Pat’s final season as host is coming to an end, so here’s the list of S41 summer rerun weeks.

Jun. 10-14: Sand and Sea that aired Jan. 22-26

On Monday, we had no penalty spins. Jeremy Wilson cleaned up nicely with $39,080 cash & Barbados plus the WC and he won the $44,735 2024 Mustang Ecoboost Premium in the BR for TIDYING UP THE HOUSE.

On Tuesday, Marilyn Campos’ name tag came loose in Round 1. She handed it to Pat and he fixed it before the start of the next round. Before the first commercial break, there was a Wheel Winners segment of Scott Kolbrenner who won $145K on Mar. 18, 2021 and donated all his cash winnings to Pacific Clinics and the L.A. Regional Food Bank. The third Triple Toss-Up READING GLASSES was categorized as AROUND THE HOUSE instead of WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?. We had a MDBR #5 by Micah White, but she was unable to eat those FLUFFY FLAPJACKS for…

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…$40K.

On Wednesday, there was another Wheel Winners segment of Roger & Toni Bushong from Valentine’s Day 2023 who won a brand-new Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 in the BR; they’ve never had a brand-new car before and they love it (their final vehicle color was white instead of the red one on the set). Dustin Downing a.k.a. dudotx on Discord did a fine job in the maingame even though Deanna Palmer overtook him in the end. But I’m SPEAKING FRANKLY to you that she only got the first word towards the end of the timer, and she wasn’t the second Mustang convertible owner this week.

Thursday’s maingame wasn’t the best aside from a 5-round game, but not too bad, either. Reesa Cooper, who lucked out thanks to the Prize Puzzle says “I WANT TO BUY A FEW THINGS”, and she’ll certainly do so with $40K.

Friday’s episode was pre-empted in some CBS stations including Andy’s due to coverage of the Farmer’s Insurance Open. There were too many duds to end the week, but Carla Householder’s Triple Toss-Up sweep and perfect letter combo were the highlights. I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE to see her win $40K and secure a winning BR week.

Overall, an ok week besides Jeremy’s dominance on Monday.

Jun. 17-21: Fabulous Food that aired Mar. 4-8

Nickskapower covered this week in its entirety since he’s a foodie.

This week didn’t get off to the best start and Stephen Sanders needed the PP to win, which meant bad news for the BR. That proved to be the case when he was unable to solve SUPPORTIVE COLLEAGUE for $40K since he only got help from his vowel. In the postgame chat, we saw various vintage clips of Pat and Vanna eating various types of food.

On Tuesday, Joey Covey hopped on EXPRESS with just one consonant left (the C in COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES). He went on to take both the MDW (MDBR #6) and WC to the BR, but he wasn’t STAYING ABOVE THE FRAY to win…

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…$40K.

In the postgame chat, we saw vintage clips of Pat and Vanna stuffing their faces with cream puffs and pies.

On Wednesday, we saw a WoF Memories clip of Pat and Vanna eating hot dogs from Johnny Pastrami’s on Oct. 19 from last season. Courtney Tibaldi had a nice maingame performance and was the second player in a row to take both cardboard pieces to the BR. She admitted “I AM LOVING LIFE RIGHT NOW” for…

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…$40K.

On Thursday, Sonta Henderson solved the second Triple Toss-Up MAIN HALLWAY with only the Y revealed. It was Temika Irving who had yet another dominant performance in the maingame and she was the third player in a row to take the WC to the BR. However, she didn’t realize that the puzzle board WORKS LIKE MAGIC for $40K.

On Friday, we had a rough Round 1, but Ryan McAdams cleaned up nicely like the previous three winners (albeit by a smaller extent) and he was the FOURTH player in a row to take the WC to the BR. Although he didn’t win $40K (second consecutive minimum sweep and fourth this season) in the BR due to limited help, YOU SHOULD BE PROUD of him. In the postgame chat, we saw a clip from 2016 of Vanna promoting the closed captioning plug while Pat was eating butter.

Not a bad week overall compared to last season’s edition thanks to some dominant performances this week aside from Monday, even though we went 1-4 on BR wins.

