June 13-17: Collette Show You The World that aired January 17-21
@jpgenius covered Tues., Wed., and Thurs.
On Monday, this is what happened in the last of the Triple Toss-Ups…
_ I _ _ _ G
_ _ L _ E _
AnnaRose Etra just missed it w/ BIKING HELMET.
_ I K I _ G
H E L _ E T
Jennifer Williams repeated the same incorrect response and we have our first TRIPLE STUMPER in nearly two years — it was VIKING HELMET. BTW, Jennifer said she thought she heard the other lady say the correct answer before she said BIKING. And during the post-game chat, Adam Goodell from February 13, 2020 shared his Collette Vacation to Italy.
During the post-game chat on Tuesday, Anwer Rafiqi from August 6, 2020 shared his Collette Vacation to Iceland.
On Thursday, the R3 puzzle THE BEST PRETZEL EVER was a rare instance of a maingame puzzle containing only one vowel.
I should also mention that not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR contestants in a row won $10K from the Triple Toss-Up on this week.
Oh, and Amy Smith from Thursday wrote to say hi to us!
June 20-24: Home Sweet Home that aired April 18-22
Monday’s game was underwhelming, but Jody Lewis (who was sporting silver and rainbow hair) won w/ $12,200 cash & Dominican Republic and also brought both the HOME wedge and the WC to the BR. Her category choice was FOOD & DRINK, and the puzzle started as…
_ R _ _ E N
_ _ _ _ R T
FCMO and D gave her…
F R O _ E N
_ O _ _ R T
She ate up some FROZEN YOGURT and won the $45K for a final total of $57,200 cash & trip.
Tuesday’s episode was a wild rollercoaster ride. After Ron Barker suffered a PAINFUL BANKRUPT in R3 and lost $14,750 along w/ his WC, Deeda Cosme came so close to giving us another MDBR, but she lost by $232 to Liz Bauer w/ a final total of $16K. We were pleased when Liz chose IN THE KITCHEN as her category for the first time in the BR all season long. She needed help in the top word…
_ _ _ _ N _
S _ _ _ L _ E S
MDBA gave her…
B A _ _ N _
S _ _ _ L _ E S
…two key letters up top and she would bring home plenty of BAKING SUPPLIES in the Volkswagen Tiguan SE worth $31,504, giving her a final total of $47,736 cash & prizes.
Wednesday’s show was also a roller coaster, but Kevin Dodge was a hoot and he won w/ $21,183 cash & St. Thomas. He chose WAYD? for his BR, which started as…
_ E _ N _
_ L _ _ _ _ L
FGCO didn’t add much…
_ E _ N G
_ L _ _ F _ L
He proved he was BEING PLAYFUL before the time even started and also won the Tiguan SE, giving him a final total of $52,687 cash & prizes.
Vivian Van Natta played well on Thursday winning w/ $28K cash & prizes, and what’s even nice is she chose a rare category we haven’t season all season long — OCCUPATION! Here’s how this bonus puzzle began…
_ R _ _ E _ T
_ _ N _ _ E R
HPDO gave her two on top…
P R O _ E _ T
_ _ N _ _ E R
This PROJECT MANAGER paid her another $39K, giving her a final total of $67K cash & prizes!
Though we had a CRITICAL DUD of D in R2 by Jeevanjot Kaur Grewal on Friday’s show (she ended up w/ $2K after solving in the second of the Triple Toss-Ups), Jason Anderson on Fri. was another great player who won w/ $31,053 cash & Puerto Rico. He picked PHRASE for the BR, which started as…
_ / _ _ / _ N
_ _ E N / _ _ _ _
PGFO gave him a run at the bottom…
_ / _ _ / _ N
O P E N / _ O O _
I AM AN OPEN BOOK and this guy made the PERFECT BR WEEK HAPPEN!!! Though there wasn’t any home winner this year, he was the other $45K winner, giving him a final total of $76,063 cash & trip!
June 27-July 1: Week 20 originally airing January 24-January 28
The cool thing about Monday’s episode was that all three contestants were realtors. Lacy Johnson was the big winner w/ $23,600 cash & Barbados, but she really lucked out because she called not one, but TWO CRITICAL DUDS. In R1, she chose W for worthless on the WC to let $12,854 cash & trip to Massachusetts slip away. And in the next round, she bought the sole dud vowel of I to squander $3,300. In the BR, she made the grave mistake of picking THING and had this to start…
_ E R _ _ L
E _ _ _ _ N _ E
KPMA’s an interesting combo but that only adds two A’s…
_ E R _ A L
E _ _ _ A N _ E
…no guess from her. We’d like to have a VERBAL EXCHANGE w/ her on that questionable category choice, which costed her the Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line.
Ilene Knebel won a rather ugly maingame on Tuesday w/ just $12K cash & MEX, and the PP mattered since Amanda Bustos finished in a close second w/ $11,250 (said blue player took one spin too many in R3 and BANKRUPTed away $5,350). To avoid going down as the lowest-winning champ of the season, she needed to solve her AROUND THE HOUSE puzzle, which started as…
_ _ _ L T E _
_ E _ S _ R E _ _
DPMO gives her…
_ _ _ L T E D
_ E D S P R E _ D
The D’s did it for her and under the QUILTED BEDSPREAD is…
…
…
…
…$100K — SHE WAS THE FIRST GRAND PRIZE WINNER ALL SEASON LONG (contrary to reports, the confetti/streamers still come down)!!!!! She was the temporary S39 LEADER w/ $112K cash & MEX!
