February 19, 2015 recap

Remember, ADJECTIVES ADJECTIVES ADJECTIVES! NO MORE SHORT PUZZLES! Not even Toss-Ups!

Every time a contestant starts a round with the MDW Bankrupt the more I think Harry had a reason for moving the MDW.

I once wrote a puzzle very similar to R2 for a mock game a few years ago, except I wrote the Before as "ARE YOU AFRAID..." after an old Nickelodeon show.

This remote is becoming very depressing in the BR department, almost to NYC levels. NONE of the wins so far have been for anything other than 32K, and contestants keep wasting guesses on stuff with RSTLNE or revealed letters 1-2 monitors away. -_-

What's the logic behind a trip to New York being nearly 10K and one to Australia being under 7K? The Australia trip should've been the PP, NOT the more expensive/less abroad one. :hammer: Why can't they ever have trips that cheap as the PP?

I thought it might be the Distance Rule but if they're flying out of Honolulu then the difference between flying to Sydney and flying to NYC is less than a hundred miles. The More You Know (tm)

Great recap, Mario! I finally get to watch an episode this week on the same night it airs, and my one proud moment was solving Round 4/Speed Up with just the 2 R's. The 2K Toss Up sounded awkward in my head, but hey, can't argue when it speaks the truth at that moment. I was little confused on trip values of the Wheel Prize and Prize Puzzles but quickly reasoned that it must have something to do with flying from Hawaii. I really enjoyed watching the good-hearted sportsmanship and camaraderie among Dawn, Michelle, and Wiba during each solved-puzzle celebration. That's how the game should be played -- never forget to share the fun -- way to go! <<makes Michelle's signature hand gesture with thumb and pinky>>

Good lord, most of the puzzles either used an adjective and/or sound dumb when said out loud. The bonus puzzle in particular gave me flashbacks to that BEST BOYHOOD BUDDIES stinker.

The more I look at the puzzles over the past few years, and given Harry's explained how puzzles make it onto the show, the more I think the staff actually does submit perfectly reasonable puzzles and Friedman's the one who adds the adjectives or other dopiness to 'em (possibly even using that handy little sheet Mario originally had in the OP).

Still, hey, the decade categories aren't dead after all! (Although really, why not use The 2000's?) I did like Dawn's missolve, though.

Your optimal Bonus Round picks for February 19, 2015:
* I'm not 100% sure, since Harry evidently thought BUDDIES by itself was too easy and GYM by itself was too hard -- I'll go with GYDU(B).


And by doing so, you wrote a better puzzle than Harry Friedman did.


Pretty sure they want the trip that's more likely to be taken (the one that's less tax-intensive) to have to be earned by the players, with the more tax-intensive trip handed out like a complimentary mint because it's less likely to be taken. (Plus, it makes the scores look "prettier".)

Man, I remember when trips were one of the many prizes on offer, as opposed to being one of the only kinds. Makes me feel old.