Jun. 24-28: Collette Show You the World that aired Jan. 8-12

This week got off to a TERRIBLE start. Even though there weren’t too many penalties, things started to fall apart when Kelly Kozlowski got slapped with a painful BANKRUPT in the Mystery Round to deprive her of $11,648 cash & Alaska trip. In the end, Christine Petrivelli needed the PP to win and she lost the BMW X1 in the BR since she hasn’t checked her DAILY HOROSCOPE.

On Tuesday, we had a tight match between Brian Parker and Ashley McFarland. Brooklyn Olumba, on the other hand, got a painful BANKRUPT in the Mystery Round to deprive her of $16,100 cash & Patagonia trip. It was Ashley who won the match, but she wouldn’t be BROWSING THE AISLES (which has at least one of each freebie letter and reveals more than half the answer) and collecting the keys to the BMW X1. In the postgame chat, we saw photos of contestant Tricia Scaglione’s trip to Croatia from Jan. 18, 2023.

On Wednesday, Diana Ardehali cleaned up from the Prize Puzzle onwards but was unable to solve her BR puzzle ON A WHIM, and the BMW X1 was lost yet again.

On Thursday, Resti Magtoto finished in second place with $22,998. The winner TaRhea Marshall, however, wouldn’t be ordering BAGELS & DOUGHNUTS in the BMW X1 despite getting a complete first word (also the first time since Apr. 17, 2009 where an ampersand appears here).

On Friday, we had another tight match between LaVonda Sharp and Casey Frederick. And after an all-male sweep from the S38 edition of this theme, we got ourselves an all-female sweep on this season’s edition. Even though LaVonda lucked out thanks to the PP, she was able to MAKE A WISE CHOICE of letters in the BR to kick out the skunk and complete the car landing sweep (first time since The Good Life week in early S28)!

Thank goodness for her in saving us on a rather interesting week this was- the first car sweep in over 13 years plus an all-female sweep.

Jul. 1-5: Great American Cities that aired Apr. 1-5

On April Fool’s Day, Jared Leto appeared in place of Pat during the intro and was introduced by Jim. Jared also introduced the first Toss-Up, but Pat’s voice was heard prompting the contestant for an answer (although it’s possible that they’ll use a normal intro instead). Afterwards, Pat remained in place, and the prank was not acknowledged. Also, this episode was taped using the Winter Wonderland set on Oct. 27, as Jared Leto was present in the studio to film a skit promoting Thirty Seconds to Mars’ upcoming world tour. Alicia Gregg solved the $2K Toss-Up THE JOKER IS WILD without ringing in. But Kylee Hatch made a BIG FOOL of herself especially in the Mystery Round when she thought there was a West Coast city called SUN FRUNCISCO, hence the U purchase to cost her $12,450 including the $10K MW. She ended up with the DESERVING $1K GOOSEEGG award by Andy as a result. In the end, Alicia ate a piece of DRIED PAPAYA for $40K.

On Tuesday, Pat gave Willie Harris his necktie at the end of the maingame, and during the postgame chat, we saw clips of various road shows from the past. However, this episode just plain sucked. We had a low-scoring game, and because Lauren Mailhiot didn’t remember her collective pronouns, A POD OF DOLPHINS swam away with the $40K she could’ve won and we set a new SEASON-LOW in winnings for a single episode.

On Wednesday, there was a WoF Memories clip of Pat attaching a $1 to the left of Diane’s scoreboard on Oct. 23, 1989, which was cut off from Canadian broadcasts for unknown reasons. This was an improvement over yesterday’s disaster, but the messy PP/Express Round and the fact that Sherold Haynes was really ON SHAKY GROUND in the BR since the PP mattered for her to win and lost $40K brought this episode back down to average.

On Thursday, even though we had all three contestants finishing with $10K+, we had this in the PP/Express Round…

T H E / E N T R A N C E
T _ / A / C A _ T _ E

Kim Weisenberg BOMBED OUT BIG TIME with a CRITICAL PURCHASE OF U to throw away $17,300– seriously, ma’am?! Though Ryan Skinner won with an all-cash total, he didn’t prove to be an AVID FAN of the show and also lost $40K.

Pat taped his final episode on Friday. This maingame was ok, and Kiley Klug would CHECK YOUR HER INBOX telling her that she won $40K (fifth minimum sweep this season).