BTW, this lady tried at least 30+ yrs. to get on the show. And in an odd request, she wanted to sweep the confetti and Pat made her do it.
Wednesday was another underwhelming game, and Julie Breitbarth won w/ just $14K cash & MEX. Josh Young finished in last w/ $4K, and his best friend Candace would get the last laugh since in his intro, the BF wanted him to audition for a Best Friends episode, but he auditioned solo and she said “I hope you lose” — uh oh 
. Back to Julie who chose WAYD? for her BR, which stated as…
_ _ _ _ N _ / _ / N E _
_ _ _ R N _ L
WGMA is an interesting combination, but it definitely WOULDN’T do much…
_ _ _ _ N G / A / N E W
_ _ _ R N A L
She didn’t win the $39K towards BUYING A NEW JOURNAL. Not very well played. And at the end, the hosts talked about that epic NEW BABY BUGGY solve in 2014.
The Thursday episode of Week 20 that showed arguably the most competitive match of the season was pulled and was replaced w/ the rerun for the Dec. 2, 2021 episode. The replacement episode also had everybody finishing in five figures and Lisa Ivanac was the big winner w/ $26,200 thanks to her MW win in R2. Stanley Quan finished second w/$18,350 while Ericka Allen ended w/ $13,780 cash & trip to Bonaire.
Lisa chose LIVING THING for her BR, which started as…
_ _ _ L T
_ _ _ _
GHPO gives her most of the second word…
_ _ _ L T
H _ P P O
…but no help on top doomed her — she didn’t spot this ADULT HIPPO and the unlucky MINI S 4dr was lost again.
I stepped in for Andy for Friday since he was pre-empted by PGA coverage and Skipps had a snowstorm coming in his area. Rachel Brignoni was dominant and won w/ $25,864 cash & trip to St. Lucia. Allison Kirkland got the DESERVING $1K GOOSEEGG label from me, because take a look at this in R3…
_ A _ _ H I N G / S O M E
S U N S H I N E
She BOMBED OUT w/ L to let go of $7,950 cash & coffee. Where did you think that would go, ma’am? -__-
Rachel chose PHRASE for the BR, and here’s one in each word to start…
_ _ _ N _
_ _ _ _ L _
PGBI and M are her choices and she should be glad she has the WC…
_ M _ N G
_ _ M I L _
She’s clearly AMONG FAMILY and she won the Volkswagen Tiguan SEL R-Line 4MOTION worth $39,654, giving her a final total of $65,518 cash & prizes.
July 4-July 8: Great American Cities Week originally airing the week of Oct. 18
@nickskapower covered Wednesday and Thursday that week.
During this week, each episode featured contestants representing the area being saluted and the featured trips on the Wheel were to somewhere else in the U.S.
We started the week w/ a salute to San Diego and Ruth Cellery (the only lady of the panel) played well despite losing the $10K MW in R2 and won w/ $22,688 cash & St. Lucia. She chose PHRASE for her BR, which stared as…
_ _ _ _ N _ / _
_ R E _ _ T _ R _ _ _ _
COMD adds just two more…
M _ _ _ N _ / _
_ R E _ _ T _ R O _ _ _
…but she’s MAKING A BREAKTHROUGH to win $39K, giving her a final total of $61,688 cash & trip.
The next episode was a salute to Chicago, and this game wasn’t too good largely due to a messy R1 w/ two duds plus four BANKRUPTS. Jake Barrutia won w/ $15,550 cash & MEX and the PP mattered for him to win since Bonnie Romniak finished in second w/ $9,800. The category he chose was WAYD?, which started as…
_ _ _ _ S _ N _ / _ N
T _ E / _ _ S _ T _ _ E
PHGO all made it, but it’s no guarantee he’ll still solve it…
_ O _ _ S _ N G / O N
T H E / P O S _ T _ _ E
…he blanked out and lost $39K. I hope he’s FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVE that he’s still the big winner this episode.
The midweek episode spotlighted Washington D.C. and Sean Belako played well, winning w/ an all-cash total of $17,850. He chose WAYW?
L _ _ _ T _ E _ _ _ T
_ _ _ _ _ E
He’s looking good after calling CDHO…
L _ _ H T _ E _ _ H T
H O O D _ E
He collected $39K out of this LIGHTWEIGHT HOODIE and left w/ an all-cash total of $56,850.
Thursday’s salute to South Florida was worse than the Chicago Salute. In the Crossword Round (the clue was FLORIDA _______), Dan Shevlin did most of the work and also picked up the $12K+ trip to Boston…
- _
- E V E R G L A D E S
- _
- G A T O R S
…but he said a MAJOR DUD of N for negative — oh brother. -___- Two rounds later, Shannon Ford was the first player this season to decline hopping aboard the EXPRESS and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise since her I repeat would’ve caused her to go BANKRUPT.
