Another round of "not getting to play"...

[aaron sica]

Travis's question in the Video forum about a contestant not getting picked during the entire week of "Hollywood Showdown" reminded me of something I used to wonder when watching Wheel during the shopping days..

Back before toss-ups, when turns at the start of the round simply went from left to right, sometimes I would see a round go increasingly long for one reason or another - long puzzle, or not right letters guessed..Many times, 3 rounds was the norm in the shopping days. I always wondered, though - did it ever occur that *both* of the first two rounds ran long,  never getting past player 1 for round 1, and player 2 for round 2, and when it *finally* got to round 3, there was only time for a final spin? Meaning player 3 never even got a chance to spin the wheel..

[Marc412]

Usually when one player monopolizes the wheel in a round, it's over in a couple minutes, so there's always time for Round 3, and thus no chance of a player never getting to spin the wheel.

[Twentington]

Back before toss-ups, when turns at the start of the round simply went from left to right, sometimes I would see a round go increasingly long for one reason or another - long puzzle, or not right letters guessed..Many times, 3 rounds was the norm in the shopping days. I always wondered, though - did it ever occur that *both* of the first two rounds ran long,  never getting past player 1 for round 1, and player 2 for round 2, and when it *finally* got to round 3, there was only time for a final spin? Meaning player 3 never even got a chance to spin the wheel..

I've been told that this actually happened at least once on daytime. The yellow contestant banked a bunch of Free Spins and used them to hog the Wheel in Round 2. Round 3 began as a Speed-Up with a $2,000 Final Spin, and the blue contestant won without ever touching the Wheel.

I would guess that said game also had a very long Round 1 — back then, it wasn't uncommon for Round 1 to be something really short and devoid of common letters, such as DOGHOUSE. ($200. Yes, there's one S. Spin again... followed by eight or nine duds in a row. Fun times.)

[TLEberle]

Fun times.)

You keep saying this, and I still disagree. Why is that any worse than one contestant plinking off all of the "obvious-er" consonants and solving without letting anyone else play?

[Jay Temple]

I won't speak for Bobby, but at least when the contestant picks the obvious consonants, the viewer gets closer to solving the puzzle each time. Multiple wrong guesses don't help in that regard.

[TLEberle]

Multiple wrong guesses don't help in that regard.

Bunkum: of course they do. A letter that isn't in the puzzle eliminates huge chunks of possible solutions.

[Twentington]

Fun times.)

You keep saying this, and I still disagree. Why is that any worse than one contestant plinking off all of the "obvious-er" consonants and solving without letting anyone else play?

I won't speak for Bobby, but at least when the contestant picks the obvious consonants, the viewer gets closer to solving the puzzle each time. Multiple wrong guesses don't help in that regard.

Basically what Jay said.

[TLEberle]

I disproved what Jay said. Wrong guesses can be as helpful as ones that fill in blanks.

On the other hand, when there's no wrong guesses the turn doesn't move. What is the exact right and proper ratio of correct letter calls to incorrect calls to penalty spaces landed upon on the wheel?

[MSTieScott]

Knowing which letters aren't in the puzzle can help you eliminate potential answers, but...

How many people watching at home are going to be thinking, "Well, there aren't any Ns in the puzzle, so it can't be this, this, or this..."? If they don't know the answer, then they'd like to see another space get filled in so that maybe they'll know the answer then. Having the puzzle remain static for multiple spins is boring. Unless there's a lot of money at stake or one of the contestants is particularly likeable/unlikeable, the viewers don't care how many times control changes hands.

[Fedya]

How many people watching at home are going to be thinking, "Well, there aren't any Ns in the puzzle, so it can't be this, this, or this..."?

Anybody worth their salt ought to be doing this during the bonus round.

(Then again, I haven't watched WOF recently enough to know what the current caliber of contestant is like.)

[Twentington]

How many people watching at home are going to be thinking, "Well, there aren't any Ns in the puzzle, so it can't be this, this, or this..."?

Anybody worth their salt ought to be doing this during the bonus round.

(Then again, I haven't watched WOF recently enough to know what the current caliber of contestant is like.)

It varies. One moment we get someone solving their bonus puzzle even though none of the letters they called were in the puzzle; another time, they obviously knew it before calling their letters; and yet another, they can't figure out GLOBE with only the B missing.

[Jay Temple]

I overstated it. Having letters up is way more helpful than having no letters up.

[clemon79]

Hey, Bobby?

Can you give us any actual examples of puzzles used on Wheel of Fortune?

[Thunder]

_ A T   _ R _ S H

was solved as "PAT CRUSH" back on March 26, 1916.

/Hope that helps.

[J.R.]

_ A T   _ R _ S H

was solved as "PAT CRUSH" back on March 26, 1916.

/Hope that helps.

AGTOD?

(Anyone Got That On Daguerreotype?)