It was nice that we started off that month with two BR wins, but Tuesday’s massacre and that EPIC FAIL vowel purchase on Thursday left something to be desired.

Jul. 8-12: Wheel Around the World that aired Jan. 29-Feb. 2

I covered the first three episodes, and this was the last time this season where Andy assigned some recaps for another admin without a provided reason.

This week got off to a poor start even though we had no monetary BANKRUPT trash and Nicole Paynter solved the third Triple Toss-Up A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH with only the second N revealed. Because Ryan DiMarco couldn’t solve his BR puzzle, WE CAN(not) BOUNCE BACK from this episode with him winning the Infiniti QX50 and he went down as the second lowest-winning champ of the season with just $11,550 cash & trip.

Tuesday was pretty much the same story. Round 1 was a pain to watch, and late in the round, Corey Colwill BOMBED OUT thinking the last vowel was U thinking the first half of the puzzle was ORCHESTRA PUT. In the round after that, Latonya Tatum cashed in $21K from 6 N’s, but she really dropped the ball on both her chances. And like yesterday, the Prize Puzzle mattered for Megan Carvale to win which meant bad news for the BR, and it showed when this PINK ORCHID wilted along with $40K.

On Wednesday, the show opened with a shot of the UK’s then-new version of the show: host Graham Norton walked out on the set of the UK version and mentioned Wheel Around the World Week then threw to Pat and Vanna, who were shown standing at center stage on the American version’s set. The $2K Toss-Up OUT-OF-OFFICE NOTIFICATION tied for the longest Toss-Up in terms of overall spaces, using 25 of the 52 spaces on the board. We saw a WoF Memories clip of Pat and Vanna in Portugal from 2018. Everyone finished with five figures in this episode with Kelsie Grant finishing third with $16,500 cash & HI. But Tonniece Greene didn’t win $40K towards going to a HOLIDAY BASH.

Thursday’s rerun was pre-empted in the Mountain Time Zone due to a special report on Biden’s press conference. Shalocmont Jacobs’ BIG PR in the PP/Express Round made up for a slow first half, but IT’S BEYOND ME why some people like her try to fill in the obvious, and because she didn’t get enough help in the key word where she needed it most…

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…SHE WAS THE FIRST $100K LOSER THIS YEAR AND THE FOURTH OVERALL THIS SEASON.

Although we had another nice five-figure match like Wednesday with Joel Crandall finishing second with $21,640 cash & trips, Pam Keel wouldn’t INQUIRE WITHIN at the car dealership about her new Infiniti QX50, and we’ve been SKUNKED on this theme for the first time S34 (and second overall this season).

Aside from the five-figure matches on Wednesday and Friday, everything else left something to be desired.

Jul. 15-19: Destination Relaxation that aired Apr. 22-26

The first four episode reruns are pre-empted in the Pacific Time Zone and Alaska for the Republican National Convention.

We got off to a good start this week with a triple $10K+ match with Jeff Commings winning $50K in the BR towards going to a PICNIC PAVILION. We saw a Wheel Winners segment of Rana Aryan from New Year’s Eve 2021 who won a PP trip to Costa Rica and took husband Adam there.

On Tuesday, the camera cut away too soon during the first Toss-Up, showing a brief shot of Vanna getting in place at the puzzle board before the wipe appears. Vanna was shown on-camera during the contestant interviews due Laura Trombino saying that she met Pat and Vanna shooting promos while on her honeymoon. Mikeya Trombino’s microphone shorted out when the R’s were revealed in the Mystery Round resulting in a five-minute pause in recording before her microphone is fixed and the reveal of the R’s was reshot. After that round, there was a bumper where a partially revealed puzzle themed to travel is shown with Jim saying via voiceover, “Can you solve this special Holland America Line puzzle?”. Laura cleaned up nicely, but she was unable to solve WHIRLWIND YEAR for $40K because she picked THING.

On Wednesday, Jim appeared on-camera before the Prize copy. After Alex Harrell won the prize in the Mystery Round, Pat began to throw to Jim before realizing he already read the copy, at which point Jim was shown on-camera a second time. We saw a WoF Memories clip of Pat and Vanna sitting in a hot tub in 1991 (which, as usual, was incorrectly dated to “the 1980s”). Alex cleaned up nicely in the first half of this BANKRUPT-free game, and ate up some TAPIOCA PUDDING for $40K!