Amanda Rintel won w/ $16,221 cash & Curacao and chose AROUND THE HOUSE for her BR, which started as…
_ _ T _ _ _ R
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
She quickly called CDMO…
O _ T D O O R
_ _ C _ _ _ _
…and little help on the bottom proved to be her undoing, because she didn’t solve OUTDOOR JACUZZI for $39K.
Anthone Jackson on Friday’s salute to the San Francisco Bay was dominant and won w/ $30,403 cash & prizes including a trip to Aruba. But there was a controversial judgment call in R3…
T O _ _ _ _ T _
A N D / L O _ A L _
Upon further review, it sounded as if said male player left out the last S in the first word, which might’ve affected the outcome. We’ll never know if the female opposition appealed this ruling. Anyway, he chose PHRASE for his BR, and this long one started as…
_ T / _ _ S / _ / _ _ _ _
_ R _ _ _ _ _ L _ T _
DHWA gave him…
_ T / H A S / A / H _ _ H
_ R _ _ A _ _ L _ T _
In regards to this final board, IT HAS A HIGH PROBABILITY of not being solved…and he got that last word wrong w/ CRATE LIGHT and GREAT LIGHT, so he lost the Volkswagen Taos SEL.
July 11-July 15: Week 3 originally airing the week of Sept. 27
The opening game that week wasn’t too good, but Tina Nabati and Peter Matsoukas w/ the latter coming out on top w/ $17,200 to her $13,850 cash & Maui. Unfortunately, he made the grave mistake of picking THING for his BR puzzle that started as…
_ _ _ R
_ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ E T
HCPO gave him…
_ O _ R
_ _ C _ / P O C _ E T
I’m surprised you blanked, sir, so this wouldn’t be going in YOUR BACK POCKET…the keys to the MINI Cooper S Hardtop 4dr.
Tuesday’s game was pre-empted on WABC in NY and WPVI in Philadelphia due to the New Jersey Gubernatorial Debate. Skipps was probably glad since that game was a rough one and a total of $18,350 was wiped out by six BANKRUPTS, but Melissa Davis was the winner/ $20,175 cash & Mexico. She chose WAYD? for her bonus puzzle and there wasn’t much in this long one to start…
L _ _ _ _ N _ / _ _ R
_ / _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _
FDHO gives her…
L O O _ _ N _ / F O R
_ / _ _ _ _ _ / F _ _
She isn’t LOOKING FOR A QUICK FIX, and she also lost the MINI Cooper 4dr.
Wednesday’s game was really lackluster, though Daniel Johnson and Lisa Gutierrez had a tight (albeit low-scoring) match (he won w/ $12,750 cash & PP trip to her $11,950 cash & GC). With the PP mattering to win, this wasn’t good news for him in the BR and his category was PHRASE. One S and three E’s to start this one…
_ _ _ E / _ _ _
S _ _ E / _ _ _ _ _ E
DWMA’s an interesting combo…
_ _ _ E / _ _ M
S _ M E / A D _ _ _ E
It’s too bad I can’t GIVE HIM SOME ADVICE on reading the whole solution, because he left out the second word in his guesses of TAKE SOME ADVICE and GIVE SOME ADVICE, so he was temporarily the lowest-winning champion of the season and he too lost the MINI Cooper 4dr.
Chris Cardinal on Thursday was dominant and won w/ $23,310 cash & St. Thomas. He became the first player this season to take the MDW to the BR, and the category he chose was WAYW?, which started as…
_ _ R _ / _ R _ _
_ L _ _ E R
CDPO added just the frontloading letter…
D _ R _ / _ R _ _
_ L _ _ E R
He only got the first word, so left behind in Mike Richards’ DARK GRAY BLAZER was…
…
…
…
…
…$39K.
Michael Barnes on Friday was another good player and won w/ $22,478 cash & trip to Costa Rica. To hold off a possible skunking, he chose AROUND THE HOUSE for his BR category. Starting setup…
_ R _ _ _ L E
_ _ S E
PHGO and D only added…
_ R _ G _ L E
_ _ S E
He broke this FRAGILE VASE, so he paid the $50K price and we had our first SKUNKING this season (and first all year long).
July 18-July 21: Bed & Breakfast originally airing the week of Feb. 7
This week was famous for the $100K THREEPEAT. That’s right, between Monday and Wednesday, for the first time ever, there were three consecutive $100K wins! February 8 also marked the first time that the prize is won twice in one week, much less on consecutive shows! This was also the first instance of the grand prize envelope being hit thrice in one week, and the first month with three $100K wins!
On Tuesday, R1 is a Crossword Round with only three words.
On Wednesday, the “Wheel of Fortune Memories” clip was Vanna talking about wearing a girdle during the closing chat of a 1997 episode and Nicole Daddio solves the second Triple Toss-Up TOP HAT with only the second T showing.
Thursday’s episode featured a cold opening w/ Pat pointing out the $100K wins. Afterwards, Donna Maine scored a PR the R3 puzzle ENJOYING THE OCEAN BREEZE entirely by herself.
July 25-July 29: Celebrating the Local Flavor of…originally airing the week of January 31
@nickskapower covered the middle three episodes that week.
