RECAP EXAMPLE: Tuesday, September 18

Jim: From the deck of the beautiful cruise ship Fortune's Wheel, here's Pat Sajak and Vanna White!
Pat to Vanna: Welcome to Cruise Week! Have [chuckles] fun at the puzzleboard.

Well folks, you just read something pretty exciting last post...Laney Sorrentino won $122,900 cash last night (including the $100,000 prize)! Will more big winnings follow? Let's find out as we cruise our way through "On the Water" Week: Day 2.

Time to hop aboard with a Toss-Up...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
EVENT

Ding!

_ A _ L _ N G
A D V E _ T _ R _
EVENT

Grayson solves SAILING ADVENTURE.

Grayson: $1,000
Albert: $0
Cherise: $0

Our next guests (we don't refer to them as passengers)? Here they are.
Grayson Chandler: A professional skier from Medford, OR
Albert Nixon: A camp counselor and Navy veteran (he has my salute!) from Jonesboro, GA
Cherise Dornan: A 5th-grade teacher from Flushing, NY (in Queens)

Let's start up another Toss-Up:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _
THING

Ding!

_ E _ _ _ _ _ U _
_ _ U _ / _ A T E _
THING

Grayson quickly triples up with BEAUTIFUL BLUE WATER.

Grayson: $3,000
Albert: $0
Cherise: $0

Tonight's featured cruise is of Maine's Bar Islands, and it's worth $5,000!

And we have a Jackpot awaiting us...
_ _ _ / _ / _ _ _ _ _
_ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _
PHRASE

Grayson
$500 - 2 T's
1 E
$300 - 1 H
WILD - No R
Current Bank: $1,050

_ _ T / _ / _ _ _ _ _
_ _ / T H E / _ _ _
PHRASE

Albert
$900 - 1 S
1 A
FREE PLAY - 2 O's
1/2-CAR ($450) - 2 N's
GIFT - 1 L!
$300 - 1 C
BANKRUPT btw. $2500/$300 ($1,950 + GIFT + 1/2-CAR gone)

N O T / A / C L O _ _
_ N / T H E / S _ _
PHRASE

Cherise
$300 - 1 D
$600 - 1 K
$450 - 1 Y
No more consonants!
Solve attempt...
Current Bank: $1,350

N O T / A / C L O _ D
_ N / T H E / S K Y
PHRASE

NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY for Cherise.

WRONG LETTER: R (Grayson)
BANKRUPT: Albert ($1,950 + GIFT + 1/2-CAR)
UNCLAIMED JACKPOT: $9,350

Grayson: $3,000
Albert: $0
Cherise: $1,350

Our first minigame of the night is 2nd Guess Bonus Round. This one's from March 31, 2010, during Hawaii Week:
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
EVENT

RSTLNE:
_ _ _ T _
_ _ N _ S _
EVENT

CMYA...ZERO.

Albert...still solves PHOTO FINISH!

Grayson: 0
Albert: 1
Cherise: 1

$30,000 was lost.

Two Mystery wedges...one of them could mean a treasure chest.
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
THINGS

Albert
WILD - 1 S
MDW's left side (WILD gone)

_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ S
THINGS

Cherise
$900 - No T

Grayson
FREE PLAY - No E
$600 - 1 R
1 A
$900 - No N
Current Bank: $350

_ _ _ _ A R
_ _ _ _ S
THINGS

Albert
Maine - 1 D!
$300 - 1 B
1 I
$900 - 4 L's!
No more consonants!
Solve attempt...
Current Bank: $3,650 + Maine

D _ L L A R
B _ L L S
THINGS

PRIZE WIN! Albert solves DOLLAR BILLS!

WRONG LETTERS: T (Cherise), E (Grayson on FP), N (Grayson)
BANKRUPT: Albert (WILD)

Grayson: $3,000
Albert: $8,650
Cherise: $1,350

Now we've got a game!

Let's win another prize - winning Most Frequent.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
FOOD & DRINK

Albert will start.

Consonants: 3 R's, 2 S's, 1 T, No N, No L, No C, No D, 1 M, 1 H
Vowels: 2 O's, 2 E's, 1 A

There's a TIE btw. Albert and Cherise at 5 letters each, so let's do a Tiebreaker.

Letters: No F, 1 B

Grayson: 3
Albert: 5
Cherise: 6

R A S _ B E R R _
S M O O T H _ E
FOOD & DRINK

Cherise solves RASPBERRY SMOOTHIE.

