloa
  • Wheel Loves N.Y.

Season 33

  • #6294: Thanksgiving episode of America’s Game I
  • #6252: Tuesday episode of WHEEL Across America
  • Great American Cities (Denver)

Season 34

  • Teachers’ Week
  • National Parks
  • Shopping Spree
  • Pacific Northwest
  • Veterans’ Week
  • Home for the Holidays
  • America’s Game II
  • Weekend Getaways
  • California Coast
  • Leave Winter Behind
  • Big Money
  • GAC San Diego (only Monday and Tuesday)
  • Teen Best Friends
  • Hawaii
  • GAC Chicago (only Monday)
  • GAC Boston

Season 35

  • Teachers’ Week
  • Bed & Breakfast
  • Fall Foliage
  • Halloween
  • Veterans’ Week
  • America’s Game I
  • Hawaii
  • Wheel Around the World
  • Great American Cities
  • Delicious Destinations
  • America’s Game III (only Monday)
  • California Coast
  • Best Friends (only Monday and Tuesday)
  • Spa Getaway
  • Shopping Spree
  • Get Out of Town
  • America’s Game V

Aw, shucks, I’m not on here. But I’m not complaining 😦

Season 36

  • Teachers’ Week
  • Shopping Spree
  • Spa Getaway (only Mon.)
  • Great Outdoors (only Wednesday and Friday are available)
  • Veterans’ Week (only Wednesday is available)
  • America’s Game I
  • GAC Washington D.C. (only Thursday and Friday)
  • America’s Game II
  • Leave Winter Behind
  • Sweethearts’ Week
  • Girlfriend Getaways
  • Delicious Destinations
  • Wheel Around the World
  • Island Hopping
  • Big Money
  • R&R
  • #6877-#6879 (middle three episodes of Happy Thanksgiving!)

Season 37

  • Teachers’ Week
  • Spa Getaway
  • Let’s Eat (only Tuesday)
  • Great Northwest
  • Bed & Breakfast
  • Veterans’ Week (only Monday)
  • America’s Game II (only Tuesday)
  • Rail Tour
  • GAC South Florida (only Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday)
  • America’s Game III
  • College Week (all but Tuesday)
  • Surfin’ Safari
  • Great American Cities (San Francisco Bay) (this was mistakenly placed under S34 and mislabeled as #6621-#6625)
  • #7079 (Thanksgiving 2019 episode of Shopping Spree)

Season 38

  • WHEEL Around the World (all episodes available except Tuesday)

An IMPORTANT Message to Past Contestants

Past contestants (especially those on WoF Alums)…

If you aren’t aware already, that Hawaii week from late last month is probably one of the WORST weeks I’ve ever covered in my nearly 10-year stint of my site. I don’t think I’ve ever been this annoyed with all the misplays I’ve seen by a handful of contestants that week. You see, I’m a former contestant myself and I do have a heart and the main purpose of my site is to assess how good (and how lucky) you are as a player on the show you appeared on. If you’re smart and at least make a good effort, I can appreciate it. But if you do something really bad such as give a horrible missolve that causes you to go viral, I start to get upset and have serious doubts. I will tell you that I am diagnosed with autism and there are times where I start to lose it against players who play badly, but I have to keep things under control and make it more enjoyable. There are certain misplays which really bother me…

  • calling extremely rare letters like Z, J, X, or Q too early (unless I have a good understanding about those letter selections)
  • any nonsensical missolve that has a good possibility of going viral and doesn’t fit at all
  • a very poor choice of consonant on a puzzle that is nearly complete and on an easier word
  • any MW gamble where you have too much money at risk and could also have the prize wedge in your possession

Any one of these misplays could put a dent in my enjoyment. The last thing I want to do is put a players gooseegg performance as DESERVING. I DON’T like to do it and please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s a penalty on those who play badly (even those who went viral).

Now please understand this…I don’t mean to be overly rude and I try to keep it cool and also apologize to those who I may have gotten mad at in the past, but if you wish to talk to me, please either reply to the recap of your show in the comments (use the search engine to find the date of your show) or shoot me an email by clicking the Contact Me at the top of this page and explain to me your situation so I can understand better.

Thank you for your understanding and it’s good to regain control after two weeks of time off.

Button Following Made Easier!

Instead of scrolling up to make the follow button appear, I’ve included Follow buttons on the sidebar of our site as well as in the bottom of our site so that you readers have an easier time to follow our site. You can also receive notifications of new posts via email just by entering your email address into the small text box.

Hello Past Contestants: We Love to Hear from You! *A Requirement for All!*

Hello past contestants:

As a former contestant who played this game in Season 35, I understand it’s nerve-racking when you have cameras watching, the bright lights and millions of people watching you. I know we all would love to see videos of past episodes on video websites like YouTube, but they are bound to be taken down by Sony. That’s why I’ve created this site originally under the original platform of blogger (and changed to WordPress very early in 2016) and we are helping to relive your moments by writing so many recaps of past episodes using help from various sources as needed. Most of them are by me while some of them are by my fellow admins. As much as we would love to have a complete season of recaps, some may NOT be available, because we don’t have enough sources to write them.

We all want you to do well on the show and rack up as much winnings as possible and hopefully you don’t make a fool of yourselves. We rate episodes by weighing the good and the bad and averaging them out to give our final rating for your episode. Any crucial misplays may negatively impact our rating such as critical duds, big BANKRUPTs, bad missolves or bad BR losses. We don’t get mad at all kinds of missolves; it’s just the ones that make absolutely NO SENSE at all. As admins, we have to be careful in NOT rating your episodes way too low (unless there is a good reason to do so), so that we wouldn’t upset you. Two guys over on my fellow blogger’s website (bobbymgsk) tend to rate you way too low when in reality the maingame wasn’t so bad and one of them called you bad names when you lose the Bonus Round, which is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. They need to understand the pressure you’re facing while on national TV.

While you’re here, find the recap of your show by typing in the search engine box where you see the word Search (eg. my airdate of April 11, 2018 or episode number 6783). To make a reply, scroll down to the comments where it says “Leave a Reply”. Fill in the required information (real name and email), and type in your message to us and we’ll approve it. We want to know EXACTLY who you are and we would love to hear your experience and tell us what’s going on in your games! If we don’t have a recap of your show, shout-outs on this site would be great (go to the About section and make a reply there). We’ve had rare incidents of one or two contestants badmouthing us, especially the lady from January 20, 2016 who cursed us out and called us bad names. Please DON’T do that. We are analyzing your performance in comparison to others.

Your comments ARE very important to us. For any contestants who stumble on this site, please be sure to look for the posting of your game in the search engine and please leave your comments at the bottom of the posting so that we get the notification in our emails knowing that you’re here.

After I’ve said all that, please enjoy browsing my site. And if you would like to be fan of my site, click the Follow buttons on the sidebar or below on my site. There is also an email form where you enter email so that you can stay up to date on any new posts.

Happy browsing!

A Warning on Comments in Future Recaps

Seeing all this nonsense over on the message boards regarding last Friday has inspired me to create this warning message:

Some of you guys went over the top and made unwanted remarks like “Worst Episode of the Series. Period” (Adam Alam), “That’s it, I’m done watching this show for good”, “WoF is dead”, etc. Totally UNCALLED for. Me and my fellow admins WILL be forced to remove or trash comments awaiting like that. I mean, we can probably agree that Jan. 11, 2019 is a nominee for WORST EPISODE OF THE SEASON, but to say it’s the WORST OF THE SERIES is really too much. And of course, we really HATE it when any jerks like Jimmy Ruska declare technical wins. There will NEVER be any technical wins on this show. That really suggests the contestants are CHEATING Sony out of their money. You should know that TV game shows like this one are like businesses and they will have tougher challenges in store for contestants, OK? To earn the cash & prizes, you have to WORK FOR IT. And if players keep winning the big prizes over and over (that goes the same for losing over and over), then this show would be off the air already.

I know many of us like myself this show very much, but if you don’t have anything nice to say regarding this show, then DON’T SAY IT. I know I had my share of anger and frustration when I see contestants play badly. And if anybody still breaks the rules regarding tech. wins, THEN TAKE IT UP WITH SONY. I already confronted Jimmy Ruska via e-mail and forced him to call Sony and email the producers of the show.

So, I must end this by saying CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY. Don’t assume the worst based on what you have NOT watched. You never know what’s gonna happen.

Thanks for your understanding.