This theme week was basically another Great American Cities compilation, though most of the cities spotlighted this week weren’t used in the GAC weeks themselves. And in the cold openings this week, you would be seeing greetings by news anchors of the local affiliates that broadcast the show.
On Monday, we heard from Bill Ritter and Sade Baderinwa of WABC in NYC and three females played. Jenn Sparano was the winner w/ $17K largely thanks to her $10K MW win while Mandy Gordon was the runner-up w/ $13,640 cash & Barbados.
The category Jenn chose for her BR was FOOD & DRINK. Reverse the two non-AND words in this answer and you’ll get a previously used puzzle from S36 w/ YUMMY in front…
_ L _ _ E S
_ N _ / _ _ _ S
PCDA caused me to stick a fork in her…
_ L _ _ E S
A N D / _ _ _ S
…and GAME OVER for her. She didn’t eat up these OLIVES AND FIGS and lost the Lincoln Corsair.
Tuesday’s featured city was San Diego. Meteorologist Dagmar Midcap of KNSD-TV opened up the show while Sheena Parveen took us to break in the middle of the show.
Michael Iliopolous was a great player that night winning w/ $29,300 cash & trip to Washington D.C. while Larissa Frost finished second w/ $13,080 cash & prizes.
Michael chose WAYD? and this is what he’ll be doing before flying off to Washington D.C….
_ _ _ _ _ N _ / _ _
_ L _ T _ E S
GMPA all make it…
P A _ _ _ N G / M _
_ L _ T _ E S
I’m not PACKING MY CLOTHES, but he wins $39K to bow out w/ $68,300 cash & trip! Oh, and he wrote to me and Andy via email to thank us for putting together the recaps for this week and he recorded a YouTube video about WoF boot camp on preparing for the show.
Wednesday’s city was Baltimore, and we heard from anchors Patrice Sanders and Mary Bubala of WBFF Fox45.
Dinah Kappus won an ugly affair w/ $15,200 while Nick Ling finished second w/ $10,517 cash & trip to the British Virgin Islands (he could’ve won $3K more and the game had he not blanked on the Speed-Up puzzle of TAKING THE WATER TAXI).
Dinah chose WAYD? for the BR, which started as…
_ _ _ T _ N _
_ _ R / _ _ _
PCMA and D only added the vowel…
_ A _ T _ N _
_ _ R / _ _ _
I’ve been WAITING FOR YOU, but the Lincoln Corsair was lost again.
Thursday’s city was Dallas-Forth Worth and the anchor we heard from was Doug Dunbar of KTVT CBS11.
Dr. Kchristshan Howard (interesting name) was dominant for the most part winning w/ $31,506 cash & trip. The category she chose for her BR was PHRASE. This is a section of a book…
_ _ _ _ T / T _ E
_ _ T _ _ R
DMCO added just two of the O’s…
_ _ O _ T / T _ E
_ _ T _ O R
…and she can’t get ABOUT THE AUTHOR for $39K because she didn’t select the H’s.
The last spotlighted city was Cincinnati and the anchors we heard from were Tricia Macke & Rob Williams (WXIX FOX19 Now).
Janell Bauer played a terrific game winning w/ $30,050 cash & Maui largely thanks to her epic EXPRESS run. But she unfortunately chose THING for her BR, and here’s how this puzzle started…
_ _ _ L _ _
_ _ N _ _ R E
DMHA added just two of the vowel…
_ _ _ L _ _
_ A N _ A R E
It is some kind of FANFARE, but not a FAMILY one, so there wouldn’t be a PUBLIC FANFARE on her winning $39K.
August 1-5: Week 18 originally airing January 10-14
We had three women to kick off the week, and one of them, Tracy Bucasas appeared on TPiR’s 44th season finale. She would finish second w/ $16,864 cash & trip to St. Lucia to Camille Baker who won w/ $20,148 cash & prizes including a Viking River Cruise of the Rhine River.
BTW, Camille took up pole dancing to help her get ready for taping day. The category she chose was PHRASE and this four-word answer started as…
T _ _ T / _ _ _ L _
_ E / _ _ _ _ _ N _
CMDU and H give her…
T H _ T / _ _ U L D
_ E / _ M _ _ _ N _
THAT WOULD BE AMAZING if she solves…she did it for $45K and a final total of $65,148 cash & prizes!
Heidi Buchanan from Tuesday was hilarious to watch! She won w/ $19,400 cash & trip to Ireland, and the PP mattered since Nitasha Swanson finished w/ $15,500 (she swept the Triple Toss-Ups, but stumbled in R4 saying the EVENT was LITE-BREAKING NEWS instead of LATE-BREAKING NEWS, which costed her $6,400 and the victory).
The category Heidi chose was AROUND THE HOUSE, and here’s some RSTLNE in the bottom to start…
_ _ _ _
_ _ S _ _ L _ T _
CMPO all make it…
_ _ M P
_ _ S _ C L O T _
For knowing it’s good hygiene to use a DAMP WASHCLOTH to wash your face, she’s won the $39K for a final total of $58,400 cash & trip — she’s quite the screamer, huh? And Pat & Vanna are sitting in front of the puzzleboard at the end talking about that win.
We should also note that Damon Polk appeared on TPiR on Christmas Eve 2020.