Thursday was definitely a step down from the previous episodes this week, although we had a decent match between the ladies. Some episodes can be KIND OF WEIRD when people make questionable decisions while on stage, and this Shannon Schneider didn’t win $40K.

Oh boy, Friday sure threw this week down the toilet. -___- Things started to go wrong when we had this in Round 1…

T I _ _ E T S
T O U R S
T R A I _ S / &
T R A _ S

Kate Metz decided to spin again… and SHE PAINFULLY BANKRUPTED NEAR $2,500 TO FLUSH AWAY $29,750!!! Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. -___- The next two rounds were filled with penalties, and although she made a $10,500 comeback win in the end, she was unable to untangle this amount from this HONEYSUCKLE…

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…BOY, DID HER EPIC BANKRUPT REALLY SET THE TONE FOR A HORRIFIC NIGHT- SHE WAS THE EIGHTH $100K LOSER THIS SEASON.

In the postgame chat, Pat showed the correct pronunciation of Antigua on his cue card.

This week started off promising but took a really deep nosedive towards the end.

Jul. 22-26: Great Outdoors that aired Nov. 27-Dec. 1

We had a decent match by all three players to start the week, although I was baffled on why Lissa Zingerman declined to hop on EXPRESS with most of the puzzle revealed. But Lynette McClelland didn’t quite eat some HANDPICKED VEGGIES for $40K.

Thank goodness for Tuesday’s $6K Final Spin, because the rest of this episode was really shaky. Even though Lindsey Ziegenfuss made the $18K comeback win, I don’t know if she would PAY US A VISIT after WIPING OUT with her letter picks and losing $40K.

On Wednesday, Tyler Bleeker spun only twice landing on BANKRUPT both times. He did solve the $2K Toss-Up and the second Triple Toss-Up, however. There was a WoF Memories clip of the $100K trifecta from Bed and Breakfast Week from S39. Jenny Moore was FOLLOWING A PATH to her new Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend worth $35,180.

On Thursday, though Katie McKenzie cleaned up in the front game, Jack Bennett gave two unfortunate missolves in the second Triple Toss-Up and Speed-Up (the NMC beeps didn’t sound) which sealed his $1K GOOSEEGG fate. But Katie’s BR puzzle was way more than just A BIT FUZZY to be solvable for $40K.

The summer reruns from Jul. 26 through Aug. 9 will unfortunately not be seen on almost all NBC affiliates (which is the network I watch this show on) due to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Oh good lord, not another dismal Friday episode. -___- We may have had two PRs and a one-letter solve of RED PEPPERS by Reggie Rodgers in the second Triple Toss-Up, but this whole game had way too much conservative playing and too much lost to BANKRUPT. Even though Kristen McKenney didn’t need the PP to win, she didn’t request “GIVE ME ADVICE” for $40K. Furthermore, she went down as the lowest-winning champ this season and tied Carolyn Pittman from S37 for the record-low winning total in the Triple Toss-Up era. It may be a blessing in disguise that this episode is pre-empted on NBC stations for the reason above.

Thank goodness for Jenny on this not-so-Great Outdoors week.

Jul. 29-Aug. 2: Fan Favorites that aired May 27-31

Jpgenius covered Mon.-Thurs. while I wrapped up the week.

This week got off to a rather shaky start. After Rufus Cumberlander incorrectly answered DON’T LOOK AWAY, his opponents, Vanna, and the audience applauded while Pat shouted he was incorrect. His opponents put their buzzers away before looking at the board and realizing the situation, at which point they both rush to pick the buzzers back up and ring in, but were too late and we had our sixth TRIPLE STUMPER of the season; the answer was CAN’T LOOK AWAY. Cynthia King was the winner in a tight match with Luidgi Altidor, but she wouldn’t attend an OPULENT WEDDING with $40K.

On Tuesday, after Brian Davis flipped the MW near $650 to find a BANKRUPT on the reverse, he threw it across the set, hitting one of the pillars. Carla Householder solved the second Triple Toss-Up SAUNA with only the second A revealed. We also had a Final Spin that wasn’t edited out (Brian landed on the BANKRUPT near $5K and Pat commented “Normally, we would edit out a Bankrupt, ’cause who wants to see someone land a Bankrupt, but we all enjoy seeing you do it.”). The ladies had a tight match, but Rhachel Royal-Fortune needed the PP to win, and she blanked out in her BR puzzle and lost $40K despite later admitting she drove at least one DIVIDED HIGHWAY.