S4 Primetime Week 9 Stats

This Week’s Charity Total: $136,950
-Maingame: $136,950
-BR Wins: $0

Total for the Season: $2,033,350
-Maingame: $1,333,350
-BR Wins: $700K

4-Round Games: 1 (1 game went to Round 5)

Perfect Rounds: 4

Shutout Victims: 6

Toss-Up Triple Stumpers: 0

Triple Toss-Up Sweeps: 2 (0 swept every Toss-Up in a game)

Red/Yellow/Blue Winners:  8/5/5

Celebrities who Needed Bonuses to Win: 6 (2 lost BR)

Bonus-Only Puzzle Solves: 14

$30K Minimum Adjustments: 9

This Week’s BANKRUPT Trash: ZIP
Total BANKRUPT Trash for the Season: $65,650
Biggest BANKRUPT: $16,550 (Melissa Villaseñor on Week 1, Game 1)
Biggest BANKRUPT Trash in a Game: $18,350 (Week 2, Game 1)

BANKRUPT Trash-Free Games: 2
BANKRUPT-Free Games: 3
Penalty Spin-Free Games: 3

BANKRUPT Trash by Only One Contestant: 9

Aired BANKRUPT Hits
-Near $650
: Week: 1, Season: 19
-Near TD: Week: 0, Season: 9

Aired LaT Hits: Week: 0, Season: 18

Aired Duds: Week: 14, Season: 103
Aired DQs: Week: 1, Season: 18

MDWs Lost to BANKRUPT: Week: 0, Season: 1

Unclaimed MDWs: Week: 1, Season: 12
Unclaimed Cash: Week: $34,650, Season: $278,400

Forfeited MDWs: Week: 0, Season: 2

Top Winning Celebs

  1. Brendan Hunt ($328,200)
  2. Matt Rogers ($260,650)
  3. Kyle Brandt ($169,500)

Season-High: $392,800 (Week 1)
Season-Low: $136,950 (Week 9)


MAINGAME PUZZLE STATS


FINAL SPIN STATS

After one spin in Round 3: 5
After multiple actions in Round 3: 2
Start of Round 4: 1
After one spin in Round 4+:
After multiple actions in Round 4+: 1

Spun by Red/Yellow/Blue: 4/2/3

Final Spin Amounts
$1,500: 3
$1,550
$1,600: 1
$1,650
$1,700
$1,800: 2
$1,900: 1
$1,950: 1
$6K: 1

Final Spins Edited Out:


BONUS ROUND STATS

BR Win Record: 11-7 (.611)
2-0: 4
1-1: Game 1: 2, Game 2: 1
0-2: 2

MDBRs: 6

Letter Combo Wipeouts: 0 ($1M TOTAL TRAINWRECKS: 0)

Perfect Letter Combos: 1

BR Categories
Top/Middle/Bottom Chosen
: 7/7/4

AROUND THE HOUSE: 1/3; 0-1
EVENT:
FOOD & DRINK: 0/1
FUN & GAMES: 1/3; 1-0
IN THE KITCHEN:
LIVING THING:
PERSON/PEOPLE: 3/7; 3-0
PHRASE: 5/14; 4-1
PLACE:
SHOW BIZ: 1/1; 1-0
THING(S): 3/12; 1-2
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?: 3/13; 1-2

Dreaded Category Trio Encounters: Week: 1, Season: 6
THING-Free Category Choices: 6

BR Prizes
$25K: 3/5
$50K: 2/6
$75K: 3/4
$100K: 3/3
$1M:

MDBR Result
Landed on $1M:
1 Space Away:
2-3 Spaces Away: 1
4-5 Spaces Away: 3
6 Spaces Away:
7-8 Spaces Away: 1
9-11 Spaces Away: 1
12 Spaces Away:

S41 Week 35 Stats

Pretty much a carbon copy of last season’s disappointing edition of this theme week.

Total for this Week: $209,395
-Maingame: $169,395
-BR Wins: $40K

Total for the Season: $9,316,281
-Maingame: $6,681,942
-BR Wins: $2,843,734

Prize Wedge Wins: 33

MW was Flipped-Declined: 50-18
MW Flip was $10KBANKRUPT: 16-34
$10K MW was Next to LaT$650: 22-28
MW Wins: 6

EXPRESS was Played-Passed: 32-9
Successes: 14
Crashes: 18 (Wipeouts: 8)

WC Usages: 29
-Maingame: 4 (3 on $3,500, 1 on $550)
-BR: 25

5-Round Games: 20

Triple $10K+ Finishes: 7

Perfect Rounds: 66

Gooseegg Victims: 29

Toss-Up Triple Stumpers: 5

Triple Toss-Up Sweeps: 27 (4 swept every Toss-Up)

Red/Yellow/Blue Winners: 64/63/48

Biggest Margins of Victory

  1. $65,700 (Oct. 13)
  2. $42,630 (Oct. 10)
  3. $37,400 (Oct. 16)

Smallest Margins of Victory

  1. $233 (Jan. 16)
  2. $260 (Dec. 11)
  3. $406 (Apr. 25)

Players who Needed the PP to Win: 55 (34 lost BR)

$0 Prize Puzzle Wins: Week: 0, Season, 29
House Minimum Bumps: Week: 7, Season: 84

Average Maingame Winning Score this Week: $19,769 (+$1,063)
Average Maingame Winning Score this Season: $23,467 (-$110)

Median Maingame Winning Score this Week: $18,449 (-$2,451)
Median Maingame Winning Score this Season: $22,350 (-$25)

This Week’s BANKRUPT Trash: $10,050
Total BANKRUPT Trash for the Season: $806,387 + 1 trip of unknown value
Biggest Known BANKRUPT: $29,750 (Apr. 26)
Biggest Known BANKRUPT Trash in a Game: $36,250 (Apr. 26)

BANKRUPT Trash-Free Games: 21
BANKRUPT-Free Games: 5
Penalty Spin-Free Games: 4

BANKRUPT Trash by Only One Contestant: 77

Aired BANKRUPT Hits
-Near $650: Week: 7, Season: 149
-Near TD: Week: 2, Season: 160
-Via MDW: Week: 1, Season: 86

Aired LaT Hits: Week: 2, Season: 113

Aired Duds: Week: 32, Season: 1,016
Aired DQs: Week: 5, Season: 117

BANKRUPT Losses
WCs: Week: 1, Season: 34
MDWs: Week: 0, Season: 9
$10K MWs: Week: 0, Season: 3
Prize Wedges: Week: 0, Season: 10
Cash: Week: $10,050, Season: $702,550

Unclaimed
MDWs: Week: 1, Season: 16
$10K MWs: Week: 0, Season: 6
Prize Wedges: Week: 2, Season: 25
Cash: Week: $74,250, Season: $2,372,400

Forfeited WCs: Week: 2, Season: 25
Forfeited MDWs: Week: 0, Season: 7

Top Winning Totals

Contestant (Overall)

  1. $136,386 (Feb. 9)
  2. $126,714 (Nov. 17)
  3. $121,917 (Mar. 20)
  4. $119,500 (Jan. 2, Mar. 27)
  5. $97,400 (Mar. 21)

Contestant (Maingame)

  1. $71,700 (Oct. 13)
  2. $48,480 (Oct. 10)
  3. $46,690 (Mar. 7)
  4. $46,250 (Feb. 8)
  5. $40,794 (Sept. 19)

Episode (Overall)

  1. $151,414 (Nov. 17)
  2. $137,717 (Mar. 20)
  3. $133,398 (Mar. 27)
  4. $131,100 (Jan. 2)
  5. $116,389 (Mar. 21)

Episode (Maingame)

  1. $79,700 (Oct. 13)
  2. $63,950 (Feb. 8)
  3. $63,036 (Nov. 3)
  4. $62,830 (Dec. 25)
  5. $62,799 (Sept. 27)

Bottom Winning Totals

Contestant (Overall)

  1. $10,250 (Dec. 1)
  2. $11,550 (Jan. 29)
  3. $11,900 (Jan. 16)
  4. $12,470 (Apr. 2)
  5. $12,949 (Nov. 24)

Contestant (Maingame)

  1. $10,250 (Dec. 1)
  2. $11,550 (Jan. 29)
  3. $11,649 (May 6)
  4. $11,900 (Jan. 16)
  5. $12,298 (Oct. 18)

Episode (Overall)

