BEST
1. My birthday/anniversary week was an AMAZING one. Tony Harrison on Monday April 6 made the most of his second appearance (he initially appeared in S35 during Great Outdoors) winning $48,831 cash & trip in the maingame plus $45K more in the BR (he solved the PLACE puzzle of GRAND LOBBY despite no help from his WC pick of F) for a final two-day total of $119,545 cash & prizes!
Two days later, Dave Andrade gave me an epic birthday episode winning $71,890 cash & Barbados plus a BMW X2 xDrive28i worth $41,165 in the BR (he RSTLNE’d the PHRASE puzzle IN A ROUNDABOUT WAY), giving him $113,055 cash & prizes!!!
On April 10, Jason Manocchio made a great comeback thanks to a MAJOR PR in R3 and ended up w/ $29,248 cash & trip. He went on to win the Mercedes GLB 250 4MATIC worth $41,565 after eating up a THICK FLUFFY PANCAKE.
2. Michael Desisto dominated the maingame on April 24 winning $32,050 cash & Antigua and winning $50K in the BR (his EVENT puzzle was A GLORIOUS OCCASION) for a final total of $82,050 cash & prizes.
3. After a 3-month hiatus since May 1, Ash Colwell won $72,511 cash & prizes on August 3 (including the Mercedes-Benz GLB250 in the BR after solving WOLVES AND JACKALS). It’s sad that he’s ending his 3-yrs. as recapper over on BaV, but I’m really glad he’s following me at my site.
4. Emily Leach on Oct. 17, 2019 had shades of Robert Santoli, didn’t she? She dominated the maingame for $35,013 cash & prizes and went on to win $37K in the BR (her puzzle was VERY DEBATABLE under PHRASE).
5. The S37 Premiere episode was a great one when Rachel Sirbaugh dominated the maingame winning $29,650 and trips (Costa Rica & Irleand) and won the Ford Edge Titanium worth $42,330, giving her $71,980 cash & prizes! That episode will re-air again on Sept. 19.
6. Frederick Seltzer, Jr. (who we found out was diagnosed w/ Stage 2 lung cancer) on Dec. 19 (and one of my site’s followers) went on AN EPIC JOURNEY to win $61,311 cash & river cruise (including $37K in the BR)! Patience and perseverance worked out for him, because according to Vanna, he actually tried out for the show 25 times before he finally made it on.
7. Cat Battos & Lisa Scarbrough on Feb. 17, 2020 winning $21,600 cash & St. Lucia plus the MINI Hardtops after solving SOMEWHAT AWKWARD, making them the temporary S37 leaders w/ $77,060. BTW, this was the biggest two-car in the BR since December 5, 2011 when a family team won a pair of Honda CR-Vs worth $54,850.
8. The charismatic and hilarious Colin Donahue winning $23,350 cash & eBags on January 23 (his opposition also ended in five figures) and he easily solved his FOOD & DRINK BR puzzle of HANDPICKED APPLE for $37K.
9. Christian Dixie on March 17 played a great game winning $28,930 cash & trip to Barbados. And he RSTLNEd his bonus puzzle of WAVY OCEAN (under PLACE) for $37K.
10. Linda Crabtree on March 3, 2020 dominating the maingame on March 3 for $34,340 cash & trips and solving VACUUM THE HOUSE for $37K.
11. All three players on the season finale ending w/ five figures. Rosario Wright had a BIG PR in R1 that won her the game. She ended the season by solving MOVING TO THE CITY for the maZDa Miata.
12. Jessie Rebhan’s epic $37K solve of BUYING A JUICER on Feb. 6, 2020.
13. Vanna getting to host three weeks of shows after Pat was undergoing emergency surgery.
14. In a tense Mystery Round on September 27, 2019, Marc Hartzman called up the SL early on w/ six S’s while on $3,500. He said a potentially fatal dud of P to leave $24,750 on the table. He got his turn back and he collected $27,100 by solving STOCKS, SHARES & SAVINGS. He went on to win the game w/ $46,550 & Costa Rica.
15. Celeste Wells on September 3 making a nice comeback from behind after a costly DQ in R3. In the BR, she fell for the GROUP OF WILD BEARS trap but rebounded w/ GROUP OF WILD BOARS to win $37K.
16. Josh Cohen’s $51,700 maingame on Nov. 29, 2019 even though the evil KAYAK in KAYAKING IN A LAGOON tripped him up and denied him of $37K.
17. Karleigh Mercado’s $42K+ maingmae on Dec. 10, even though the $37K answer was OUT OF VIEW for her.
18. The two six-round maingames on March 9 and my birthday.
WORST
1. This season was cut short by COVID-19.
2. ALL THREE $100,000 LOSSES AND NO GRAND PRIZE WINS in this season. This season is officially the second-ever season in show history (the first was S21) w/ NO GRAND PRIZE WIN AT ALL. And we were SO CLOSE to getting a $1M win on November 1 when Karen Jansen was ONE SPACE OFF the $1M on the Bonus Wheel (she landed on the C of AMERICA’S instead of the I next door) after she solved WATCHING A VIDEO.