R1 on Wednesday was a bumpy ride, but Garrett Kirby won w/ $25,250 cash & prizes. He chose WAYD? for the BR, which started as…
_ R _ _ _ _ N _
_ T / _ _
He WIPED OUT of the game w/ an interesting combo of MKFO and was wrong w/ CRAMMING IT UP, CRAMMING IT BY, and TRIMMING IT BY when the M’s no good. We wouldn’t be WRAPPING IT UP w/ a $39K win, because he didn’t win that money amount.
BTW, his fellow contestant Erin Kay Van Pay appeared on Millionaire’s double-run episode on September 15, 2017.
Thursday’s game was rather underwhelming. Munawar Rangoonwala was on a roll in R1 until…
R E A _ I N G / A N
E _ E _ T R O N I _
_ O O _
…he blew the solve w/ READING AN EXCEPTIONAL BOOK, so $9,800 cash & SS would go down the drain for him. Christina Faulkner then picked up the WC w/ L…
R E A _ I N G / A N
E L E _ T R O N I _
_ O O _
…and solved READING AN ELECTRONIC BOOK for the house minimum. That woman landed on the MDW late in the next round (the crossword clue was _____ BOARD), but failed miserably thinking there would be a P in the answer of SNOWBOARD. The eventual winner was Alana Sanford-Frank who won w/ $14,850 cash & trip to Bahamas.
The category she chose was LIVING THINGS (though she really wanted PHRASE or WAYD? had they appeared on her list). These animals are a native of China…
_ L _ _ _ _ L
_ _ _ N T / _ _ N _ _ S
PCDA’s a pretty good combo (and I saw her giggling)…
P L A _ _ _ L
_ _ A N T / P A N D A S
She slowly said the right answer and these PLAYFUL GIANT PANDAS will hand her the keys to the BMW X1 sDrive28i (includes premium package) worth $40,335, giving her a final total of $55,185 cash & prizes.
Friday’s game was worse no thanks to Malcolm Dixon’s epic fails. In R1, he made the sole critical purchase of I on the Crossword puzzle of ______ MATE to squander $1,450 and the MDW. And in the next round, he shockingly risked the Nashville trip he acquired to get the $10K MW before losing it all to the BANKRUPT near $650. The total BANKRUPT trash for this episode was a whopping $22,950 cash & trip. Jeané Blunt was the eventual winner w/ $19K cash & trip to Aruba.
Said lady also chose AtH like Heidi and here’s her starting board…
_ _ L _ E _
N _ _ _ _ N S
CMGA and D gave her…
_ _ L D E D
N A _ _ _ N S
Garrett from Wednesday unfortunately did cost us a PBRW, but the WC pick did it for her and inside these FOLDED NAPKINS are the keys to that BMW X1, so she left w/ $59,335 cash & prizes.
August 8-12: WHEEL Around the World week originally airing April 4-8
The opening game of the week was sloppy all around and it didn’t help that R2 was very rocky. Also, in the second of the Triple Toss-Ups…
_ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ C
_ _ _
Linda Thomason and Leanna Colitti flub w/ THE PACIFIC SEA and THE ARCTIC SEA, respectively — those are oceans, ladies. -__- With the L put up next in the second word, Alsie Cluff nailed THE BALTIC SEA. He went on to win w/ $19,100, but he made the grave mistake of picking THING for his BR. Just two of the vowel to start…
_ / _ _ _ _ E _
_ _ E _ _
He quickly went for PHGO, but that just adds two…
_ / _ O _ _ E _
_ H E _ _
GAME OVER for him. He wasn’t gonna receive A VOIDED CHECK since he didn’t land on money, but he did lose the maZDa CX-5 2.5S Premium Plus.
Tuesday’s match was a tight one between Sean Black and Barbara Gallagher, although we had some mishaps. The latter wasn’t very careful about her PANAMA pronunciation in R1 (and she was DQed for adding “and” in the names of three P countries), allowing Sean to capitalize w/ POLAND, PANAMA, PORTUGAL for $15,700 cash & Ireland. And in the Speed-Up, we had the GROWING MY HAIR LONG fiasco (Lisa Worosz originally said this answer and Sean foolishly repeated that) when it was actually GETTING MY HAIR DONE. Barbara the former sitcom writer won w/ $26,580 cash & Antigua and chose PHRASE for her BR. Some help in the bottom to start…
_ _ _ / _ _
T _ E / _ _ N _ _
Most of PMBO are there…
P _ _ _ / O _
T _ E / B _ N _ _
…but she’s stuck w/ BANJO on the last word (she had PLUCK ON THE BANJO and PICK ON THE BANJO), so she didn’t prove to be the the PICK OF THE BUNCH (she admitted she had PICK ON THE BUNCH) and she lost $39K.
Kevin Hanson on Wednesday was a great player and funny one too since he was a one time stand-up comedian. After winning the maingame w/ $21,800 cash & prizes, he chose FOOD & DRINK for his BR. Opening layout…
_ _ _ _ N _ / _ _ T
_ _ _ E R
DGHO all made it though the G’s a waste…
_ _ _ _ N G / H O T
_ _ D E R
He sipped some PIPING HOT CIDER for the $39K and a final total of $60,800 cash & prizes.
