WoF Retro Recap: October 17, 1996

EPISODE #2569: EUROPEAN HOLIDAY

Janice McCulloch: flight attendant married to Mark w/ four kids who had an identical twin sister named Joyce from Highlands Ranch, CO

Frank Bland: salesperson and motivator married 33 yrs. to Mary w/ two kids from Simi Valley, CA (and he improvised a song on the air about his date w/ Pat and Vanna in playing the game!)

Tracy Stengel: waitress at a cafe heading back to school to study journalism (she had 1.5 yrs. left) from Napoleon, MI

Janice passed away in 2004 due to cancer. HERE‘s her obituary note.

Round 1: BEFORE & AFTER

Janice: insta-dud of T

Frank: $3K R trio, two E’s and A, D for dud

Tracy: $500 G pair, $900 B, $250 K, solve…

B _ R G E R
K _ _ G
_ E A R

There’s no Shakespearean character called BURGER KING LEAR, but she solved for $1,650.

DUDS: T (Janice), D (Frank)

FEATURED PRIZE: Ruegg heat-circulating fireplace w/ retractable glass w/ retractable glass door worth $4,625

Round 2: WHO SAID IT?

Frank: insta-dud of T again

Tracy: $2,400 R trio, $700 Y, three O’s, $1,500 S trio, W for worthless on Free SPIN

Janice: $500 N pair, four E’s, $250 V, three A’s, $900 D, BANKRUPT near $500 (lost $1,150)

Frank: $500 F, one C for FIREPLACE, $550 G (NMC), solve…

F O _ R / S C O R E
A N D / S E V E N
Y E A R S / A G O

He recited “FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO” for $1,050 and the fireplace and knew that the speaker was Abraham Lincoln. And Pat pretended that he hurt his arm!

DUDS: T (Frank), W (Tracy)
SOLE BANKRUPT: Janice

Janice: ZERO/Frank: $7,675 cash & fireplace/Tracy: $1,650

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Jackpot Round: THING

Tracy: BANKRUPT near $500

Janice: $600 S, four E’s, $2,100 R trio, $1,400 T pair, two A’s, two N’s on Jackpot, one H on Jackpot, bad O buy

Frank: one G on Jackpot, LaT

Tracy: $600 P, $500 V, $900 L, $1,050 M trio, solve…

M A _ _ M _ M
S T R E N G T H
P A _ N
R E L _ E V E R

She solved MAXIMUM STRENGTH PAIN RELIEVER for $3,050.

SOLE DUD: O (Janice)
SOLE LaT: Frank
INSTA-BANKRUPT: Tracy
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $9,350

Janice: ZILCH/Frank: $7,675 cash & fireplace/Tracy: $4,700

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Round 4: PROPER NAME

Janice: $300 N, $10K H pair, two O’s, $5K J

SPEED-UP MODE

J O H N
_ _ _ H _ O _

The leftover consonants were worth $5K apiece!

Janice: R (CRITICAL DUD — and $15,050 was at stake for her)
Frank: L

J O H N
L _ _ H _ O _

Frank IDed actor JOHN LITHGOW for the $5K.

SOLE CRITICAL DUD: R (Janice)

FINAL SCORES
Janice: PARTING GIFTS/Frank: $12,675 cash & fireplace/Tracy: $4,700

GT: $17,375
BANKRUPT TRASH: $1,150

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Bonus Round

The leftover prizes were all trips — Italy, Spain & Portugal, and France. From –EEL, Frank chose the second E.

Category: PERSON

Here’s the last two letters of this answer…

_ _ _ _ E R

DMCO added just the vowel…

_ O _ _ E R

POLLSTER, GOPHER, and GOLFER were way off. It was JOGGER and he wouldn’t be going to France (and that’s what he really wanted). With that, he finished fourth on this week’s leaderboard.

MY RATING: 6