  1. $22,620 (Apr. 2)
  2. $24,517 (Dec. 8)
  3. $25,567 (Jan. 16)
  4. $26,290 (Sept. 12)
  5. $26,410 (Nov. 21)

Episode (Maingame)

  1. $21,470 (Oct. 27)
  2. $22,620 (Apr. 2)
  3. $22,800 (Apr. 19)
  4. $23,550 (Nov. 22)
  5. $24,517 (Dec. 8)

Season-High Week: Home for the Holidays ($395,364)
Season-Low Week: European Vacation ($179,526)


MAINGAME PUZZLE STATS

CATEGORYTU1TU2R1R2R3TTUR4+
AROUND THE HOUSE101021399
BEFORE & AFTER1648
CHARACTER(S)11114
CROSSWORD626
EVENT(S)62147855
FAMILY1
FOOD & DRINK81294272212
FUN & GAMES1310831076
IN THE KITCHEN252141
LANDMARK32131
LIVING THING(S)4101749
MOVIE QUOTE1211
MOVIE TITLE1111
OCCUPATION(S)1121337
ON THE MAP18202168
PERSON/PEOPLE1116192515
PHRASE181318828740
PLACE(S)231312831114
PROPER NAME28111
QUOTATION 1
RHYME TIME465138
SAME LETTER34
SAME NAME429
SHOW BIZ2722713
SONG ARTIST1
SONG LYRICS11341
THING(S)2315124194417
TITLE4131
TV TITLE1
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?1341417312123
WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?562637

FINAL SPIN STATS

Occurrence
Start of Round 4: 123
Middle of Round 4: 32
Start of Round 5+: 15
Middle of Round 5+: 5

Spun by Red/Yellow/Blue: 53/53/69

Final Spin Amounts
$1,500: 49
$1,550: 9
$1,600: 25
$1,650: 22
$1,700: 25
$1,800: 9
$1,850: 6
$1,900: 18
$6K: 12

Final Spins Edited Out: 13


BONUS ROUND STATS

BR Win Record: 61-114 (.349)

PBRWs: 0
4-1 Weeks: 1
3-2 Weeks: 8
2-3 Weeks: 11
1-4 Weeks: 11
SKUNKINGS: 4 (TOTAL TAPING DAY WASHOUTS: 2)

MDBRs: 9

Letter Combo Wipeouts: 8 (TOTAL TRAINWRECKS: 1)

Perfect Letter Combos: 4

BR Categories
Top/Middle/Bottom Chosen: 59/45/71

AROUND THE HOUSE: 1/1; 1-0
EVENT(S): 7/19; 3-4
FOOD & DRINK: 15/18; 6-9
FUN & GAMES: 2/3; 1-1
IN THE KITCHEN: 1/2; 0-1
LIVING THING(S): 5/12; 1-4
ON THE MAP:
PERSON/PEOPLE: 10/44; 3-7
PHRASE: 70/158; 27-43
PLACE(S): 14/42; 5-9
THING(S): 12/175; 1-11
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?: 35/48; 12-23
WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?: 3/3; 1-2

Dreaded Category Trio Encounters: Week: 1, Season: 43
THING-Free Category Choices:

BR Prizes
CAR: 18/46 (1 car sweep)
$40K: 32/95 (6 minimum sweeps)
$50K: 5/17
$75K: 2/5
$100K (or $1M): 4/12

Car Wins

  • 1 Lincoln Corsair Standard
  • 2 Nissan LEAF SV Pluses
  • 2 Nissan Pathfinder SLs
  • 3 MINI Cooper SEs
  • 1 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend
  • 1 BMW X1 xDrive28i
  • 2 Ford Mustang MACH-E Selects
  • 2 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Premium Convertibles
  • 1 Volkswagen Atlas 3.6L V6 SE
  • 1 maZDa CX-50 2.5 S Select
  • 1 Chevrolet Equinox RS
  • 1 Ford Edge SEL

MDBR Result
Landed on $1M:
1 Space Away:
2-3 Spaces Away: 2
4-5 Spaces Away: 1
6 Spaces Away: 2
7-8 Spaces Away: 1
9-11 Spaces Away: 3
12 Spaces Away:

BR Wins Despite Losing WC to BANKRUPT: 5
BR Losses Despite Having WC: 13
Non-$100K Wins After Losing MDW to BANKRUPT: 1

Toughest BR Puzzle this WeekDABBLING IN MUSIC (DABBLING isn’t an easy word to get)
Easiest BR Puzzle this WeekPIANO KEYS


Player of the Week: Braylon Hall & Karla Lance


WEEKLY RATING: 5 (D-)


Next week is our fifth and final compilation week of the season (@jbeaugard01 will cover Mon.-Thurs. while I finish it off).

WoF Recap: May 10, 2024

EPISODE #7990: 🧳GRAND GETAWAYS🧳

This is the only time this week the short intro is used.

$1K Tossup: THING

T H _ / _ D _ A L
_ _ M _ E R _ T U R E

Tony totally blows it w/ THE IDEAL NUMERATOR.

T H _ / I D _ A L
_ _ M _ E R _ T U R E

Edna feels like it’s THE IDEAL TEMPERATURE inside. Last teams this week from left to right…

Lauren Mims & Edna Brown (granddaughter/grandma): they try to see each other as much as they can; Lauren drives three hours about once a month and she finished her dissertation from New York City, NY and Fairfax, VA respectively

Sarah Loid & Syd Fischel (grandson/grandma): they get to see plenty of each other and have as much fun as possible from Los Angeles, CA

Grace Pepperel & Tony King (granddaughter/grandpa): she started an organization helping families with infant loss after she lost her little brother shortly after birth so her passion project last year was to create a bereavement room for families to grieve; he helps her fundraise and make connections and make it possible from Dallas, TX and Peoria, AZ IL respectively

$2K Tossup: ON THE MAP

_ _ O U _
S _ _ T _ / K _ R _ A

Syd can’t come up w/ anything.

_ _ O U _
S _ _ T / K _ R E A

Tony IDs SEOUL SOUTH KOREA.

FEATURED TRIP: The Crane in BARBADOS

Round 1: EVENT

G&TBANKRUPT NEAR $650
L&E: Two T’s (BARBADOS), three N’s ($600), four A’s, I
S&S: S ($800), L ($900)
G&T: R ($500), two E’s, F ($650) (NMC)

A N / A F T E R N _ _ N
A T / S E A

They remember spending AN AFTERNOON AT SEA for an $1,100 bonus.


Eggland’s Best Mystery Round: BEFORE & AFTER

L&E: T ($500), two R’s (WC), three N’s ($850), D ($650), three A’s, G ($500), I, S ($600), three E’s, OTHER BANKRUPT (-$5,050)
S&SMDW’s LEFT SIDE
G&T: Three F’s ($500), L ($700), four O’s (NMV), C ($650), Y ($700), LaT ($3,300 gone to waste)

F O O T L O O S E
A N D / F A N _ _ –
F R E E
_ A R _ I N G

Lauren & Edna then solve “FOOTLOOSE AND FANCY-FREE PARKING” for the house minimum.

L&E: $3K/S&S: ZIP/G&T: $4K

You know we’re in bad shape when we have scores like this going into the next round… -___-


PP/Express Round: PHRASE

S&S: Four T’s ($500), H ($500), R ($650)
G&TB ($600)
L&E: L ($500), S (EXPRESS)

Allllllllllllllllllllllllll abooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOARD!!!

Letters: Two O’s, four A’s, two W’s, Y, two D’s, V, N (NMC)

_ ‘ V _ / A L W A Y S
W A N T _ D / T O
D O / T H A T

Lauren says “I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THAT” for $8K and a railbookers trip to AUSTRIA AND BAVARIA worth $8,499.

L&E: $19,499 cash & rail trip/S&S: GOOSEEGG ALERT/G&T: $4K


Triple Tossup: PERSON

1.

D _ D _ C A _ _ D
P _ O F E S _ _ _ N A L

Syd says DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL but Grace & Tony beat him to the punch.

2.

E M P _ O _ _ _ / _ F
T H E / _ O N _ H

Edna solves EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH.

3.

A / T O _ A L
L _ _ F _ R

Tony says he’s A TOTAL LOAFER.

Speed-Up: WAYD?

Final Spin Amount: $1,850

G&T: S
L&E: G
S&S: Two R’s
G&T: N
L&E: S repeat
S&S: Two T’s
G&T: H
L&E: Two E’s

T _ _ _ N G / _
_ R _ _ T H E R

We’ll be TAKING A BREATHER after we announce L & E solve for the $2K house minimum.

