My personal say...not experience yet, but it will be someday. Info is what you should study as of S31; courtesy Mario on the wheels; Guint's site for puzzles. As so for now, this is what I've got:
Your week will mostly likely have 6 shows; 5 of which will be whatever week it is, and the 6th show is America's Game, though it will still have the same theme puzzles/show set. Themed puzzles are traditionally the first toss-up, the first round, something out of a brochure for round 3, and sometimes round 4 will have (though certainly not always, UNlike the other themes I've mentioned) a puzzle themed around victory (i.e.: TAKING A VICTORY LAP).
Basic advice: If/when you get to the Bonus Round, pick BGHO; if you have the Wild Card, pick F for your letter. BGHO wins bonus round puzzles about double the rate that of CDMA (about 43% success vs. 21% success). Other commonly used letters that sometimes appear in the bonus round are C, P, W, K, Y, I, and the rarely seen Q (actual puzzles like HIGH QUALITY, PARQUET FLOOR, QUILTED HANDBAG, SQUEAKING BY, EQUAL FOOTING, QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE, QUICK PEEK, SQUARE KNOT, PROPER TECHNIQUE, OFFICE EQUIPMENT, SQUAT DOWN, CLOTHING BOUTIQUE, AWARD PLAQUE, FOUR QUARTS, SQUARE FOOTAGE, QUITE A JOLT, UNIQUE FLAVOR, TRIVIA QUIZ, QUIRK OF FATE, SQUEAKY CLEAN, GIANT SQUID, DIRECT QUOTE, LIQUID SOAP come to mind, of bonus round puzzles with Qs in them over the past 5 or so seasons, if you want to know some, hehe). Of course, that's crazy hard to remember in the heat of the moment, I know that one for sure...but, hey, never know, just in case. Also, if the bonus round is one word, which it likely won't be, but in case it is, there's about a 90% chance it's a compound word, which could potentially save you some thinking. Prizes on the bonus round include, from a 24 space bonus wheel: $30,000 (mostly this!), $35000, $40,000, $45,000, $50,000, $100,000, one million dollars (see million dollar wedge for more details), or a car, likely in the $23-30,000 range, which comes with some additional cash along with it, as a tax buffer.
If your week is a Sandals, resort, tropical, or anything of that sort, week, there are a lot of probable words that will show up that'd I'd study. Try to memorize these buzzwords for your week, if at all possible: BEACH, TROPICAL, RELAX, PARADISE, BAR, POOL, SUNSHINE, SAND, and WARM. At least two of them will surely come up during various puzzles, throughout your game. Book it.
If the puzzle has the category What are You Doing?, first pick N, then G, and then I. 99% of the time the first word will end in -ING. If the puzzle has the category Same Name, and there's not an ampersand (&) in the puzzle, one of the words is assuredly AND. Thus, N, D, and A are surefire locks.
Another thing, it's my personal strategy only, so feel free to disregard, but as soon as you have $1,250 or above in spendable cash, buy as many vowels as possible. Logical order is E, A, O, I, U, though sometimes the last 2 are unnecessary at that point. Also, if let's say the puzzle is BUTTERED BLUEBERRY MUFFIN, but it reads -UTTERED -LUEBERRY MUFFIN, you should absolutely go for any multiples, which is any more than one of any given consonant in a puzzle (in this case, B), before you solve, in Round 1 or 2. Round 3, given it's got Express and a 100% chance of trip+camcorder to whoever solves it, I would solve round 3 AS SOON AS I KNOW IT, if I were you. Why? 21.5% of players win their game simply because they solved round 3.
Once you've gotten the vowels in place, you're likely to know remaining multiples, as the puzzle at this point is likely rather simple to solve, in my experiences. Save these for higher figures on the Wheel! That way, you can maximize your earnings, and get even more money on the big money spaces (2500, 3500, 5000) as need be. Here's some images of the Wheel, from Round 1 to Round 4, so you know the layout.
Round 1:
postimg.org/image/4g02jsxf9/Round 2:
postimg.org/image/41yqk7dbp/Round 3:
postimg.org/image/oby13oom3/Round 4 (and thereafter):
postimg.org/image/40osqsbhx/Given each wedge has 3 spokes in between it, with 24 wedges, that's 72 total spaces of possible landing. Now, let's say it's round 2 for example, and you land on the left part of the 3500 (three more right, and you'd be on bankrupt). You then spin again to land on the right hand side of the yellow $900 (one more, and you'd be on the Wild Card). That means your spin traveled 68 spaces. Now you can't aim the Wheel, it's not allowed, but given you get a few practice spins at the thing (it is HEAVY, at 2400 pounds), you can tell your average of how many spaces your spins go, on average, that you can calculate out, if you're not too nervous. If you calculate your next spin is likely to be a Lose a Turn or bankrupt, I'd try to buy vowels, if at all possible, to to try to avoid hitting those dreadful spaces! Note that your body WILL get tired of spinning eventually, and your average spin power, as I like to call it, will probably drop by 1 or two spokes (like, if you were at the above mentioned 68 initially, you'd drop to 66 or 67), by, at latest, Round 3.
