Free Play space vs Free Spin

[TLEberle]

Could they be allowed to try to spin the "Free Play" space to get a free vowel?  

Having not been on the show (hailing frequencies open!) I can't say for sure, but let's think about that. There is either a fair-to-middling chance or zero chance, depending on where you're at, that your spin will end badly and you look dumb for having done it.

In what universe is something where your ship is about nine times as likely to miss the harbor as opposed to coming in, make for good telly?

[Dbacksfan12]

...in my own personal opinion, that was too close to trying to cheat Merv Griffin Enterprises and NBC Television (later CBS Television) out of money and prizes, in similar fashion to how Paul Michael Larson absconded with $104,950 in cash, directly siphoned out of Carruthers Company's and CBS Television's collective bank accounts, with no legal recourse for them...

That's because they had no legal recourse.  Similar to someone who counts cards in blackjack.  What you do is pay the man his money and tell him never to come back.

[Kevin Prather]

Yeah, as I was typing it the pure obviousness of it became more and more, erm, obvious. Of the three options you have on your turn, two are free. If one of those is removed because of a lack of consonants and you can't afford the paid option, you do the other. No need to have a special rule about it or anything, it's all pieced together in other rules.

It raises another question though, although this would be an incredibly unlikely, if not impossible, scenario. Say for whatever reason nobody has any money. It's at vowels only, so everyone can only try to solve. However, the puzzle is very vowel-heavy, and nobody has a clue. What now? Just keep on going around till something clicks?

[TLEberle]

It raises another question though, although this would be an incredibly unlikely, if not impossible, scenario. Say for whatever reason nobody has any money. It's at vowels only, so everyone can only try to solve. However, the puzzle is very vowel-heavy, and nobody has a clue. What now? Just keep on going around till something clicks?

My agent in the field tells me that each person takes a crack at solving, then it becomes a deadball, edited and replaced. And the contestant coordinators are tarred and feathered in the parking lot.

[clemon79]

It raises another question though, although this would be an incredibly unlikely, if not impossible, scenario. Say for whatever reason nobody has any money. It's at vowels only, so everyone can only try to solve. However, the puzzle is very vowel-heavy, and nobody has a clue. What now? Just keep on going around till something clicks?

Really you might as well ask what would happen if a lightning bolt popped Vanna upside the head in the middle of a round, but I suspect two things would happen:

1) Upon realizing everyone was stumped, they'd toss out the puzzle and rerack the tape and

2) Some contestant coordinators and puzzle writers would be looking for new jobs.

[J.R.]

My agent in the field tells me that each person takes a crack at solving, then it becomes a deadball, edited and replaced. And the contestant coordinators are tarred and feathered in the parking lot.

With the dopey contestants you often see on WOF these days, I honestly wouldn't be shocked if this actually happened a few times.

[whewfan]

I still wish they would have kept the "Free Spin" space for at least the first 2 rounds.

You DO realize there is a legitimate reason they scrapped the "Free Spin" space in favor of the single "Free Spin" token, right?

...To the best of my understanding, they scrapped the "Free Spin" wedge because too many players were getting "crafty" about their method of spinning the wheel, explicitly aiming for the "Free Spin" space just to get the token; they did that so, later on when they were having rotten luck with the wheel or were just out-and-out ignoring the Used Letter Board, they could turn in 5 or 6 tokens in rapid succession so as to perpetually keep their turn, and effectively "freeze out" either of the other two players from having any chance at the wheel or board...

Philip Cousin told me not long ago that the producers now tell the players they CANNOT look directly at the wheel before they spin it... in other words, if it's evident that they are looking at the wheel to see how hard they have to spin it to get what they want, the player could be disqualified.

[Dbacksfan12]

Philip Cousin told me not long ago that the producers now tell the players they CANNOT look directly at the wheel before they spin it... in other words, if it's evident that they are looking at the wheel to see how hard they have to spin it to get what they want, the player could be disqualified.

Who is Phillip Cousin?  What is his source?  Also, why would the producers be so anal about something like that?

Granted, I'm not supposed to do this at work either, but...

[snowpeck]

Cousin was on the show within the last year or so.

[Jimmy Owen]

What's weird about WOF is there are so many "rules" that are never divulged to the home audience. Joe Sixpack is at home saying "why don't they aim for it." It's sorta like Supermarket Sweep where you can't just decimate the magazine rack or the meat department.

[Dbacksfan12]

It's sorta like Supermarket Sweep where you can't just decimate the magazine rack or the meat department.

Incorrect.  I specifically remember Johnny and Randy saying there was a limit of five.

[PYLdude]

[ who is Phillip Cousin?  What is his source?  Also, why would the producers be so anal about something like that?

Granted, I'm not supposed to do this at work either, but...

Considering he was just on the show last year and won over sixty grand, I think his source of actually being a contestant and seeing these things firsthand is legit, wouldn't you?

[Mr. Armadillo]

It's sorta like Supermarket Sweep where you can't just decimate the magazine rack or the meat department.

Incorrect.  I specifically remember Johnny and Randy saying there was a limit of five.

True, but if there were, say, fifty pieces of meat on the rack, that would be decimating it, in the traditional sense.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Philip Cousin told me not long ago that the producers now tell the players they CANNOT look directly at the wheel before they spin it... in other words, if it's evident that they are looking at the wheel to see how hard they have to spin it to get what they want, the player could be disqualified.

That's like the PYL staff fixing the Larsen problem by making players turn away from the board while spinning. It's a stupid fix- "Hey! We know our wheel is beatable, so don't look!"- there are better ways to fix a predictable wheel.

[pacdude]

I still wish they would have kept the "Free Spin" space for at least the first 2 rounds.

You DO realize there is a legitimate reason they scrapped the "Free Spin" space in favor of the single "Free Spin" token, right?

...To the best of my understanding, they scrapped the "Free Spin" wedge because too many players were getting "crafty" about their method of spinning the wheel, explicitly aiming for the "Free Spin" space just to get the token; they did that so, later on when they were having rotten luck with the wheel or were just out-and-out ignoring the Used Letter Board, they could turn in 5 or 6 tokens in rapid succession so as to perpetually keep their turn, and effectively "freeze out" either of the other two players from having any chance at the wheel or board...

Philip Cousin told me not long ago that the producers now tell the players they CANNOT look directly at the wheel before they spin it... in other words, if it's evident that they are looking at the wheel to see how hard they have to spin it to get what they want, the player could be disqualified.

That's either rather recent or I wasn't paying attention during briefing because I don't remember that.