PENALTY BOXBANKRUPTSLaTsDUDSREPEATS
ROUND 1G&TI (L&E), L (S&S)
MYSTERY ROUND2 (L&E, S&S)G&T
PP/EXPRESS ROUNDR (S&S), B (G&T)
SPEED-UPS (G&T)S (L&E)

FINAL SCORES
L&E
: $23,499 cash & rail trip/S&S: $2K GOOSEEGG/G&T: $8K

GT: $33,499
BANKRUPT TRASH: $5,050

The TROUBLESOME TRIO awaits us again…

  • WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
  • THING
  • PHRASE

Fan Friday Word of the DayIRELAND (enter for your chance to win a railbookers trip to said country)


$100K Bonus Round

L&E brought cousin Margaret, mom Robin, friend Jasmine, and one other friend.

SPIN by Edna: N of SPIN

Lead-offs…

_ _ _ _ L _ N _
_ N / _ _ S _ _

GMWO is an interesting combo, but that doesn’t add much besides the obvious G…

_ _ _ _ L _ N G 
_ N / M _ S _ _

They’re wrong thinking the top word was PLAYING, so they’re not DABBLING IN MUSIC and we have another $40K sweep.

MY RATING: 4.5 (bad first half)
MY GRADE: F+

WoF Recap: ✝️Ascension 2024✝️

EPISODE #7989: 🧳GRAND GETAWAYS🧳

$1K Tossup: WAYD?

_ E A _ _ _ _ / _ U T
_ F / _ O _ _

Kayla was HEADING OUT OF TOWN to come here and so were these Thursday teams…

Kayla Diallo & Joslin Massenburg (granddaughter/grandma): Joslin is a firecracker; she’s active and loves sports f and Kayla likes to think she has all of Joslin’s best qualities; they’ve been discussing strategies with each other such as buying vowels from Richmond, VA

Sydney King & Landon Pendl (granddaughter/grandpa): they like to get ice cream together (peppermint is their favorite flavor) and have 13 grandchildren (Landon chose Sydney to come with him on the show by putting all the names in a hat and letting the Vice President of Human Resources pull a name out of the hat) from Cape Girardeau, MO and St. Albans, MO respectively

Kennedi & Clarence Coat (granddaughter/grandpa): foodies like yours truly all the way down to the seafood broil and like to talk about the generation gap from Marietta & Milwaukee respectively

$2K Tossup: LIVING THING

_ _ S _
G R _ E _ / _ R A S S

Landon goes through the LUSH GREEN GRASS.

FEATURED TRIP: ICELANDAIR (ICELAND)

Round 1: SAME LETTER

S&L: R (WC), two E’s, N ($700), four S’s ($650), O, three A’s (NMV), four T’s ($500), four P’s ($700; SL and they wanted to solve immediately after spinning)

P O T S
P A N S
P _ A T E S / &
P _ A T T E R S

They get their POTS, PANS, PLATES, & PLATTERS together for $8,850 — PR!


Eggland’s Best Mystery Round: RHYME TIME

Coats: Two T’s ($700), BANKRUPT NEAR $650 (-$1,400)
K&JS (MW in between $650/$700)
S&LR ($700)
Coats: N ($500), three O’s, K (other MWBANKRUPT; -$250)
K&J: Two H’s ($500)

_ O / _ _ T H / _ H _ T
_ O _ / K N O _

They tell us to GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW to double their $1K.

S&L: $10,850 WC/Coats: ZIP/K&J: $3K


PP/Express Round: PHRASE

K&JSAME BANKRUPT
S&L: Three N’s ($500), four T’s ($700), O
Coats: H ($900), four I’s, U
K&J: Four G’s ($650), three E’s

T H I N G _ / _ _ E
G E T T I N G
E _ _ I T I N G !

THINGS ARE GETTING EXCITING! They’ve taken the lead w/ $2,350 and a railbookers trip to CANADA worth $7,499.

S&L: $10,850 WC/Coats: GOOSEEGG ALERT/K&J: $12,849 cash & Canada


Triple Tossup: THING

1.

E L _ _ _ _ I C
G U I T A _

Kayla strums an ELECTRIC GUITAR.

2.

_ _ _ _ _ T _ C
G _ I T _ _

Kayla plays an ACOUSTIC GUITAR

3.

_ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ R

…and she nails AIR GUITAR for the Triple Tossup sweep!

Speed-Up: PERSON

Final Spin Amount: $1,550

K&J: S
S&L: R
Coats: N
K&J: C
S&L: T
NULL CYCLE
Coats: M
K&J: P
S&L: G
Coats: Two K’s
K&J: Y (NMC)

K _ Y N _ T _
S P _ _ K _ R

Kayla also solves KEYNOTE SPEAKER for $4,650 more.

PENALTY BOXBANKRUPTSDUDS
MYSTERY ROUND2 (Coats)S (K&J), R (S&L)
PP/EXPRESS ROUNDK&JO (S&L), U (Coats)
SPEED-UP (aired)C (K&J), M (Coats), G (S&L)

FINAL SCORES
S&L: $10,850 WC/Coats: $2K GOOSEEGG/K&J: $27,499 cash & Canada

GT: $40,349
BANKRUPT TRASH (Coats): $1,650

K&J will choose from…

  • THING
  • PERSON
  • LIVING THINGS

$100K Bonus Round

K&J brought their mom.

SPIN by Joslin: C

Sam Hill is an example of this…

_ _ _ N T _ _ N
_ _ _ E R

HPMI gives them…

M _ _ N T _ I N
_ I _ E R

They miss the second word with RIDER, SKIER, ZIER, CIDER, JOKER, and GIDER; it was MOUNTAIN BIKER and they lose $40K.

MY RATING: 6
MY GRADE: D-

WoF Recap: May 8, 2024

EPISODE #7988: 🧳GRAND GETAWAYS🧳

$1K Tossup: RHYME TIME

_ _ U D Y
_ U _ D Y

FUDDY DUDDY, Linda?! No way. -__-

S _ U D Y
B U D D Y

Katherine and/or one of these midweek teams have probably had a STUDY BUDDY

Rex Moal & Katherine Wang (grandson/grandma): he loves to play chess (his late grandfather was a chess master); they’ve watched this show since Feb. 1979 from San Ramon and Palo Alto respectively

Samantha “Sam” Johnson & Linda Vian (granddaughter/grandma): Sam’s ears were pierced together and Linda is a very adventurous woman and likes to hunt a lot (she has a bow and will climb up the tree to bow hunt; they also cook together

Jovanni White & Joan Bradshaw (granddaughter/grandma): planning to cruise to Jamaica; Joan is a funny grandma, even if she isn’t doing it on purpose and is very caring (she likes to do a lot of things for people and would give one the shirt off her back) from Hattiesburg, MS

$2K Tossup: PEOPLE

_ E G U L _ R
_ U S T _ M _ R S

Rex & Katherine are REGULAR CUSTOMERS because they’re two-for-two.

FEATURED TRIP: Hyatt Regency Maui (HAWAII)

Round 1: PHRASE

R&K: Two T’s (WC), two A’s, two I’s, S (MDW), four E’s, O, F ($800)
S&L: Two M’s ($700– they thought of solving before they changed their mind), D ($600)

I T ‘ S / _ I _ E
A / D _ E A M
_ O M E / T _ _ E

Linda knows IT’S LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE for $2K.


Eggland’s Best Mystery Round: BEFORE & AFTER

S&L: Two N’s (MW in between $650/$700EMPTY)
J&J: T ($600), LaT
R&KG (HAWAII)
S&L: S ($700), I
J&J: L ($550), two O’s, R ($850)
R&K: Three D’s ($800), two A’s, three E’s, two M’s ($500)

L E M O N A D E
S T A N D –
_ _ / _ O M E D _

Katherine blows the last word w/ LEMONADE STAND-UP COMEDIAN, allowing Linda to solve LEMONADE STAND-UP COMEDY for the $2K house minimum.

R&K: $3K/S&L: $4K/J&J: ZIP


PP/Express Round: THING

J&JB ($700)
R&K: Two T’s ($650), two A’s, two N’s ($600), two E’s, two M’s ($500), two I’s, O, U (NMV), two C’s ($600)

_ U I T E / A N
A C C O M _ _ I _ _ M E N T

This is QUITE AN ACCOMPLISHMENT (sounds more of like a PHRASE to me), Rex – winning $3,450 and a railbookers trip to SWITZERLAND worth $11,299.

