EPISODE #5852: SEASON PREMIERE (LAS VEGAS)
$1K Tossup: PHRASE
_ _ _ _ / _ _ E
D I C E
Luis correctly says “ROLL THE DICE”. For the first time this season, there are two men on the panel…
Luis Hernandez: 3rd year pharmacy school student at Nova Southeastern Univ. and former five-yr. salsa dancing instructor married to Natalie from Miami
Melissa Higgs: cardiac surgery nurse married to Michael from Edgewater, MD
Paul Atkinson: firefighter and beer brewer married to Lindsay w/ a 10-month-old son named Henry from Hillsboro, OR
$2K Tossup: TITLE
_ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ G _ S
Melissa quickly solves “ROCK OF AGES”.
FEATURED TRIP: Collette Vacations tour of Ireland worth $7,898
Tues./Thurs. Gift Tag: myPerfectGift.com
Round 1: THING (but also Same Letter; did they retire that category?)
Three $650 R’s get Melissa started, followed by two E’s and I’s, but then S for strikeout while on the WC. Second, Paul takes a $2,500 T, the rest of the vowels (two O’s, A and U), two $300 N’s and three C’s for the MDW before we look at…
C O R N E R
C U R I O
C A _ I N E T
He botches the pronunciation of the first two words w/ CORNO CURRO CABINET; that will cost him $2,350 and his million-dollar chances as Luis correctly solves CORNER CURIO CABINET for the house minimum.
SOLE DUD: S (Melissa)
SOLE DQ: Paul’s blown solve
Mystery Round: BEFORE & AFTER
Paul starts his road to redemption w/ two $500 R’s for the 1/2 CAR near $450. In fact, the rest of his spins land on that same amount –two T’s, four E’s, two A’s, S, O, H, and the last vowel of U.
O U T E R
S _ A _ E
H E A T E R
He gets out an OUTER SPACE HEATER for $2K, so we have a 3-way tie going into the next round — PR.
PP/Express Round: FUN & GAMES
Luis immediately says three $1K R’s while on the EXPRESS wedge…and he’ll be the first player ever to hop aboard the Express train! Good luck, sir…
Next Letters: O, three E’s, two A’s, C, L, F, S, two I’s (NMV), two N’s, D, G and V
D I V I N G / N E A R
C O R A L / R E E F S
He’ll be DIVING NEAR CORAL REEFS because he’s won $11K and a hotwire.com trip package (SONY Handycam PJ380 included) to the St. James’s Club in ANTIGUA for a total of $18,739 in cash and prizes in that round alone — PR #2.
(NOTES: In Express Mode, we see a rectangular contestant window similar to what see in the BR and the show’s two-row logo is replaced by the Express logo. Also, the contestant’s current round winnings is the same as the now retired Jackpot one)
Luis: $20,739 cash and prizes/Other players: $2K each
$3K Tossup: PLACE
_ H _ / _ _ P O S I _ G
T _ _ M
Luis isn’t on THE OPPOSING TEAM, but he solves this one to go over the $23K mark.
Round 4: EVENT
This round belongs to Luis — two $300 N’s, E, two A’s, two $500 R’s, two I’s, two $500 D’s, and the last vowel of three O’s.
R O _ A N _ I _
_ O N D O _ A / R I D E
He can take a ROMANTIC GONDOLA RIDE at The Ventian w/ another $1,600 — PR #3.
Luis: $25,339 cash and prizes/Other players: $2K each
Speed-Up: AROUND THE HOUSE
The consonants are worth $1,650 a pop.
Melissa: S
Paul: R (DUD)
Luis: N (DUD)
Melissa: T (INTACT NULL CYCLE)
Paul: M
Luis: 3 L’s
_ L _ _ _ _
_ _ L L _ _ S
Luis pockets another $4,950 to put under his FLUFFY PILLOWS!
DUDS: R (Paul), N (Luis), T (Melissa) and M (Paul)
FINAL SCORES
Luis: $30,289 cash and prizes/Other players: $2K each
TOTAL MAINGAME WINNINGS: $34,289
NO PENALTY SPINS AGAIN!
$100K Bonus Round
Natalie the wife is here and the I in AMERICA’S is where Luis stops on.
Category: PERSON
This 16-letter answer starts out as…
_ R E _ _ _ _ S
_ _ _ _ _ _ N T
He’s looking good after calling CDPA…
P R E _ _ _ _ S
_ C C _ P A N T
I wonder who’s the PREVIOUS OCCUPANT of that Camaro 2LT Coupe worth $35,845? Anyway, Luis has won that (the $5K bonus was edited out due to the AutoNation plug) and departs w/ $71,134 cash and prizes!
(FINAL NOTE: The RSTLNE slot machine graphic for the Vegas shows this season stays on-screen unlike in S28.)
$5K+ SPIN ID: AZ0530129
MY EP. RATING: 8
WHEEL of FORTUNE with Andy Nguyen 