What's Express? Well, first off, it's only see in round 3, if you land on Express; GO FOR IT. If you land on it, you get $1,000 per consonant that is in the puzzle, and Pat will ask you if you want to board the Express. If you decline, you spin again, buy a vowel, as you normally would. However, you ride it, and you take over the round, and stop spinning; you continue to call all consonants at $1,000 each, or buying vowels for $250 each, as well. The catch? You pick a letter (consonant or vowel, either way) that isn't in the puzzle, and it's the equal to the bankrupt. Ditto with an incorrect puzzle solution, bye money and wedges! You also in no way should be solving on express before you have all consonants filled in, in addition to any vowel spaces you just are not sure of. Better safe than sorry!
Notes on Free Play (all rounds): Yes, the people at the audition said use it for vowels. I personally think this is silly. I'd use it for consonants that are either uncommon or that you are unsure of. Let's take this example puzzle, a Same Name: BR-WN & -A-A BEAR. If you picked the vowel, O, that wouldn't help a bit! In contrast, if you picked a logical consonant, M or P, here, even if you were wrong, you'd be on Free Play, not lose your turn, and you'd know what this puzzle is (MAMA or PAPA), as a result. See the difference?
Wild Card notes (seen in rounds 1-3): I'd personally use it on 2500, 3500, (5000, though rarely so) if given the chance, given it gets bankrupted a lot. Otherwise, save it for the Bonus Round if you win, to save it for that F!
Mystery Wedge (round 2) notes: One with 10K, one with bankrupt. You risk what you have to go for 10K. Pretty self explanatory. Though the wedges look kinda different now, given all the wear and tear they have have been through, over the years. If you get the $10,000, it is not spendable cash, in that you can't use it to buy vowels.
Million Dollar Wedge: Should you land on this, I would not risk going for the mystery wedge, but would risk doing so, for the Express. To win the million dollars, you must pick up this wedge, solve the puzzle, avoid hitting a bankrupt the rest of the show to take it away, win the maingame, hit the spot where the (replaced) $100,000 envelope would be (1/24 chance of this), solve the puzzle, and it's yours. It's that easy.
Trip Wedge: What it sounds like. It's likely a 6 night stay at a hotel. Whether you want to risk this or not is really personal choice, in how much you value a trip (I would considerably, given it's worth a lot, and I love traveling), and how much the destination appeals to you (or doesn't). This wedge only lasts the first two rounds. You pick it up, you don't lose it to bankrupt, you solve the puzzle, it's yours.
Gift Tag: See Trip Wedge, except it's $1,000 from a random sponsor, like eBay, SunglassesHut, or, my personal favorite, Omaha Steaks (Peyton Manning not included). This isn't spendable, and is won and/or in the same fashion as the Trip Wedge.
1/2 Car notes: Seen in rounds 1-3. To win this car (usually a small car, like a Ford Fiesta or SmartCar), you have to pick up two 1/2 Car plates. If you have one of two, then you do not have to solve to keep it. However, to win the full car, you must solve while you have both in your possession. If you and another player EACH have a 1/2 car tag, then a 3rd tag is added to the wheel.
Notes: Free Play, 1/2 Car, Trip Wedge, Wild Card, and Gift Tag all payout $500 per letter you find in the puzzle when you land on them, in addition to being picked up. Express gives you $1,000 per letter, whether or not you choose to ride it, and the Mystery Wedge will pay $1,000 per consonant found in the puzzle that you find, but only if you choose not to flip it over. The Million Dollar Wedge pays out no money for all consonants you find.
One last thing...the actual show resuses puzzles from the previous few seasons. A LOT, basically a good 80% of the time of the puzzles you'll see. So, I present this site to you:
sites.google.com/site/wheeloffortunepuzzlecompendium/home/compendium It's basically got all the puzzles over the past 5 years, and then basically tens of thousands more, stretching back to 1975. This is also overwhelming, so study the recent (I'd suggest season 27, 28) puzzles, if you're up for it.