After Kristine Thompson’s R1 PR on Thursday, we lost some steam. Late in the crossword round (the clue was SHOE _____), she got LEATHER, LACE, STORE, but blanked on the other down word of HORN. If you listen very closely, she said the F-word on the air just before getting buzzed out on her solve attempt — this is a G-Rated show, ma’am! 
She still won the game w/ $23,050 cash & trip to Mexico. The category she chose for the BR was WAYW? and there’s just two in the bottom to start…
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ R _ _ _ _ N
GHMO only added…
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ R _ _ G _ N
She did get the second word late, but the first word is definitely not FLEECE, so she wouldn’t be buying a PUFFY CARDIGAN w/ the extra $39K.
Friday’s game on Andy’s 35the birthday was a rather underwhelming one for the most part, but Calvin Lee won w/ $13,569 cash & Barbados. He got a pretty good head start on this FUN & GAMES puzzle, which started as…
T _ E / _ _ N _ L
_ _ _ _ E R
He struck out w/ DMCO. After initially saying GANAL, he said FINAL BEATER and just literally beats THE FINAL BUZZER (I don’t think this is the right category for the puzzle) to win the maZDa CX-5 2.5S Premium Plus worth $36,170, giving him a final total of $49,739 cash & prizes. But this win was a controversial one (and it went viral), because if you listen closely, he left out THE in his response.
August 15-19: College Week originally airing March 21-25
All episodes except for Friday (@Skipps Largo covered that day) had a cold opening.
Patrick Mehler of Cornell was dominant in the opening game of the week winning $51,740 cash & trip to Barbados. The category he chose was LIVING THING, which started as…
_ E L L _ _
_ _ _ S _ E S
CPGA and H won’t do much good…
_ E L L _ _
_ A _ S _ E S
He didn’t even come close to plucking some YELLOW DAISIES for $39K (he over complicated it).
Joya-Dean Hegamin of the Univ. of Oklahoma was another dominant player on Tuesday winning $42,315 cash & trips though the S-U was shaky. She chose WAYD? for her BR puzzle, which started as…
_ _ _ E N _ N _
T _ E / _ _ _
MDHI gives her besides the obvious H…
_ I D E N I N _
T H E / _ _ _
She wouldn’t be WIDENING THE GAP in her total winnings, because she gets the last word wrong w/ DAY and loses the $50K (third such loss this season).
Maggie made an appearance on stage at the end.
We’ve learned that Amaya Broyls of CSU San Marcos on Wednesday was the second generation Wheel player, because her parents appeared on Sandals Resorts Romance Week on Feb. 12, 2013 and won $8,750. But she didn’t fare any better, taking home just the $1K she won on the first Toss-Up. Instead, it was a match between Lahari Vavilala (Univ. of Michigan) and Caleb Reyes (Occidental College), with the latter winning w/ $24,698 cash & Scotland to Lahari’s $13,850 cash & NYC. Caleb also chose WAYD? for his BR, and this is what he’ll literally be doing if he wins or not…
_ _ _ N _
_ _ _ E
DPCA is no good, but there’s an H courtesy of the WC…
_ _ _ N _
H _ _ E
DOING HELP is off the mark, so he’ll be GOING HOME without the $39K.
Ashtyn Mueller of San Diego State was a good puzzle solver in an otherwise average maingame w/ $18,950 cash & MEX while Abby Simcox of the Univ. of Washington came in second w/ $12,400. Ryan Scott of LSU unfortunately was a $1K FLUNK-OUT victim. Ashtyn chose PHRASE on this puzzle that started as…
_ _ _ E / _ E
_ _ _ R / _ _ _ N _ _ N
GMCI gives her…
G I _ E / M E
_ _ _ R / _ _ I N I _ N
GIVE ME YOUR OPINION on this episode after I tell you that she’s snapped the 8-BR losing streak and wins the MINI Cooper S Countryman AWD worth $36,195, giving her a final total of $55,145 cash & prizes.
Avey Songco of UC-Berkeley played a terrific Friday game collecting $39,800 cash & St. Croix largely thanks to her BIG R3 PR. She was the third and final WAYD? picker, and her puzzle started as…
_ _ _ _ R _ N _
_ T / _ _ T
This was a good time to pick the obvious I and G, and she did just that w/ GPHI…
_ I G _ R I N G
I T / _ _ T
She was literally FIGURING IT OUT, and she also won the MINI Cooper S Countryman AWD and left w/ $75,995 cash & prizes.
August 22-26: Great Outdoors week originally airing May 16-20, 2022
The opening game was lackluster for the most part and take a look at what happened late in R2…
W H E R E / T H E
D E E R / A N D / T H E
A N T E L O P E / P L A _
_ H E _ _ E R _
Female Pat Sexson said a FATAL DUD of G to leave $11,650 sitting there — oh brother -___- Darroll Jenkins then said two C’s for $1,400…
W H E R E / T H E
D E E R / A N D / T H E
A N T E L O P E / P L A _
C H E C _ E R _
…and solved “WHERE THE DEER AND ANTELOPE PLAY CHECKERS”. After Darroll later spun $6K in the Speed-Up, Pat completed an $18K BASKETBALL TRICK SHOT to win the game w/ $28,400 cash & Kauai.
