Wheel of Fortune Recap: 10/13/1989

Well, this is it. The final day of the Free Spin wedge. But certainly not the final time the Free Spin is in play, it's just that the number of chips is dramatically reduced to one. Though... who's to say that they didn't use more than one chip?

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The last day where someone can rack up over 2 Free Spins. The last day of this week is here and over...



...can be won tonight since the cash and expensive merchandise is all ready on... Wheel of True Fortune! Today, these three contestants are going for the big stuff.

Bob Ackerman: He's the current champion with $26,368 in cash and Caribbean trip!
Martha Brewer: Second year medical student at UCLA. She loves to hike & bike in her spare time.
Julie Ferber: Also a student, she's studying in screen writing, looking for her Masters.

Two students and one champion, who will come out on top? Look below!



Top dollar amount for Round 1 is $1,000 and these three players are playing for cash in the first round. Here's the first puzzle, it's a Thing.



Bob gets to start since he won the backstage draw and quite a start it is... two Ts for $2,000! He then hits another big one, $750, and he calls the two Ss! But his next pick is a dud... which is an A. Martha lights up all but one letter...



Martha makes a quick $850 by solving GHOST STORY.

Bob:
Martha: $850
Julie:

Bankrupts: 0
Lose a Turns: 0
Duds: 1 (Bob - A - $3,250)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 1



Round 2 features a sparkly blue $2,500 wedge and it also features a Software City computer valued at $3,150! And on the wheel, it is labeled COMPUTER. What other category can be here but Phrase?



Martha will start the round, but she calls a dud N on the purple $200. Julie will start her spinning and she starts it with the Computer! She picks that up and calls the R for $150. Her next spins also hit $150, which she lights the T and S up on. After a few $400 hits and the E being bought, she duds with a D on that orange $400. Bob take his turn and passes it to Martha because he's also dudding with a P on the yellow $500. Martha has her turn back and she puts a couple letters up before she Bankrupts away $500. Julie does some more spinning and more buying, but with one consonant remaining, she DUDS with an H on $800! That might be a costly mistake.. or maybe not, since Bob LATs. But she won't be getting her turn back, since Martha calls the F...



She solves OUT OF A CLEAR BLUE SKY for $150, which is bumped to the house minimum of $200.

Bob:
Martha: $1,050
Julie:

Bankrupts: 1 (Martha - $500)
Lose a Turns: 1 (Bob - $0)
Duds: 4 (Bob - P - $0), (Martha - N - $0), (Julie - D, H - $1,000 + Computer, $1,500 + Computer)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 0



Just barely over $1,000 given away so far, but $3,500 is here to make sure that big money will be won! The next puzzle is Before & After and it's a huge one!



Julie will start the round and she puts the Ts up before she duds with an S on $450. Bob gets two pairs of Rs in the puzzle, but then hits Bankrupt again to lose $800. Martha does some spinning and buying, including two Bs worth $2,000 along the way! With $3,400...



...she will solve LONDON BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER!

Bob:
Martha: $4,450
Julie:

Bankrupts: 1 (Bob - $800)
Lose a Turns: 0
Duds: 1 (Julie - S - $900)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 0
$1,000 Hits: 1



We need to raise the scores and that $5,000 may be able to do it! Also on the wheel is a pin, but not just any ordinary pin, it's a kangaroo pin valued at $5,000 (marked PIN)! There's a Thing on the puzzleboard.



Bob will be starting this fourth round and he starts it with a $500 S, but what he got from that is going to Bankrupt. Martha spins, but she finds a dud T on the pink $350. Now it's Julie's turn and she call the R before she calls the dud N on $700. Back to Bob and he lights up a few letters before hitting Bankrupt again! Martha starts her turn again by calling a V on $1,500! She buys and spins more, before she ends up with a dud P on $400. Julie calls the Gs on the big $900, finishing up the consonants...



...she's able to rack up some money with GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, $2,300 to be exact!

Bob: Unlucky
Martha: $4,450
Julie: $2,300

Bankrupts: 2 (Bob (2) - $500, $850)
Lose a Turns: 0
Duds: 3 (Martha (2) - T, P - $0, $1,250), (Julie - N - $500)
Missolves: 0
Top Dollar Hits: 0
$1,500 Hits: 1

Low Maingame Winnings: $6,750



Not much was won today, but Martha won enough to go to the Bonus Round. Today's four prizes are a BMW convertible worth over $35,000, a van valued at over $34,000, His & Hers watches, the tag has $23,000 on it, and the prize that's always nice, $25,000 in cash! Four cards to choose from, which one will she go for?



Martha grabs that H card, which contains something good, we'll see what it is in a moment. But first, she must conquer a Person, which probably doesn't mean Proper Name.



The package department will be delivering some RSTLNE.



Time for Martha to do some selecting, CDMA is what she wants.



Well, 60% of the puzzle is revealed, 40% still blanks, will she be able to win this Bonus Round?



Yes she does! Now, that H card holds a grat prize, but which one? It's... the watches valued at $22,400! That bumps her one day total all the way up to $26,850 in cash and watches, she'll be back on Monday's show, which I've already recapped!