Grayson: 0
Albert: 1
Cherise: 1

Let's start Round 3!
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
SHOW BIZ

Why am I so excited? Because it's our...
PRIZE PUZZLE!

Cherise
LOSE A TURN

Grayson
$350 - 2 S's
6 A's!
$600 - No T
Current Bank: $450

S A _ _ A
_ A _ _ _ / A S
_ _ _ _ A
_ A _ _ _
SHOW BIZ

Albert
$600 - 1 R
1 E
BANKRUPT near $3500 ($350 gone)

S A _ _ A
_ A _ E _ / A S
_ R _ _ A
_ A _ _ _
SHOW BIZ

Cherise
$300 - 2 H's
$300 - 2 L's
MDW's right side ($1,200 gone)...She's so sad!

S A L _ A
H A _ E _ / A S
_ R _ _ A
_ A H L _
SHOW BIZ

Grayson
$900 - No C

Albert
LOSE A TURN

Cherise
ONE MILLION - 1 M!
$600 - 1 Y
$500 - 1 D
BANKRUPT btw. $3500/$300 ($1,100 + MDW gone)...UGH. Everyone's mad.

S A L M A
H A Y E _ / A S
_ R _ D A
_ A H L _
SHOW BIZ

Grayson
$3500 - 2 K's! Close call there (almost went down to zero).
$400 - 1 F
No more consonants again!
Solve attempt...
Current Bank: $7,850

S A L M A
H A Y E K / A S
F R _ D A
K A H L _
SHOW BIZ

Grayson FINALLY solves SALMA HAYEK AS FRIDA KAHLO for a $6,500 trip to Mexico City! Total that round: $14,350!

WRONG LETTERS: T (Grayson), C (Grayson)
BANKRUPTS: Albert ($350), Cherise ($1,200), Cherise again ($1,100 + MDW)
LOSE A TURN: Cherise ($0), Albert ($0)

Grayson: $17,350
Albert: $8,650
Cherise: $1,350

That was a VERY UGLY ROUND.

Recovering from that nasty round will be easy. All we have to do is play a minigame we call High/Low.

Grayson: $350
Albert: $500 (former 1/2-CAR)
Cherise: $700

Vanna picks the high amount, so Cherise has a good chance at having better luck.

_ / B I G
P R O M _ T _ _ N
_ I T H / _
_ A Y / _ _ I _ _
EVENT

Cherise almost messes it up with A BIG PROMOTION WITH A DAY...but quickly changes it to PAY RAISE!

Grayson: 0
Albert: 1
Cherise: 2

And Cherise is your new Minigame Champ! Great!

Let's do a Toss-Up now.
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
FICTIONAL CHARACTER

Ding!

_ O C T O _
D _ L _ _ T L _
FICTIONAL CHARACTER

Cherise solves DOCTOR DOLITTLE.

Grayson: $17,350
Albert: $8,650
Cherise: $4,350

Round 4, comin' at ya!
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
EVENT

Cherise
$800 - No N

Grayson
$550 - 1 T
2 E's
Current Bank: $300

_ _ _ _ _
_ E _ T _ E _
EVENT

Ding 4x!
Time is definitely running short. Pat spins up...$300, so consonants are worth $1,300 apiece.

Letters: 1 R, No C, No S, 2 H's

H _ _ _ _
_ E _ T H E R
EVENT

Grayson solves HUMID WEATHER for $4,200.

WRONG LETTER (before the FS): N (Cherise)
WRONG LETTERS (after the FS): C (Albert), S (Cherise)

Grayson: $21,550
Albert: $8,650
Cherise: $4,350

Interesting that everyone's total ends in -50.

Maingame Winnings: $34,550
Bankrupt Trash: $5,500 + WILD + 1/2-CAR + MDW

Grayson got out of a quite brutal maingame. Could he earn more green or a Sports Utility Vehicle? He lands on the E in AMERICA'S, so no $100,000 tonight.
_ _ _ / _ _ _
FICTIONAL CHARACTER

RSTLNE:
T _ _ / _ _ T
FICTIONAL CHARACTER

MBCO:
T O _ / C _ T
FICTIONAL CHARACTER

No answer. It was TOP CAT (produced by Hanna-Barbera, who made Scooby-Doo) and he loses $45,000. Final total: $21,550.

My rating: 6