R&K: $17,749 cash & Switzerland WC/S&L: $4K/J&J: GOOSEEGG ALERT


Triple Tossup: WAYD?

1.

_ R A D _ _ T _ _ G
_ R O _ / S _ _ O _ L

Linda remembers GRADUATING FROM SCHOOL.

2.

A _ P _ _ I _ _
F O _ / _ / _ O B

Linda also recalls APPLYING FOR A JOB.

3.

_ T _ R T I N G
_ / F A M _ L _

Jovanni & Joan know about STARTING A FAMILY.

Speed-Up: LIVING THING

Final Spin Amount: $1,700

J&J: S
R&K: R (They tried to call T during their three seconds)
S&L: M
J&J: Two L’s (They tried to call H afterwards; I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened more than once in a Speed-Up… -___-)
R&K: Two D’s
S&L: I
J&J: B (NMC; they thought of solving without calling a consonant)

L _ B R _ D _ _ D L _

This LABRADOODLE fetches $5,100 for Jovanni.

PENALTY BOXBANKRUPTSLaTsDUDSMISSOLVES
ROUND 1F (R&K)
MYSTERY ROUNDS&LJ&JG (R&K), I (S&L), R (J&J)Katherine
PP/EXPRESS ROUNDB (J&J)
SPEED-UPS (J&J), M (S&L), I (S&L)

FINAL SCORES
R&K
: $17,749 cash & Switzerland WC/S&L: $8K/J&J: $7,100

GT: $32,849
NO BANKRUPT TRASH!

R&K‘s category list…

  • PLACE
  • THING
  • EVENT

Oh, come on, not again. -___-


$100K Bonus Round

R&K brought mom and a friend.

SPIN by Rex: G

The bottom word’s the decider…

_ _ N T _ _ E
_ _ N _ _ _ _

CHMA and K are very good choices…

_ _ N T A _ E
H A N _ _ A _

…but they STILL DON’T collect $40K from the VINTAGE HANDBAG. NO WAY this should’ve been lost.

Boy, this has NOT been a pleasant week so far…

MY RATING: 3
MY RATING: F

WoF Recap: May 7, 2024

EPISODE #7987: 🧳GRAND GETAWAYS🧳

$1K Tossup: RHYME TIME

A / _ L _ _ T / _ R O M
_ H E / P A _ T

Dave solves A BLAST FROM THE PAST. Tuesday’s teams…

David & Dave Stango (grandson/granddad): They go to an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse monthly from Norwood, DE

Taylor Garcia & Linda Weaver (granddaughter/grandma): Taylor’s a student at Texas A&M Corpus Christi majoring in mechanical engineering; Linda’s a retired retail management worker from Houston and Ontario, CA respectively

Da’Miah Steele & Angelia Carr (granddaughter/grandma): Planning to go on a family cruise

$2K Tossup: LANDMARK

_ _ _ C _ L N
_ E _ T E R

Taylor IDs the LINCOLN CENTER.

FEATURED TRIP: Eastern European cruise from Grand Circle Cruise Line (EUROPE)

Round 1: WAYD?

T&L: Three N’s ($600), three G’s (EUROPE worth almost $9K), four I’s, S ($500)
D&A: Two T’s ($700), two E’s, two H’s (TD– just barely hung on), A

G A T H E _ I N G
I N / T H E
_ I _ I N G / _ _ _ _

While we’re GATHERING IN THE LIVING ROOM to watch this episode, they solve for $5,900.


Eggland’s Best Mystery/Crossword Round: GOAL ________

D&A & D&DBANKRUPT NEAR $650
T&L: Three T’s ($700), five E’s, SAME BANKRUPT GETS THEM (-$1,850)
D&A: G ($900), two I’s, THAT SAME BANKRUPT GETS THEM AGAIN (-$650)
D&D: S ($550), P ($500), R (TD), O (NMV), N ($550), K ($650), L ($700)

KEEPERL
OI
SETTING
TE

They read the answer for $6,200.

D&D: $7,200/T&L: $2K/D&A: $5,900


PP/Express Round: PHRASE

D&D: N (WC), three E’s, three T’s ($600), two A’s, L ($800), I
T&L: B ($600), three S’s ($650)

_ A S T E N / _ _ _ _
S E A T / B E L T S

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS as they earn $2,550 and a railbookers trip to ALASKA worth $7,099.

D&D: $7,200 WC/T&L: $11,649 cash & AK/D&A: $5,900


Triple Tossup: THINGS

1.

E _ _ _ C I S _ / B _ L _ S

Angelia goofs w/ EXERCISE BIKES, and she says the correct answer too late.

E _ _ _ C I S _ / B A L _ S

Dave solves EXERCISE BALLS.

2.

_ E N _ I S / _ _ _ L S

Taylor hits these TENNIS BALLS.

3.

M O _ H _ A L L S

Dave avoids the MOTHBALLS.

Speed-Up: LIVING THING

Final Spin Amount: $1,600

D&D: N (they tried to call L during their thinking time)
T&L: Three T’s
D&A: M
D&D: S
T&L: L
D&A: R
D&D: G (NMC; guesses GIANT TURTLE)
T&L: Two I’s

G I _ N T
T _ R T _ I S _

Taylor solves GIANT TORTOISfor $4,800 and the game.

PENALTY BOXBANKRUPTSDUDSMISSOLVES
ROUND 1S (T&L)
MYSTERY ROUND4 (2 by D&A)
PP/EXPRESS ROUNDI (D&D)
SPEED-UPM (D&A), L (T&L)Men

FINAL SCORES
D&D: $11,200 WC/T&L: $18,449 cash & AK/D&A: $5,900

GT: $35,549
BANKRUPT TRASH: $2,500

T&L will choose from…

  • FOOD & DRINK
  • PLACE
  • THING

$100K Bonus Round

Taylor & Linda brought their parents, a grandpa, and uncle Beck.

SPIN: C

Very stingy RSTLNE help…

_ _ _ E _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

FMDO gives them…

D _ _ E D 
_ _ O _ _ D O

Taylor says DYED and DRIED for the first word, so they don’t eat this DICED AVOCADO for $40K.

MY RATING: 4
MY GRADE: F+

Celebrity WoF Recap: May 6, 2024

GAME 1

$1K Toss-Up: THING

_ M _ Z I N _
C H A R I S M A

The outgoing host Pat Sajak is known for his AMAZING CHARISMA and Sarah is the first to score among these celebs…

Sarah Levy: actor/”Schitt’s Creek” star who does the show with brother Dan and dad Eugene who’s playing for the FSHD Society, an organization that raises money for research for FSHD, which is one of the world’s most prevalent forms of muscular dystrophy; she’s playing for her Auntie Gail

Christian Siriano: fashion designer (he designed Vanna’s dress who said it’s really comfortable; he wanted to dress her his whole entire life) who won “Project Runway” in 2008 at the age of 21 and is now mentoring on the show; playing for GLAAD, the largest gay, bisexual, transgender, queer organization that fights against defamation for the community

Krysten Ritter: actress for HBO series Love & Death who uses the yarn on Vanna’s dress (she knows all about Vanna’s Choice Lion Brand yarn) and is really into knitting and crochet (she made a crocheted, huge blanket that’s on the back of her couch with Vanna’s yarn); owns a cow named Jake who was a steer that she bought at auction with her family (she taught him to ride like a horse); playing for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which helps kids and their families who are facing catastrophic illnesses

$2K Toss-Up: MOVIE TITLE

_ U _ _ D I _ N S / _ F
_ _ E / G A L A _ _

Sarah fumbles a bit, but she solves the Marvel film GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY for the tripler.

Round 1: FAMILY

Sarah: $700 N, 2 E’s, 2 A’s, $600 L, I, O (NMV), $1,800 S pair, no M on $500
Christian: $900 R, no H on $500
Krysten: $600 T, $800 V, $500 J, $650 C, $700 K (complete board)

T R A V I S / &
J A S O N / K E L C E

She reads the names of these NFL stars for $3,250 + $5K even though she pronounced their last name with a silent E. She doesn’t know who they are, but according to Sarah, it’s a Taylor Swift thing; that’s the only reason she knows them.


