Start It Right! (Episode 4)
We're doing so well this week...let's keep it up!
Tonight's contestants:
Tony Garcia: Mechanic going back to school from Houston, TX
Stephanie Marone: Local actress from Colorado Springs, CO
Jennifer Terry: Garden store owner from Durham, OR
Toss-Up 1: Food & drink
S M _ K _ D
S A _ M _ _
Tony eats up some SMOKED SALMON for his first bit of money.
Toss-Up 2: Event
_ I _ _ O / D E
_ _ _ O
Tony celebrates CINCO DE MAYO to triple up.
Trip on the Wheel: Maine, $5,000
Jackpot Round: Phrase
Tony picks up the blue 1/2-Car with a trio of N's. After purchasing two I's, he picks up the Wild Card with an H. Vanna explains that you can use you can use your Wild Card to call a consonant to earn what you just landed on. You can also use your Wild Card to call a fourth consonant in the Bonus Round. Anyway, Tony also picks up the MDW with three T's! Vanna explains that to win a million dollars, you have to solve the puzzle, pick up the MDW, not hit Bankrupt, land on the right Bonus Round card, solve that puzzle, and win the big bucks! But then the man calls an A for awful to leave $1,250 and his cardboard sitting there...and worse, he meant to call an E. Darn. Stephanie finds a $300 L and a pair of E's (a total slap on Tony's wrist)...
_ L _ / I N / T H E
_ I N T _ E N T
...before catching a FLY IN THE OINTMENT for the $950 remainder. Bad playing by this lady. She should've gone on for those other consonants. At least Tony still has his Wild Card.
Jackpot Left Behind: Just $5,800. That's surprising.
Tony: $3,000 Toss-Up money + Wild Card
Stephanie: $1,000
Jennifer: $0
Mystery Round: On the map (one-liner)
Stephanie starts out with a quartet of S's worth two grand. After buying the same number of I's (that's the only vowel)...
_ I S S I S S I _ _ I
...she IDs the state of MISSISSIPPI for the $1,750 leftover. More bad playing; she should've at least gone on for those P's.
Tony: $3,000 + Wild Card
Stephanie: $2,750
Jennifer: $0
Prize Puzzle: Living things
Jennifer, who hasn't even spun yet, can't pick up the pink 1/2-Car thanks to a wrong letter in L. Tony lights up $1,200 worth of two N's and picks up the Gift Tag with a trio of R's. But then Lose a Turn bites him, so off to barely-even-spinnin' Stephanie we go. But her turn ends quickly as she makes a bad call in C while on $900. Jennifer then finds $1,800 worth a pair of S's, then picks up the 1/2-Car Stephanie just landed on with a T. She purchases A's and I's - two of each - but then buys an E for trouble. Tony lights up a grand thanks to a couple of D's, then finds $1,200 worth two M's, then tries to solve...but spins instead, and lights up an $800 D (it could've been Lose a Turn coming his way AGAIN). Now for the solve...
P A R R _ T S / A N D
_ _ M M I N _ _ I R D S
...and with $4,200 and the gift tag, Tony can catch some PARROTS AND HUMMINGBIRDS on his $8,000 trip to COSTA RICA! He's earned $13,200 that round! That's how you make up for a bad Jackpot Round blunder!
Tony: $16,200 cash, gift tag, and Costa Rica + Wild Card
Stephanie: $2,750
Jennifer: STILL $0
Toss-Up 3: Phrase
T H A T ' S / T _ E
S P I _ _ _
THAT'S THE SPIRIT, Jennifer - you've earned your first three grand with that solve! And the other players tell her, "Good job!" Stephanie gives her a high five, too! The audience is REALLY excited for her, and so are Pat, Vanna, and Jim.
Round 4: Person
Jennifer starts out with a $400 R, then hits the same wedge and gets a T. After buying an E, we go into Final Spin mode...
...with consonants worth $1,550 each.
Jennifer - 2 A's!
Tony - The hot letter of 3 L's!
_ _ _ T _ A L L
_ L A _ E R
Tony knows a FOOTBALL PLAYER or two, so he's sealed the deal with another $4,650 in his pockets!
Tony: $20,850 + Wild Card
Stephanie: $2,750
Jennifer: $3,000 T.U. bucks
Bonus Round: Occupation
Our big leader lands on the first A in AMERICA'S.
RSTLNE fill in 1/4 of the puzzle...
_ _ T _
_ E _ _ _ N _ _
Tony's going with CGMA and his Wild Card choice of Y (probably thinking the first word is CITY)...
A _ T _
M E C _ A N _ C
Well, what a fitting puzzle for Tony! He's an AUTO MECHANIC, as Pat points out, but he doesn't have to fix up the brand-new $70,000 Hybrid Sedan he just won! He leaves us with $90,850, cash, gift tag, Costa Rica, and car! Very well-played by this man!
Tony's Gift Tag is a Fountain from Washington, DC! We have all the gift tags from that area! There are three per city.
Tony was great tonight!
ReplyDeleteToss-Ups: Good job to Tony for getting the first two. And great to see Jennifer get the last one! Everyone was happy for her!
Round 1: Tough break for Tony after all that work. And Stephanie shouldn't have played like that.
Round 2: Stephanie probably shouldn't win the game by now...
Round 3: ...and won't. Good. Nicely done by Tony!
Round 4: Nice way for Tony to seal the deal! I'll forgive Stephanie a bit for being a good sport, but she was just a bad player. No wonder she never had a turn here.
Bonus Round: Wow, RSTLNE really fooled me. This Bonus Round is so appropriate for Tony!
Rating: 9 out of 10. It would've been a perfect 10 if Stephanie wasn't playing so badly. Still a great episode.
I picked the Washington, DC location worth $35,000 for this episode (how appropriate since we have all the DC props); this was the 4th-played episode.
Anyone notice we're on the verge of a PERFECT BONUS ROUND WEEK? We may have one if the contestants have their way.