The midweek episode was definitely an improvement over the last two episodes, maingame-wise. While Lee Mack Turner finished with a decent second place total, Larry Brown Jr. cleaned up at the end. While I’M JUST SHOWING OFF my recapping skills, Larry hoped there isn’t a big amount in his envelope…

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…

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…BUT THERE WAS- HE WAS THE NINTH AND FINAL $100K LOSER THIS SEASON.

On Thursday, there was a WoF Memories clip of Liz and KC’s interview from Nov. 14, 2023. They were initially invited to appear on this week but were ultimately unable to return for medical reasons. This was just another lackluster game, and regarding the $40K that Courtney Tibaldi could’ve won, IT WAS OUT OF VIEW.

The last episode this week consisted of teams playing. The maingame was a little shaky, but Kennedi Williams & Dr. Kchristshan Howard saved the week from being skunked and won an extra $40K towards GOING PLACES on their Italy trip.

Thank goodness for them, because the rest of this edition of Fan Favorites wasn’t that great.

Aug. 5-9: Rail Tour that aired Sept. 25-29

Nickskapower covered the Tuesday episode but was unable to cover the next two days since he wasn’t feeling well.

The original Monday airing was pre-empted on ABC affiliates due to Monday Night Football starting at 7:00 PM Eastern instead of the usual 8:00. Things started to take a downturn in the second half of the game when Jason White bombed out thinking M was the last remaining consonant on the WC in the word NUTRITIOUS. Later in Round 4, Jessica Washington blew the $1,350 solve with DINING IN THE DINING JAR– you really think people would do that, girl?! -__- Teresa Jones (she went by the name “Terri” despite her name tag) may have cleaned up, but she wouldn’t GO FOR A WALK with $40K.

Tuesday’s episode was pretty rough, but Tameka Stephens’ perfect letter combo in the BR gives her a $40K deposit in her bank that was OVERDUE FOR AN UPGRADE.

We had a $20K+ match on Wednesday (Mario Mendez finished second with $21K while Devin Hruska finished third with $20,200 with only a $1,399 gap between first and third place, setting a record for highest third place total) thanks to Mario giving us our first $6K Final Spin of the season! Mark would be visiting a FORMAL GALA in the Lincoln Corsair Standard worth $44,180!

On Thursday, the Wheel was not preset at the start of the show, and none of SAME NAME, BEFORE & AFTER, or crossword were used. Derek’s PR in the PP/Express Round was the only good part of this game. WE BEGAN A PROJECT (or I in this case) on documenting each summer rerun week this season, but he lost $40K.

On Friday, Eric Peterson and Alessandra McKay had a decent match, but the Speed-Up was a mess and because Eric made the mistake of picking THING for his BR, he wasn’t even close to conquering A DIFFICULT UPHILL HIKE (this should’ve been FUN & GAMES, IMO) for $40K.

There may have been a few flaws (especially on Monday and Thursday), but this week overall was decent compared to previous editions of this theme.

Aug. 12-16: National Geographic Expeditions that aired Feb. 26-Mar. 1

During this week, contestants had a chane to win a cruise in the BR. There were two EXPEDITION CRUISE wedges on the Wheel on both $500 spaces during Rounds 1-3, and consonants were worth $1K when one was picked up. Nickskapower covered this week in its entirety.

This week didn’t get off to a great start no thanks to the many duds. Jason Barrett lucked out thanks to the PP and he asked for trouble in the BR by picking THING. He wouldn’t be taking up A FUN NEW HOBBY with $40K.

On Tuesday, the Triple Toss-Ups MORNING TALK SHOW, DAYTIME TALK SHOW, and LATE-NIGHT TALK SHOW were rare instances of the category (SHOW BIZ) being part of the answers, and none of SAME NAME, BEFORE & AFTER, SAME LETTER, or CROSSWORD were used. Although the game wasn’t too bad (despite the short intro), Amy Chumbley also lucked out thanks to the PP and was unable to take the $40K from this WIDE EMPTY FIELD.