3. The three SKUNKINGS on Bed & Breakfast, Shopping Spree and World Tour (the last two were TOTAL WASHOUTS).
4. On the subject of B & B, the Oct. 22, 2019 episode was an ugly one largely thanks to the second half. What really took the cake was this Speed-Up Round that went viral:
T H _ / Q _ _ S T I O N
R _ _ _ I N S
Monique Brown blew it w/ THE QUESTION ROUNDS and THE QUESTION RAISING. Marie Anastos filled in the last consonant of M…
T H _ / Q _ _ S T I O N
R _ M _ I N S
…but she too blew it w/ THE QUESTION REMINDS, not realizing the D was a dud, ma’am. Jeremy Anderson filled in three E’s…
T H E / Q _ E S T I O N
R E M _ I N S
…believe it or not, he STILL DIDN’T KNOW IT! UGH. -__- Monique finally got THE QUESTION REMAINS for $8K and the win by just $80 (she won $14K to Jeremy’s $13,920). That was all the winnings Monqiue would get as she WIPED OUT w/ PGHO in the BR and we almost had a TOTAL TRAINWRECK as $50K was left behind on the WIDE FAIRWAY.
5. Sloppy playing especially in the Triple Tossups on Oct. 25, 2019.
6. Joyce Smith on Halloween 2019 costed us a PERFECT BR WEEK after saying DELICIOUS WIGS instead of DELICIOUS FIGS. It didn’t help that she kept on spinning in R2 and she paid the price up $14,150 and her MDW to the BANKRUPT near top dollar.
7 SEASON-WORST BANKRUPT TRASH of $25,850 cash & Italy on November 5, 2019. On the other hand, Bill Hoefer did win $37,784 cash & Hawaii and solved COOKED YAMS to nearly double his winnings and became a temporary S37 leader.
8. The many DQs on Nov. 7, 2019.
9. Lawrence Holliday’s WOODEN FLOWER BOXES fiasco on Nov. 14.
10. On November 21, 2019, this was the board for the Crossword Round (the clue was ______ FIELD):
- S A L L _
- E
- F O O T B A L L
- R I G H T
You Would Expect: Kristen Shaw to complete the grid w/ SALLY, and win over $9,950 cash & trip to Nashville (the trip was worth over $8K).
Instead: She failed to listen to Pat’s warning of adding anything extra, and added “and” before saying SALLY. That allowed Bryan Idler to capitalize for $3,550. FYI, this was only the second time somebody made that “and” addition mistake despite Pat’s warning (the first was by Brad D’Angelo from the S35 edition and I’ve added him as my WORST MOMENT in S35). That mistake went viral, but Kristen was going to Nashville after all thanks to help from the city.
11. We went a record-breaking 23 straight nights hitting the $37K minimum including all of December.
12. The January 29 episode (Day 3 of Rail Tour) was fittingly a TRAINWRECK largely thanks to nine BANKRUPTS and one LaT. To top it off, Marie Leo went viral saying CHASING TAIL instead of saying the right answer of KICKING BACK.
13. The Feb. 20, 2020 episode of Girlfriend Getaways. What really took the cake was this board for the PP/Express Round:
E _ _ T I C / A N D
C _ L _ R _ _ L / B I R D S
Nancy Krol & Marle’ta Robinson of that team foolishly went for the Q and went viral as a result. That deprived them of $4,750 and the bonus trip of the caravan.com Costa Rica tours.
14. PAINFUL BANKRUPT of $21,712 cash & Spain by April Bauzon at the start of Leave Winter Behind.
15. Jerry Milenbach (he responded in my post) on April 28 did a decent job winning $17,800 cash & Antigua, but he made a lot of BAD mistakes:
- His CRITICAL DUD of L in R1 after picking up the MDW
- His awful guesses of INTELLIGENT CANDIDATES and DECEPTIVE PLAYERS in the first and last of the Triple Tossups
- Blanking out on the last word of the S-U puzzle of CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET and missing out on $8,250.
16. Gloria Nelson-Allen’s sloppy playing on April 30. She re-bought a vowel not once, but twice (A in R1 and E in R2). To top it off, she gave a THROWAWAY GUESS of FLORIDA TARANTULAS instead of FLORIDA PANTHERS. I was THIS CLOSE to giving her a DESERVING $1K GOOSEEGG.
17. THREE Tossup Triple Stumpers (two of them from the Triple Tossups; one on Oct. 10 and the other Feb. 21). The ENGINE ROOM mishap was on March 13.
18. Andy Riehl won the maingame on Feb. 10. Pat joked w/ him that they would “rope some dogies” after the show. However, he responded back to Pat w/ “You sure you’re man enough?” — that WASN’T very nice, sir! -_-
19. BLACKBERRY JAM Speed-Up fiasco on March 24
20. Lori Daniels‘ LOWERING THE BOOK fiasco on Oct. 4.
Wildest Moments
- Ken Ilich‘s hilarious interview saying that he has “the best buns in town”.
- With the category being THING in R4, Rich Evans on Oct. 9 went for the solve way too early and caused the audience to laugh by saying MY OWN TATTOO PARLOR. But he quickly got his turn back and collected $20K from four N’s and went on to solve AN OPEN INVITATION to win $20,350!
- Blair Davis’ viral “loveless marriage” interview
If there are any Best/Worst/Wildest moments of this season you would like me to add, please say so in the comments below.
WHEEL of FORTUNE with Andy Nguyen 