Round 2: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Christian: $2,400 N quartet, 3 E’s, 3 I’s, $650 R, $1,400 S pair, no U
Krysten: $1,800 T pair, other dud vowel of O
Sarah: $900 G, 2 A’s, $600 P, solve for $1,250 + $10K…

_ I _ I N G / I N
_ _ / P A R E N T S ’
_ A S E _ E N T

She solves LIVING IN MY PARENTS’ BASEMENT.

Sarah: $14,250  Christian: ZIP  Krysten: $8,250


Triple Toss-Up: PEOPLE

1.

N _ S _
_ E _ G _ B _ R S

All neighbors here; Sarah nearly took too long, but she solves NOSY NEIGHBORS.

2.

N _ I _ _
_ E I _ H B _ _ S

She also solves NOISY NEIGHBORS (I heard her leave out the S at the end).

3.

N I _ _
N _ I G _ _ O R S

I have some NICE NEIGHBORS in my area, and Christian’s off the schneid with that solve even though he also left out the S at the end.

Prize Puzzle Round: PHRASE

Christian: $600 S, 2 E’s, no R on $900
Krysten: 3 T’s for MDW near LaT, $500 M, 2 I’s, A, no N on $800
Sarah: $650 B, O, unnecessary U buy (NMV), $1,300 L pair, solve for $1,450 + $20K…

_ E L L / I T ‘ S
A B O U T / T I M E

WELL, IT’S ABOUT TIME– Sarah’s the winner of this game. Enter for your chance to win a Collette trip to Patagonia.

PENALTY BOX DUDS
Round 1 M (Sarah), H (Christian)
Round 2 U (Christian), O (Krysten)
Prize Puzzle Round R (Christian), N (Krysten)
6 TOTAL 6

FINAL SCORES THIS HALF
Sarah: $45,700  Christian: $5K  Krysten: $8,250

GRAND TOTAL: $58,950
NO PENALTY SPINS!

Sarah’s category list…

  • WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
  • FUN & GAMES
  • THING

$100K Bonus Round

She lands on WIN. Just a pair of N’s to start…

_ _ N _ _ _ _ N _

GMDO causes me to stick a fork in her…

_ _ N _ _ _ _ N G

She was literally PANICKING during the countdown because she’s well off the mark with WINNINGWHINING, and BOWLING and she loses $50K.

MY RATING: 6 (D+)


GAME 2

$1K Toss-Up: SHOW BIZ

H _ _ L _ W O _ D
_ O S S _ _

Krysten is incorrect with HOLLYWOOD BOSSES (Pat asked her to say it twice).

H O _ L Y W O O D
_ O S S I P

Sarah knows all about the HOLLYWOOD GOSSIP. She’s a Food Network person. Christian has done a lot of dress designing and has done it for the big shows, like the Oscars (sometimes they work with the stylists, sometimes they work with an actress or musician and direct with them). He recently dressed both of the First Ladies and the vice president. Krysten was scouted at a mall (when she was 15, she was a model so she started doing that for a little bit before she broke into commercials because she was always loud and obnoxious and bubbly).

$2K Toss-Up: PERSON

T O T A L
S _ A C K E R

That was almost a triple stumper, but Sarah proves she’s no TOTAL SLACKER (also the name of an American band from Brooklyn, NY).

Round 1: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Sarah (who admitted this category didn’t work out for her last time): $2,600 N quartet, sole dud vowel of A
Christian: $1,300 T pair, 3 E’s, 3 I’s, $500 R, U, $1,500 H trio, 2 O’s (NMV), no C on $600
Krysten: just solves for $5K bonus…

_ I N _ I N _
_ H O _ / T U N E _
I N / T H E / _ H O _ E R

She solves SINGING SHOW TUNES IN THE SHOWER. 4 S’s, ma’am…


Round 2: BEFORE & AFTER

Christian: $1,200 T pair, E, I, 2 R’s for $7K, U, $600 S (just made it out of trouble), $1,400 C pair, CRITICAL DUD of H on $950 ($9,450 gone to waste)
Krysten: just solves for $10K bonus…

T _ _
C R U I S E
C _ _ T R _ _

She solves TOM CRUISE CONTROL.

Sarah: $3K  Christian: ZIP  Krysten: $15K


Triple Toss-Up: THING

1.

D E L I C A _ E
_ I T U A T I O N

You might find yourself in a DELICATE SITUATION if you make a big mistake when playing this game; Sarah gets another Toss-Up under her belt.

2.

_ O _ _ E _ F _ L
R E _ A T _ O _ _ _ _ P

Christian seems to have a WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP with Vanna in regards to that dress he designed for her, but it’s Sarah who solves this one.

3.

S _ _ _ A _ I _ N S H _ P

Krysten solves SITUATIONSHIP.

Round 3: PHRASE

Krysten: BANKRUPT near $650 right away
Sarah: $800 S, 2 I’s, 2 O’s, $700 T, 5 E’sSPEED-UP

T _ E _ E / _ _ E / _ O
_ O I _ _ I _ E _ _ E S

Sarah has spun $1,600 per consonant.

Sarah: H
Christian: A (NMV)
Krysten: S repeat
Sarah: 2 R’s
Christian: 3 N’s
Krysten: P
Sarah: L
Christian: G
Krysten: M
Sarah: D
Christian: V

T H E R E / A R E / N O
_ O I N _ I D E N _ E S

Krysten forgoes calling the last consonant of 3 C’s and just solves THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES for the $20K bonus. And with that, all three main puzzles in this half were solved for only the bonus and no extra cash.

PENALTY BOX DUDS BANKRUPTS REPEATS
Round 1 A (Sarah), C (Christian)
Round 2 H (Christian)
Round 3/Speed-Up P, M (Krysten); L (Sarah); G, V (Christian) Krysten S (Krysten)
10 TOTAL 8 1 1

FINAL SCORES
Sarah: $13K (leaves with $58,700)  Christian: SHUTOUT ($30K minimum)  Krysten: $40K ($48,250 so far)

GRAND TOTAL: $53K
NO BANKRUPT TRASH

Krysten is unfortunately dealt that DREADED list…

  • PHRASE
  • WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
  • THING

$100K Bonus Round

She lands on WIN. I know this one already…

_ _ S _ _ _ N _ _ L _
L _ T E

CMDI only adds…

_ _ S _ I _ N _ B L _
L _ T E

No guess from her. I don’t know if she was FASHIONABLY LATE to attend the tapings for this episode, but she does lose $25K.

MY RATING5 (D-)

OVERALL RATING: 5 (D-)

WoF Recap: May 6, 2024

Time for my first team episode recap, let’s see how it goes…

EPISODE #7986: 🧳GRAND GETAWAYS🧳

$1K Tossup: PEOPLE

T H _ / _ _ A M
T _ / B _ A _

Roman & Tammi or one of these grandchild/grandparent duos hope to be THE TEAM TO BEAT

Roman Rossi & Tammi Taylor (grandson/grandma): like going to amusement parks (they love roller coasters) from Poquoson, VA

Braylon Hall & Karla Lance (grandson/grandma): she’s a retired first grade teacher after 30 years and they like to travel (the last place they went to was Kentucky) from Mississippi (they lived in the same place for a while before they moved out)

Kenna & Brian McKillop (granddaughter/granddad): she’s a community theater performer who recently participated in a championship for poetry reciting and is currently practicing in rehearsing for theater from Howell, MI

$2K Tossup: FOOD & DRINK

_ R _ _ _ I _
V E _ E T A _ L E S

Tammi flubs w/ SPRING VEGETABLES.

_ R _ A N I C
V E G E T A B L E S

Kenna eats some ORGANIC VEGETABLES.

FEATURED TRIP: Divi Little Bay (CARIBBEAN)

Round 1: PLACES

McKillops: T ($500), two H’s ($650), two A’s, three E’s, R ($700)
R&TL ($600)
B&K: W ($600), I (NMV), M ($550)

W H I T E / _ A _ _
_ E A _ H E _

These bring back some bad memories from early S25 but Kenna‘s team solve WHITE SAND BEACHES for the $2K house minimum.


Eggland’s Best Mystery Round: THING

R&TT (WC)
B&K: S ($650), two E’s, R (MW in between $650/$700BANKRUPT; -$400)
McKillops: N ($850), two I’s, O
R&TG ($1K)
B&KM ($500)
McKillops: D ($600), A (NMV), L ($800)

S I L _
_ A N D _ E R _ _ I E _

Kenna also grabs a SILK HANDKERCHIEF for another house minimum solve.