On Wednesday, Ivan Johnson solved the second Triple Toss-Up THE WRONG WAY with only the G revealed. Not too good of a maingame especially in the first half, but Cynthia King, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR and solve the BR… she did just that $40K and the National Geographic Iceland expedition!

On Thursday, Vincent Lassiter solved the second Triple Toss-Up ROCK CLIMBING also with only the G revealed and went on to finish second with $22,804 cash & Alaska. Zoe Tsongalis made a nice comeback thanks to his $6K Final Spin, but she wouldn’t be attending a FABULOUS SHINDIG with $40K (SHINDIG is not an easy word to get).

The maingame to start the month of March and end the week was lackluster at best, and once again, a contestant needed the PP to win which meant bad news for the BR, and that proved to be the case for Sarah Vach. During this segment, YOU HAVE OPTIONS on which letters to call and you need to pick them wisely, but she didn’t follow this advice for $40K.

Thank goodness for Cynthia’s expedition cruise win in the BR on Wednesday, because most of this week could’ve been better.

Aug. 19-23: Teacher’s Week… from S40?!

Aug. 26-30: Margaritaville Resorts Week that aired Apr. 29-May 3

Andy did his last two recaps of the season on Monday and Tuesday, and Nick did the rest of the week. During this week, the bumpers featured parts of Jimmy Buffett’s album Equal Strain on All Parts.

Not the best start of recovery from last Friday’s disaster maingame-wise, but Krystalanne Curwood got the BR at the last second and would be escaping to the PRIVATE HIDEAWAY of St. Thomas with $40K.

On Tuesday, Vanna was shown getting in place at the puzzle board before the wipe for the first Toss-Up appeared. There was a WoF Memories clip of Pam guessing Pat Sajak on the WHO IS IT? puzzle TV HOST WHO GAVE BRAND-NEW CARS TO ENTIRE AUDIENCE. on Dec. 7, 2004. The first half of this game was quite a modest one and Kimberly Wright BOMBED OUT big time with F to throw away $7,250, apparently thinking DUCK-FILLED was a thing. She deserved to leave with the gooseegg after that big mistake. Russ Gergely, on the other hand, helped pick things up with his Triple Toss-Up sweep, but he wouldn’t be WAXING THE CAR which was the Ford Escape.

Wednesday was definitely a crazy start to this month. A big BANKRUPT early by Gail Farrell, a BIG PR by Kimberlei Davis in PP/Express Round (Pat cleaned her eyes with his necktie after the PP description), then a TRIPLE STUMPER in the first Triple Toss-Up (ELECTRIC BILL), and a nice comeback by Greg Moss (whose daughter appeared next to the puzzle board during the contestant interviews). He would be EMBARKING ON A NEW CHAPTER with an extra $40K.

Thursday’s game was pretty lackluster even though there were no penalty spins and we had a MDBR #9 by Charlene Hering. But this amount would be going OUT OF SIGHT because she didn’t win it…

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…$40K.

Friday’s game was also lackluster, but we ended with a Ford Edge win by Tracy McBride FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH. We also saw Jim on camera after the PP description in this episode.

It’s nice that we got ourselves a winning BR week, but the maingames could’ve been better.

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

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♂️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 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.

Jun. 15👔: Thursday episode of Week 5 (Oct. 12)

This was a better episode over yesterday’s mess aside from the messy PP/Express Round (Gregg Ritchie didn’t count his M’s carefully and was off with LOUNGING, SWIMMING, CLIMBING) and the two NULL CYCLES in the Speed-Up. Christina Smith was the winner with $20,440 cash & prizes and she chose AROUND THE HOUSE as her category. Almost half of the puzzle already…

_ _ R _ E L _ _ N
_ _ S E

She didn’t need her WC pick of G, because she knew it already and said CPVA…

P _ R C E L A _ N
V A S E

She kept this PORCELAIN VASE intact for $45K for a final total of $65,440 cash & prizes!

