December 23, 1988 recap | Buy a Vowel Boards

December 23, 1988 recap Mar 6, 2021 17:21:31 GMT -5

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Post by mechamind on Mar 6, 2021 17:21:31 GMT -5

Airdate: December 23, 1988

Look at this studio filled with fabulous bonus prizes including:

A Lake Tahoe vacation home!
A pair of cars!
A grand piano!

Plus thousands of dollars in cash!

Over $177,000 just waiting to be won on...

Wheel of Fortune!

Today's contestants:
Jan Johnson: Farmer's daughter and farmer's mother, from Tecumseh, OK
Don Weston: Retired and former elementary school principal, from Sun Lakes, AZ
Eric Ciber: Works in a major investment banking firm on Wall Street, from Manalapan, NJ

The top-dollar value on the Wheel is $1,000. We are playing for cash, and here's our first puzzle:

Round 1

THINGS

JAN	Don	Eric
$800: S $200: T $400: R (DUD!)	$300: N (x3) (Stopped spin) (Resume at $750) $750: L -$250: A (x5) $350: P (x2) Solve: Correct!
$1,000	$2,100

THINGS

Don solves APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS.

Jan	Don	Eric
	$2,100

Coming closer to Christmas, we ought to offer you another prize. You might like a Sam Moore easy chair, Riverside wood desk, Baldwin brass accessories, and Panasonic office package (labeled OFFICE) totaling $2,775.

Build yourself a mountain of cash with a $2,500 space on the Wheel!

Round 2

TITLE

Jan	DON	Eric
	$300: N $300: L $2,500: T (DUD!)	$500: S (DUD!)
	$600
$200: D (x2) -$250: E (DUD!)	-$250: O $2,500: "Buy a W." Solve: Correct!
$150	$2,850

TITLE

Don solves WILD KINGDOM.

Jan	Don	Eric
	$4,950

You really gotta give us another super short puzzle, don't you? Well, the $3,500 space could still be very helpful.

Round 3

THING

Jan	Don	ERIC
		$400: T (DUD!)

$500: N (DUD!)	$200: L (x2) BANKRUPT! ($400)	$300: S (x2) BANKRUPT! ($600)

$900: D (DUD!)	$3,500: P $250: K (DUD!)	$200: C (DUD!)
	$3,500
$600: R -$250: A $200: X Only vowels left! Solve: Correct!
$550

THING

Jan solves SOLAR PLEXUS.

Jan	Don	Eric
$550	$4,950

We'll try and offer another early present. The next prize is a Sitmar Cruises Panama Canal cruise (labeled CRUISE) worth $5,630.

We can do just a bit better at scoring that Big Money, so try for the $5,000 space on the Wheel!

Round 4

SAME NAME

JAN	Don	Eric
$900: N (x4) $350: D -$250: A (x3) -$250: E $900: T $900: W (x2) Solve: Correct!
$6,150

SAME NAME

Perfection! Jan solves VANNA AND SNOW WHITE.

Jan	Don	Eric
$6,700	$4,950

Vanna must have brought us good luck again, and she's bringing us another puzzle!

Round 5

THING

Jan	DON	Eric
	$800: N (x2) BANKRUPT! ($1,600)	$200: G Lose A Turn!
		$200
$5,000: S (x2) -$250: I (x2) -$250: E -$250: A (DUD!)
$9,250

THING

DING DING! DING DING!

Time is running out, and Pat must give the Wheel a Final Spin. Consonants will be worth... $5,000 a piece!

Don: B ($5,000)

THING

Don solves BURNING ISSUE to take back his win!

Jan	Don	Eric
$6,700	$9,950

Eric didn't get too many chances to play, and the puzzles weren't easy, so now he's stuck with the nice parting gifts.

BONUS ROUND:

It's beginning to feel like Christmas for Don, our big winner! He can try for one of...

Baldwin grand piano ($31,500)

Timeshare vacation home in Lake Tahoe ($38,250)

His-and-hers automobiles (over $31,000)

Diamond earclips and ring ($43,000)

"Good ol' American cash" ($25,000)

He'll mull it over, and after that, he's playing for...

"Good ol' American cash" ($25,000)

All he has left is this puzzle:

Bonus Puzzle

PHRASE

RSTLNE gives him:

PHRASE

His choices of MCKA are quite good.

PHRASE

He instantly solves LUCKY BREAK to keep the cash! Don is leaving with $34,950 in total!

In the post-game, Vanna plays some piano on the Baldwin. While she does, Pat sings I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...but he's a little off.