New Gameplay Element: EXPRESS

I'm pretty sure all consonants on the wedge, with or without the risk, are $1,000 each.

Pat explains in at least one of the shows, "You'll get $1,000 for every consonant", so I would think that all consonants are worth $1,000 each.

I can really understand having to nix Jackpot to make this work then with $1000/letter, although I still would have replaced Mystery with this because there is $1000/letter and BANKRUPT risk in this too - and keep it in R2. I'm actually fairly impressed they came up with something so solid.

This brings up some badly needed new strategy, and it actually involves letting vowels be bought. If you can figure out the puzzle by mass buying the vowels, and it's going to be in the PP round, Express can be a serious deciding factor in the game. It makes knowing guaranteed letters more important (and knowing generic PP puzzles more important too).

Imagine Caitlin Burke having the Express wedge on I HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS, instead of whatever it was ($600?). She wouldn't need to buy any vowels, but that's... 0 2 0 2 4 2 3 - $13000 of consonants. And there will be more meaty puzzles out there sometimes.

On the down side, shorter and probably worse PPs will come up when it's budget mode time. I'll probably be griping then... :whistle:

Reminds me of the Fast Forward from The Joker's Wild. I like it.

Express...actually sounds pretty good. I don't exactly like it being in the Trip Puzzle round since the reward should be the money you've accumulated, but it's a great concept.


This is one of those times I have to seriously applaud the Wheel braintrust for coming up with something pretty decent. It seems to be more of a budget risk than Jackpot, which I kinda wasn't expecting Friedman to do, but then again...


Yeeeeeeah, I can see this being the way Harry saves money in the end.

For some time, I've seen the line going around that "It's Wheel of Fortune, not Solve Round 3 of Fortune." (or something very close to that). If anything, the presence of Express (which, again, I like) more forcefully refutes those kinds of comments.

Three other things that I haven't seen anyone address so far:
* What if a player tries to solve, and they're wrong? I'm pretty sure that'd result in a Bankrupt as well, but I could be wrong on that.
* If a player "falls off the Express" (so to speak), is the wedge still available or taken out of play?
* What if the letter called on Express, which would normally lead to the option, fills in the puzzle completely?


Of course. I fully expect Pat to make some train and/or bus-related punnery, as well.


I hope so. Odds alone say it'll stop at least one player from doing a minimal solve. I kinda don't like the fact it'll cut down on the Wheel spinning (much like a minimal solve), but at least it's better than the Trip Puzzle...although it's entirely possible at least one person will go into Express Mode and immediately solve the puzzle. Because that makes sense.

Also, Express really shouldn't be in the same place as the Trip Puzzle because any money earned will be immediately overshadowed by "ooh look a trip", which would kinda defeat what I hope is the purpose of Express.


Granted, the Trip Puzzles will still suck, but yeah.

I'm willing to bet that the Express Wedge is a redesigned version of the Jackpot Wedge; which may explain why the Jackpot Wedge appears to be on the Wheel in the first picture posted in this topic, which was taken the day before tapings started... and why it's over the $700.

-I think anything qualifying as a lost turn (repeat letter, missolve... and heaven forbid, buzzing out) = black.
-There's no reason to be done with Express after one try... odds are, any subsequent tries will be A) pretty rare, B) barely make dough. It won't be a big deal either way. We'll have to see someone fail before finding that out for sure, though.
-Very rare situation - someone would be spinning out for the final consonant on THE PRIZE PUZZLE. Will this happen at all?

I've started calling the action of Express an "Express Run" in my code. Anyone have any other names? I feel like Express Ride is a bit meh, it's a run of letters, not a ride.

I think the Express wedge sounds pretty neat. It's a nice way for a contestant to quickly rack up thousands of dollars, with the added risk of going Bankrupt if you call a bad letter. And at the very least, if one decides not to "hop aboard the Express", the wedge acts as a regular $1,000 wedge (speaking of which, the show should probably consider making $1,000 a regular dollar amount).

I wonder what kind of sound effect would play if a contestant did call a bad letter while in Express mode. I imagine it would be the regular buzzer and then the slide whistle.