Jun. 22: Monday episode of Hawaii Week (Mar. 20)

The start of this theme week’s redemption from last season didn’t get off to a very good start no thanks to the trainwreck Mystery Round, but Tonisha Jacobs had a perfect EXPRESS run winning $12,750 plus a $8,157 Aruba trip. However, the PP mattered for her to win, and she unfortunately picked THINGS as her category. This biggie started as…

_ _ E S _ _ E
_ _ _ _ T _ L / _ _ _ T _ S

CMPA added 2 more on each line…

A _ E S _ M E
_ _ _ _ T A L / P _ _ T _ S

She only got the first word, so there wouldn’t be any AWESOME DIGITAL PHOTOS of her winning $40K.

🟣♂️ Jun. 29: Thursday episode of America’s Game I on the Great Escapes set (Oct. 27)

This one was… quite interesting to say the least. In the Crossword Round…

_

C

_

A

O

R

E

G

_

S

T

E

R

R

E

W

A

R

D

Rebecca Liwag got REGISTER, but cash BROW, ma’am?! No way. -__- That costed her $3K as Marc Smith capitalized with FLOW. In the round after that…

M I S S I N G
P _ _ _ L E / P I E _ E S

Brian Nkenke made a FATAL PURCHASE of O to throw away $10K (MISSING PEOPLE PIECES?! -__-), so Rebecca filled in the MISSING PUZZLE PIECES for $10,800 including the $10K MW. Marc was able to bounce back after his untimely LaT in the PP/Express Round thanks to his Triple Toss-Up sweep, but it was Rebecca who won with $19,134 cash & Curaçao. She chose PHRASE as her category and this was what she got to start…

_ _ _ E
T _ E / _ _ _ S

GHPOHM caused me to stick a fork in her…

_ _ _ E
T H E / _ _ _ S

Don’t WAKE THE KIDS, people- she was way off with GIVE THE BOSS and also said MAKE THE DOTS late, so she lost $40K.

♂️Jul. 6: Wednesday show of Teen Week (Feb. 22)

Justin Mattes and Kaden Nye had a tight match in this all-male affair and Kaden had the energy like Kellen from earlier in the season. He had $19,334 cash & WY before the BR and he chose PHRASE as his category. A couple of letters on the bottom line to start…

_ _ _ _
_ R _ _ N _

MCYA lit up a couple of key spots…

_ _ M _
A R _ _ N _

He didn’t have much of anything, so he wouldn’t JUMP AROUND with an extra $40K.

Jul. 13: Tuesday show of Sweethearts Week (💘Valentine’s Day💘)

Roger & Toni Bushong and Kadeine & Josh Peterson had a decent match, and the latter team recovered nicely from their big BANKRUPT in Round 1. But it was the Bushongs who won with $18,950 cash & Maui and Toni chose WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? as their category. Opening setup…

L _ N _ 
_ L _ _ _ N _ / R _ _ E

HBGO should do it even though M was no good…

L O N G
_ L O _ _ N G / R O B E

Vanna wasn’t wearing a LONG FLOWING ROBE, but Toni got the answer just before the timer started and they won the Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 worth $45,995 for a final total of $64,945 cash & prizes!

Jul. 20: Tuesday show of European Vacation (Nov. 1)

There were quite a few bumps in the first half of this episode. In the $2K Toss-Up…

H O _ E _
M _ N _ G _ R

De’Andria Stone blew it with HONEY MANAGER — there ain’t no job called that, girl! -__- In Round 1…

_ E _ L I N
_ _ _ S S E L S
_ _ _ A _ E S T

Brody Scott made the SOLE CRITICAL PURCHASE of O to throw away $8,700. And in the Mystery Round…

A _ _ I S _ I C
_ A S _ _ _ _ I _ C _ S

De’Andria purchased a dud vowel of U because she thought the first word was AUTISTIC– what is wrong with you? -__- Brody was the winner with the previous season’s BR cash minimum (Kauai trip included) and he chose PHRASE as his category. Opening setup…

_ _ _ R / _ _ _ R
S _ _ R E

PHMOD didn’t add too much more…

_ O _ R / _ _ _ R
S H _ R E

He wasn’t even close with _____ EVER SURE. Brody, you wouldn’t have gotten YOUR FAIR SHARE of extra money, but you did lose the Mercedes-Benz GLB250.

🌟♂️Jul 27: Wednesday show of Veterans Week (Nov. 9)

The original airing was pre-empted on several ABC affiliates including all O&O’s due to the Country Music Association Awards’ red carpet.