The category this Pat chose for her BR was LIVING THING and it started as…
L E _ _ _
_ _ N E
After a long thought between her second and third picks, she WIPED OUT of the game w/ DMGO and fell off the LEAFY VINE, costing her the keys to the Edge.
There were critical duds in R2 and R3 in Tuesday’s game, but Erika Tate was a good player and won w/ $21,528 cash & prizes. Unfortunately, she chose THING for her BR and this object is associated w/ a wedding…
_ / L _ _ E L _
_ _ _ _ _ E T
DCMA caused me to stick a fork in her…
A / L _ _ E L _
_ _ _ _ _ E T
She flubbed w/ A LIKELY CANDIDATE, A LIKELY WALLET, and A LOVELY WALLET, so she wouldn’t get A LOVELY BOUQUET w/ $39K inside.
In Wednesday’s game, Deidra Reid was leading after the first half w/ the MDW in her possession, but Rodman Martin really heated up beginning in R3 and went on to win w/ $28,050 cash & Cozumel. He chose PLACE for his BR, and the plural form of this answer was used early on in S36 on Sept. 18, 2018 and wasn’t solved for the minimum…
_ _ _ _
_ L _ _
Most of GCBA are there…
_ A _ _
C L _ B
What kind of CLUB is it? Not CASH, BALL, FALL, or CALL. He wouldn’t be visiting a JAZZ CLUB w/ $39K.
Thursday’s game wasn’t pleasant to watch. Late in R1…
S _ I M M I N G
S U _ _ I N G
S A I L I N G
Amy Higgins made a CRITICAL REPEAT of the N to let over $10,550 cash & prizes and the MDW go to waste — oh brother. -___- Rajashree Pandit completed the board…
S W I M M I N G
S U R F I N G
S A I L I N G
…and read the answer for $1,750. And Amy actually had the word SUNNING in her mind, which is why she repeated the N. After Amy repeated a letter again in R3, she somehow shook off her mistakes and won w/ $15,450 cash & trip to Puerto Rico. Her chosen BR category was EVENT, and she needed some help in the second word…
_ / _ _ _ _ L _
_ _ S _ T
VDMA should do it, though C is no good…
A / _ A M _ L _
V _ S _ T
After A FAMILY VISIT, she won the $39K for a final total of $54,450 cash & trip. BTW, this woman’s a fan of “The Wizard of Oz” (she’s wearing ruby slippers), and some of the scenes were taped in the very studio where WHEEL is filmed.
All three players on Friday’s game ended up w/ five figures, but Kevan Kolander won the most w/ $22,440 cash & Barbados. He even agreed with Pat’s remark about him as an “incredibly exhausting” player after R3. Like Erika from Tuesday, he too chose THING(s) and he got very stingy RSTLNE help…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ S
All of his consonants from PYHO are there…
H _ _ H _ _ Y
_ _ P S
He had HUGH-… NAPS at first, changes the second word to MAPS…and gets the whole thing w/ one second to spare, so he’ll be browsing the HIGHWAY MAPS in the Ford Edge SEL worth $43,065, giving him a final total of $65,505 cash & prizes!
August 29-September 2: Week 35 originally airing May 9-13, 2022
@nickskapower covered Monday and Tuesday, @Adam Alam covered the next two, and @SkippsLargo rounded out Friday
In the opening game this week, there were some costly BANKRUPTS plus numerous duds in S-U (the puzzle was “HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!”, which means they switched this episode originally intended for Friday), but Mike Halpern was the winner w/ $22,903 cash & Aruba while Patience Moore finished second w/ $13,754 cash & Massachusetts.
He chose WAYD? for his BR that started as…
_ _ R T _ N _
_ _ _ S
DCPO only added the frontloading letter…
P _ R T _ N _
_ _ _ S
Would the show be PARTING WAYS w/ another $100K check?…
…
…
…
…YES THEY WOULD! @NICKSKAPOWER FINALLY COVERED AN EPISODE W/ A $100K WIN (Jim: “Mike, you’re not going to Aruba empty-handed. Here’s…”)! HE’S THE SIXTH SUCH WINNER THIS SEASON, GIVING HIM A FINAL TOTAL OF $122,903!!!
There were an unlucky 7 BANKRUPTs on Tuesday’s show, but Indonesian-born Davin Tjen won w/ $16,550 cash & Costa Rica. Skipps noted that he’s a senior segment producer of a show called “Mythical” and the flagship show “Good Mythical Morning” on YouTube. Unfortunately, he chose THING for his BR and there’s two L’s to start…
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ L
_ _ L _ _ _
CDMA gives him…
_ _ _ _ C _ A L
_ _ L _ C _
…it was just too much to follow up from Mike’s big win — Davin doesn’t fully follow an OFFICIAL POLICY (he had MAGICAL PALACE) for $39K. He admitted on Twitter that picking the category was a mistake along with solving the “PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT” in the maingame for just $450.
