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 WC… BAD 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 PACE, KEEP 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 PEOPLES, PEBBLES, 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…

T

P

U

D

D

I

N

G

_

I

B

_

_

_

N

I

E

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 TAKING, TONING, 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 BLENDER, SPOONS, 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 PAYING, PATENT, 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 YARD, CRUISING 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.

♂️Jun. 8: Friday episode of Hawaii Week (Mar. 24) (and first post-S41 rerun)

The hilarious Henry Braxton had $35K cash & St. Martin going into the BR, and his big (albeit risky) EXPRESS run was the real highlight of this episode! He already made his decision of PHRASE for his BR, but he got some stingy RSTLNE help on this one…

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

HMDA added…

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

He wasn’t quite right with HAVING ONE ON MY SIDE late in the countdown. It was HAVING YOU BY MY SIDE, and he was the other contestant that week to lose the Mustang convertible.