In the Mystery Round, eventual Fan Favorite John Salvetti flipped over the MW near LaT to find a BANKRUPT on the reverse… and throws it behind him instead of placing it in the bin. However, he fell short of the win by “page not found” dollars ($404) to Brent Lofton with $18,650 cash & Puerto Rico who chose AROUND THE HOUSE as his category. This one would likely pose problems…

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

…and it did because he WIPED OUT with CRFOM and he didn’t win $45K to fix this SQUEAKY HINGE; I think this should’ve been under THING.

Aug. 3: Thursday show of WoF XL III (Mar. 2)

Most 7 PM Eastern airings of this episode were pre-empted from Round 1 towards the end of Round 3 due to special reports on the verdict of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial.

Whenever Devin Colbert Hall hit a BANKRUPT in this episode, he took out a tissue in his jacket pocket to wipe his eyes (he did that in Rounds 2 and 3). Amanda Kipple-Crane was the winner with an impressive $40,550 cash & Kauai (despite her bomb out with H in the Mystery Round) and she chose EVENT as her category. This type of event is held at high school or college…

_ _ _ E _ _ _ _ N _
_ _ R _ _ E

CPMA all made it…

_ _ M E C _ M _ N G
P A R A _ E

She scared me at the halfway point with WELCOMING PARADE… but got the right one of HOMECOMING PARADE with two seconds to spare for $45K and a final total of $85,550 cash & trip! Nice way to rebound after last night’s disaster!

Aug. 10: Tuesday show of Great American Cities (Apr. 18)

The maingame on this 7777th episode was all right, although the duds were a little too much. Teresa Serrano and Dirk Kappel had a decent match, though the former contestant initially left out the S at the end of the second word of SIGHTSEEING, SOUVENIRS, SCENERY in Round 1. She was the winner with $19,750 but she unfortunately picked THINGS as her category. Decent head start…

_ _ _ _ R S
_ N _ / _ _ _ T S

She picked a bad time to go with CDMA…

_ A _ _ R S
A N D / _ _ _ T S

…and her game was over. She wouldn’t be receiving any FAVORS AND GIFTS for choosing that dreaded category and calling the obvious, nor was she the second straight Ford Escape SEL owner.

At the end, Maggie brought out her dog Jak, whom she adopted a little over a year ago from the SPCA Anne Arundel County in Annapolis, MD.

🌟♂️Aug. 17: Friday show of College Week (Nov. 25)

The original airing was pre-empted on some West Coast ABC affiliates and 7 PM Eastern airings on CBS affiliates as well as some 7:30 airings due to college football.

The only good thing about this otherwise underwhelming episode was the $6K Final Spin, and Kellen Franklin just didn’t want to take ANY chances. Despite this, he was the winner with $22K cash & St. Martin and he chose WHAT ARE YOU DOING? as his category. You may want to avoid doing this while you’re sleeping…

_ _ _ _ N _ / _ _ 
_ T / N _ _ _ T

GHPI were all up there, but it’s no guarantee he would still get this…

_ _ _ I N G / _ P
_ T / N I G H T

He blew the top line with GOING OUT, BOWING OUT, and ADDING UP, so he wouldn’t be WAKING UP AT NIGHT to find a $40K check in his mailbox.

Aug. 24: Wednesday show of Fabulous Food (Oct. 19)

Boy, the Mystery Round was a mess and at one point, Nick Wagner said a FATAL DUD of G on the WINE COUNTRY trip, apparently thinking SGINNY was a word. At least we got a $10K MW win out of it by Conrad Wyld. He was the winner with $25,900 cash & Bali and he chose PHRASE as his category. He should’ve concentrated on the first word of this puzzle…

_ E _ _ N _
_ E _ S _ R E

MCDI provided a key letter on top…

_ E _ _ N D
M E _ S _ R E

…but SECOND and EVEN can’t be the first word, and I was disappointed BEYOND MEASURE that he lost $40K.

The hosts munched on hot dogs from Johnny Pastrami’s. Vanna had Pat try one of her hot dogs with ketchup, then Pat had Vanna eat one of his hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, and relish. While Vanna liked Pat’s hot dogs, both of them couldn’t believe he ate hers with ketchup (he hates that condiment).