R&T: $1K/B&K: ZIP/McKillops: $6K


PP/Express Round: LIVING THINGS

B&K: S ($900), E, T ($600)
McKillops: R ($700), two I’s, BANKRUPT NEAR TD (-$450)
R&T: Four N’s (TD), two U’s, three B’s ($500), two A’s

B A B _ / B U N N I E S
_ _ _ _ I N _ / A R _ U N _

But Tammi blows the $15K solve big time w/ BABY BUNNIES RUNNING AROUND when there’s no N in the third or fourth letters in the bottom left word (and she knew that was wrong), so Braylon sees some BABY BUNNIES HOPPING AROUND for $650 and a railbookers trip to ITALY worth $8,999.

R&T: $1K/B&K: $9,649 cash & trip/McKillops: $6K

Yeah, we’re in DEEP TROUBLE… -___-


Triple Tossup: WAYD?

1.

_ K _ _ P _ N G
_ L _ S S

We’re all skipping things; Braylon may or may not remember SKIPPING CLASS.

2.

_ _ _ P P _ _ G
_ _ _ K

Tammi’s SKIPPING WORK to triple her duo’s earnings.

3.

S K I _ P I N G
_ _ P E

Kenna’s SKIPPING ROPE.

Speed-Up: OCCUPATIONS

Final Spin Amount: BANKRUPT near $650 $1,500

McKillops: Three T’s
R&T: N
B&K: R (guesses DOCTOR & PATIENT)
McKillops: Two O’s
R&T: Two D’s

D O _ T O R / &
D _ N T _ _ T

Tammi solves DOCTOR & DENTIST for $4,500.

PENALTY BOXBANKRUPTSDUDSMISSOLVES
ROUND 1R (McKillops), L (R&T), M (B&K)
MYSTERY ROUNDB&KT (R&T), O (McKillops), G (R&T), M (B&K)
PP/EXPRESS ROUNDMcKillopsT (B&K)R&T
SPEED-UPBraylon

FINAL SCORES
R&T
: $7,500/B&K: $11,649 cash & trip/McKillops: $8K

GT: $27,149
BANKRUPT TRASH (excluding MW gamble): $850

Braylon & Kenna will hopefully try to salvage this episode w/ these generic categories…

  • THINGS
  • PERSON
  • PLACE

$100K Bonus Round

Braylon & Kenna brought daughter Carrie and her husband Randy.

SPIN: I of SPIN

This was last used on 2/8/2007…

_ _ _ N _
_ E _ S

MPFA adds two key letters on top…

P _ A N _
_ E _ S

We finally have a win under this dreaded category this season and our first win since 5/16/2023 as B & K play a happy tune on the PIANO KEYS for $40K for a final total of $51,649 cash & trip.

MY RATING: 5 (if the BR was lost, this would’ve been a 0)
MY GRADE: E- (if the BR was lost, this would’ve been an F—)

Yes, the 0 is a new rule to my rating scale.

S41 Week 34 Stats

It’s nice that we got ourselves a winning BR week, but the maingames could’ve been better.

Total for this Week: $284,764
-Maingame: $163,344
-BR Wins: $121,420

Total for the Season: $9,316,281
-Maingame: $6,512,547
-BR Wins: $2,803,734

Prize Wedge Wins: 33

MW was Flipped-Declined: 47-18
MW Flip was $10KBANKRUPT: 16-31
$10K MW was Next to LaT$650: 20-27
MW Wins: 6

EXPRESS was Played-Passed: 31-9
Successes: 13
Crashes: 18 (Wipeouts: 8)

WC Usages: 28
-Maingame: 4 (3 on $3,500, 1 on $550)
-BR: 24

5-Round Games: 20

Triple $10K+ Finishes: 7

Perfect Rounds: 65

Gooseegg Victims: 27

Toss-Up Triple Stumpers: 5

Triple Toss-Up Sweeps: 26 (4 swept every Toss-Up)

Red/Yellow/Blue Winners: 62/61/47

Biggest Margins of Victory

  1. $65,700 (Oct. 13)
  2. $42,630 (Oct. 10)
  3. $37,400 (Oct. 16)

Smallest Margins of Victory

  1. $233 (Jan. 16)
  2. $260 (Dec. 11)
  3. $406 (Apr. 25)

Players who Needed the PP to Win: 53 (33 lost BR)

$0 Prize Puzzle Wins: Week: 1, Season, 29
House Minimum Bumps: Week: 2, Season: 77

Average Maingame Winning Score this Week: $18,706 (-$3,973)
Average Maingame Winning Score this Season: $23,577 (-$147)

Median Maingame Winning Score this Week: $20,900 (+$4,300)
Median Maingame Winning Score this Season: $22,375 (-$75)

This Week’s BANKRUPT Trash: $20,039
Total BANKRUPT Trash for the Season: $796,337 + 1 trip of unknown value
Biggest Known BANKRUPT: $29,750 (Apr. 26)
Biggest Known BANKRUPT Trash in a Game: $36,250 (Apr. 26)

BANKRUPT Trash-Free Games: 20
BANKRUPT-Free Games: 5
Penalty Spin-Free Games: 4

BANKRUPT Trash by Only One Contestant: 75

Aired BANKRUPT Hits
-Near $650: Week: 3, Season: 142
-Near TD: Week: 2, Season: 158
-Via MDW: Week: 2, Season: 85

Aired LaT Hits: Week: 2, Season: 111

Aired Duds: Week: 29, Season: 984
Aired DQs: Week: 4, Season: 112

BANKRUPT Losses
WCs: Week: 2, Season: 33
MDWs: Week: 0, Season: 9
$10K MWs: Week: 0, Season: 3
Prize Wedges: Week: 1, Season: 10
Cash: Week: $12,200, Season: $692,500

Unclaimed
MDWs: Week: 0, Season: 15
$10K MWs: Week: 1, Season: 6
Prize Wedges: Week: 0, Season: 23
Cash: Week: $86,900, Season: $2,298,150

Forfeited WCs: Week: 0, Season: 23
Forfeited MDWs: Week: 1, Season: 7

Top Winning Totals

Contestant (Overall)

  1. $136,386 (Feb. 9)
  2. $126,714 (Nov. 17)
  3. $121,917 (Mar. 20)
  4. $119,500 (Jan. 2, Mar. 27)
  5. $97,400 (Mar. 21)

Contestant (Maingame)

  1. $71,700 (Oct. 13)
  2. $48,480 (Oct. 10)
  3. $46,690 (Mar. 7)
  4. $46,250 (Feb. 8)
  5. $40,794 (Sept. 19)

Episode (Overall)

  1. $151,414 (Nov. 17)
  2. $137,717 (Mar. 20)
  3. $133,398 (Mar. 27)
  4. $131,100 (Jan. 2)
  5. $116,389 (Mar. 21)

Episode (Maingame)

  1. $79,700 (Oct. 13)
  2. $63,950 (Feb. 8)
  3. $63,036 (Nov. 3)
  4. $62,830 (Dec. 25)
  5. $62,799 (Sept. 27)

Bottom Winning Totals

Contestant (Overall)

  1. $10,250 (Dec. 1)
  2. $11,550 (Jan. 29)
  3. $11,900 (Jan. 16)
  4. $12,470 (Apr. 2)
  5. $12,949 (Nov. 24)

Contestant (Maingame)

  1. $10,250 (Dec. 1)
  2. $11,550 (Jan. 29)
  3. $11,900 (Jan. 16)
  4. $12,298 (Oct. 18)
  5. $12,470 (Apr. 2)

Episode (Overall)

  1. $22,620 (Apr. 2)
  2. $24,517 (Dec. 8)
  3. $25,567 (Jan. 16)
  4. $26,290 (Sept. 12)
  5. $26,410 (Nov. 21)

Episode (Maingame)

  1. $21,470 (Oct. 27)
  2. $22,620 (Apr. 2)
  3. $22,800 (Apr. 19)
  4. $23,550 (Nov. 22)
  5. $24,517 (Dec. 8)

Season-High Week: Home for the Holidays ($395,364)
Season-Low Week: European Vacation ($179,526)