Wednesday’s game wasn’t any better, but we did get the 6th MDBR of the season courtesy of Joshua Katzki, who won with $13,650 cash & Hawaii. After spinning the S in AMERICA’S, the category he chose was PHRASE…
Here’s a few to begin…
_ _ _ T E
_ _ _ _ T _ _ _ S
Unfortunately, CPGO is very limited…
_ _ _ T E
_ _ _ _ T _ O _ S
After some mumbling, his final answer is…GREAT VACATIONS (or CUTE VACATIONS). He really isn’t QUITE AMBITIOUS to win…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…that $39K.
MILLION LOCATION: N in WIN
Thursday’s game was a tight one between the women, and Bre Brown made a last-second comeback in the S-U Round to solve INCREDIBLE COINCIDENCE for $11,200 and the game at $20,750 to Jane Lee’s $14,464 cash & trip to St. Lucia. Bre chose WAYD? from the dreaded trio and here’s three for Bre…
_ _ _ L _ _ N _
_ / _ _ _ E _ _
MCBA adds besides the obvious…
B _ _ L _ _ N _
A / _ A _ E B _
Bre’s not even close saying BOWLING and BALLING for the top word; she won’t be BUILDING A GAZEBO with the $39K.
Kelly Dutton won an ugly Friday affair with $15,550, and now we saw why this episode and Monday’s were switched. After quickly choosing FOOD & DRINK, here’s the opening layout of this fairly long one…
_ _ _ E / _ _ _ _ N _
_ N / T _ E / _ _ E N
MDHO doesn’t do anything but the obvious…
_ _ _ E / _ _ _ _ N _
_ N / T H E / O _ E N
She never got “HOME” out of her head w/ HOME COOKING IN THE OVEN and HOME BAKING IN THE OVEN, so the keys to the MINI Cooper S Hardtop 2dr would burn down along w/ the CAKE BAKING IN THE OVEN.
September 5-September 9: America’s Game V originally airing June 6-10, 2022
The opening game on the set of Week 33 was lackluster for the most part, but Nick Purcell won w/ $15,550 cash & trip to St. Maarten. After picking FUN & GAMES for his bonus round, he had to identify this extremely difficult feat for many sports teams…
_ _ _ N _
_ N _ E _ E _ T E _
Most of GDCO are up there…
G _ _ N G
_ N D E _ E _ T E D
He scared us w/ GOING UNDETECTED and GOING UNDEPICTED…but he got GOING UNDEFEATED at the last second for the Escape SE Hybrid worth $33,085, giving him a final total of $48,635 cash & prizes.
Nakesha Gaines played well on the Great Outdoors set winning with $26,150 cash & Fiji. Female Dibs Baer finished second w/ $15,600, but it could’ve been better had she not painfully BANKRUPTed away $10,150 cash & trip to Virginia in R2.
Nakesha chose PLACE and here’s the opening layout…
_ E _ _ T _ _ _ L
_ E _ _ _ _
PDGO added two on the bottom…
_ E _ _ T _ _ _ L
_ E _ D O _
She flubs the bottom w/ BEAUTIFUL NEW DOOR, so the keys to the Ford Edge SEL were left behind in a BEAUTIFUL MEADOW.
Despite a near Triple Stumper in the second Toss-Up on Wednesday’s game, Miriam Olajide on the set of College Week really kept us on the edge of her seat in all of R1 and ended up winning w/ $22,450. Aaron Tan finished second w/ $11,900 cash & Curacao.
Miriam chose LIVING THINGS for her BR that started as…
S _ _ _ T
_ _ _ E S
FHGI gives her a shot (it wouldn’t be Andy’s thought of SWIFT DOVES)…
S _ I F T
F _ _ E S
…but she’s stuck with insects on her mind (she had FLIES, FLEAS, and FLUES for the bottom), so the SWIFT FOXES snatch the $39K she could have won.
Victoria Ashford proved to be a good puzzle solver in Thursday’s game especially after solving the crossword clue of “New” States pretty quickly and won w/ $18,225 cash & HI. Cody MacArthur finished second w/ $10,950.
Victoria’s BR was PHRASE and this one started as…
_ T / _ _ _ _ L E S
T _ E / _ _ N _
CMDO gives her…
_ T / _ O _ _ L E S
T _ E / M _ N D
IT BOGGLES THE MIND how some people waste their letters in obvious spots, but she got the job done for $39K and a final total of $57,225 cash & HI.
It was a tight match between Jasmin Stewart and Rob Evors on the Season 39 Finale, but Rob really pulled away thanks to his Triple Toss-Up sweep of PEOPLE and won w/ $34,999 cash & Switzerland. Jasmin finished second w/ $16,500 cash & NYC (she would visit her sister in that city for the first time in three years) while poor Kayla Monick ended up the last $1K GOOSEEGG victim of the season.
Rob chose LIVING THINGS for the last BR this season and these are Australian dogs…
_ _ _ _ / _ _
_ _ N _ _ E S
I like his chances after picking GHPO and D…
P _ _ _ / O _
D _ N G O E S
He tames this PACK OF DINGOES and wins that white MINI S Hardtop worth $36,525, giving him a final total of $71,524 cash & prizes! Nice way to end the season!
BTW, Pat confirms in the end chat that Rob wanted to invite Vanna in his new car — LOL!
And that marked the end of the Season 39 summer reruns.
WHEEL of FORTUNE with Andy Nguyen 