MAINGAME PUZZLE STATS

CATEGORYTU1TU2R1R2R3TTUR4+
AROUND THE HOUSE101021399
BEFORE & AFTER1647
CHARACTER(S)11114
CROSSWORD625
EVENT(S)62137855
FAMILY1
FOOD & DRINK81194272212
FUN & GAMES1310831076
IN THE KITCHEN252141
LANDMARK31131
LIVING THING(S)4101648
MOVIE QUOTE1211
MOVIE TITLE1111
OCCUPATION 1121336
ON THE MAP18192168
PERSON/PEOPLE1016192415
PHRASE181318826740
PLACE(S)231311831114
PROPER NAME28111
QUOTATION 1
RHYME TIME365138
SAME LETTER34
SAME NAME429
SHOW BIZ2722713
SONG ARTIST1
SONG LYRICS11341
THING(S)2215123194317
TITLE4131
TV TITLE1
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?1341317312022
WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?562637

FINAL SPIN STATS

Occurrence
Start of Round 4: 118
Middle of Round 4: 32
Start of Round 5+: 15
Middle of Round 5+: 5

Spun by Red/Yellow/Blue: 51/53/66

Final Spin Amounts
$1,500: 48
$1,550: 9
$1,600: 23
$1,650: 22
$1,700: 24
$1,800: 9
$1,850: 5
$1,900: 18
$6K: 12

Final Spins Edited Out: 12


BONUS ROUND STATS

BR Win Record: 60-110 (.353)

PBRWs: 0
4-1 Weeks: 1
3-2 Weeks: 8
2-3 Weeks: 11
1-4 Weeks: 10
SKUNKINGS: 4 (TOTAL TAPING DAY WASHOUTS: 2)

MDBRs: 9

Letter Combo Wipeouts: 8 (TOTAL TRAINWRECKS: 1)

Perfect Letter Combos: 4

BR Categories
Top/Middle/Bottom Chosen: 56/43/71

AROUND THE HOUSE: 1/1; 1-0
EVENT(S): 7/18; 3-4
FOOD & DRINK: 14/17; 6-8
FUN & GAMES: 2/3; 1-1
IN THE KITCHEN: 1/2; 0-1
LIVING THING(S): 5/11; 1-4
ON THE MAP:
PERSON/PEOPLE: 9/42; 3-6
PHRASE: 70/157; 27-43
PLACE(S): 14/39; 5-9
THING(S): 10/170; 0-10
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?: 34/47; 12-22
WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?: 3/3; 1-2

Dreaded Category Trio Encounters: Week: 1, Season: 42
THING-Free Category Choices:

BR Prizes
CAR: 18/46 (1 car sweep)
$40K: 31/90 (5 minimum sweeps)
$50K: 5/17
$75K: 2/5
$100K (or $1M): 4/12

Car Wins

  • 1 Lincoln Corsair Standard
  • 2 Nissan LEAF SV Pluses
  • 2 Nissan Pathfinder SLs
  • 3 MINI Cooper SEs
  • 1 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend
  • 1 BMW X1 xDrive28i
  • 2 Ford Mustang MACH-E Selects
  • 2 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Premium Convertibles
  • 1 Volkswagen Atlas 3.6L V6 SE
  • 1 maZDa CX-50 2.5 S Select
  • 1 Chevrolet Equinox RS
  • 1 Ford Edge SEL

MDBR Result
Landed on $1M:
1 Space Away:
2-3 Spaces Away: 2
4-5 Spaces Away: 1
6 Spaces Away: 2
7-8 Spaces Away: 1
9-11 Spaces Away: 3
12 Spaces Away:

BR Wins Despite Losing WC to BANKRUPT: 5
BR Losses Despite Having WC: 12
Non-$100K Wins After Losing MDW to BANKRUPT: 1

Toughest BR Puzzle this Week: EMBARKING ON A NEW CHAPTER (due to its long length, but nice job by Greg for solving it)
Easiest BR Puzzle this Week: OUT OF SIGHT (this would’ve been easily solvable had Charlene picked O as her vowel)


Player of the Week: Greg Moss


WEEKLY RATING: 6 (D+)


Next week, we go on some Grand Getaways (@nickskapower will be doing all of that week). Hopefully we do better over last season’s disappointment.

WoF Recap: May 3, 2024

EPISODE #7985: 🏨🩴MARGARITAVILLE RESORTS WEEK🩴🏨

The short intro’s used for the final time this week.

$1K Tossup: ON THE MAP

K _ _ / W _ _ T
_ L _ R _ _ _

Jeri or one of these last contestants this week might win a Margaritaville trip near KEY WEST, FLORIDA

Jeri Holst: grandma married to Greg with two sons with wives and two grandsons (they’re adventurous and have jumped out of an airplane at 15,000 ft., zip-lined, and went water rafting) from Escondido, CA

Tracy McBride: first auditioned 28 years ago (she started trying at the age of 20) with a daughter named Marlina from Greenville, SC

Joe Kelly: man whose better half is named Sarah with three kids and recently picked up a couple of bonus kids; he’s joined the golf league which he’s been trying to do for years and took a backpacking trip with his dad last year and had time to try out for this show) from Warren, MI

$2K Tossup: AROUND THE HOUSE

D _ _ _ G _ _ R
P _ R _ _ M E

Joe gets a bottle of DESIGNER PERFUME.

FEATURED MARGARITAVILLE TRIP: Fort Myers Beach, FL worth $8,200

Round 1: WAYD?

Joe: G ($500), I, N ($650), A, O
Jeri: R ($650), two E’s, U (NMV), M ($600)
Tracy: T ($900), H ($900), two L’s ($700), BANKRUPTS NEAR $650 (-$3,200)
Joe: Two Y’s (MDW)

_ L A Y I N G / _ Y
T H E / R U L E _

He’s PLAYING BY THE RULES for the house minimum.


Eggland’s Best Mystery Round: BEFORE & AFTER

JeriS ($500)
TracyLaT
Joe: *gruffly* Arr. ($550; Pat: The worst pirate impression I’ve ever heard. Image result for monkey facepalm), M (MW next to LaT)
Jeri: Two N’s (other MW$$$), T ($500), E, A
Tracy: C (TD), two I’s, F ($500), two U’s (NMV)

F R U I T
_ U N C _
_ I N E

She blows the solve by a letter w/ FRUIT PUNCH WINEthis is a G-Rated show, ma’am! 😡 Joe then gets FRUIT PUNCH LINE.

Joe: $4K MDW/Jeri: $1K/Tracy: ZIP

You know we’re in big trouble when we have scores like that going into the next round… -___-


PP/Express Round: PHRASE

Tracy: Two M’s ($600), two I’s, four T’s ($650), E

I ‘ M / T _ T _ _ _ _
_ M I T T E _

I’M TOTALLY SMITTEN– she solves for $3,300 and a trip to NASSAU worth $8,048 — QUICK PR!

Joe: $4K MDW/Jeri: $1K/Tracy: $11,348 cash & Bahamas


Triple Tossup: THING

1.

_ A _ _ I N G
P _ R M I T

All of these have “parking” in them; Tracy has her PARKING PERMIT.

2.

_ _ _ _ _ _ G
M _ T _ _

Joe puts a coin in a PARKING METER.

3 (I correctly predicted this one).

_ _ _ _ _ _ G
_ I _ _ _ _

Jeri hands in a PARKING TICKET.

Speed-Up: LIVING THING

Final Spin Amount: $1,650

Jeri: Two T’s
Tracy: N
Joe: Two R’s
Jeri: B

R _ _ N B _ _
T R _ _ T

She catches a RAINBOW TROUT for $4,950.

PENALTY BOXBANKRUPTSLaTsDUDSMISSOLVES
ROUND 1TracyO (Joe), M (Jeri)
MYSTERY ROUNDTracyS (Jeri), M (Joe), A (Jeri)Tracy

FINAL SCORES
Joe
: $6K MDW/Jeri: $7,950/Tracy: $13,348 cash & Bahamas

GT: an underwhelming $27,298
BANKRUPT TRASH: $3,200

Tracy’s category list is pretty much the same from last night…

  • PHRASE
  • PLACE
  • THINGS

Fan Friday Word of the DayMARGARITA (enter for your chance to win a Frozen Concoction maker and Margaritaville gift card)


$100K Bonus Round

Tracy brought her daughter Marlena and brother Armond Pryor.

SPIN: I of WIN

Easy one, IMHO…

_ _ R / _ _ _ T
_ T ‘ S / _ _ R T _

FKPI is an interesting combo, but it will only add this column of letters…

F _ R / _ _ _ T
I T ‘ S / _ _ R T _

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH… she’s won herself a Ford Edge SEL worth $41,420 for a final total of $54,768 cash & prizes.

MY RATING: 5.5
MY GRADE: E