Friday, August 16, 2013

Grand Opening (Day 4)

Last night was quite ugly. We had a dozen wrong letters and missed opportunities, but Katie still walked away with $49,650 cash and Canada. Let's hope we have a better night tonight.

Contestants: Daniel, Tony, Rachel

Toss-Up 1: Food & drink
H O T / A P P _ E
C I D _ _

Rachel drinks up some HOT APPLE CIDER for her first grand.

Toss-Up 2: Person
C _ _ L D _ O O D
F R I E N _

Tony's NOT my CHILDHOOD FRIEND, but he's earned the right to spin first!

Featured Prize: Trip to Scotland worth $9,500!

Jackpot Round: Thing

Tony can't find a T on $300. Rachel then asks for a $900 R, but buys a bad I. From here, it's all Daniel. He collects a $1,800 pair of S's (although he repeated the T; repeats are allowed) and FPs a pair of E's. After purchasing an A, he picks up the Scotland trip with a N before buying the last vowel of O. And after collecting a $1,000 (near the MDW) pair of G's...

G E O G R A _ _ _
_ E S S O N

...he passes his GEOGRAPHY LESSON for $2,300 and the trip, earning him $11,800 that round! Good job!

Wrong Letters: T (Tony), I (Rachel)
Unclaimed Jackpot: $8,100

Daniel: $11,800 cash and Scotland
Tony: $2,000 Toss-Up money
Rachel: $1,000 T.U. bucks

Mystery Round: Living thing

Rachel hopes to catch up to Daniel, but $300 won't give her an R (the first letter of her name, by the way). Daniel then lands on the MW next to LaT and finds a pair of T's. He flips it...whoops. Tony finds a $400 S and a pair of E's before calling an early dud of C on the blue 1/2-Car. Rachel then slips past $3,500 and Bankrupts, so we're coming back to Daniel. He finds an $1,100 pair of N's and collects the blue 1/2-Car with a B. After buying 2 A's, he picks up the WC with a B and calls the last consonant of L while on $500. The board now shows this...

T _ B E T A N
S P A N _ E L

Daniel DOESN'T own a TIBETAN SPANIEL, but he's $1,850 richer and has temporary possession of that Wild Card and a 1/2-Car.

Wrong Letters: R (Rachel), C (Tony)
Bankrupts: Daniel, Rachel

Daniel: $13,650 + WC + 1/2-Car
Tony: $2,000
Rachel: $1,000

Prize Puzzle: Thing

Daniel starts out with a surprising dud of T while on $400. Tony picks up the Gift Tag with a trio of R's and collects $600 from an S. But after buying 3 E's and 2 A's, he hits the dreaded white space. Lose a Turn, to be exact. Rachel then finds a $600 pair of N's and a pair of I's before going for own trip...

R E _ R E S _ I N _
_ _ E A N / A I R

...and with $350, she'll be feeling the REFRESHING OCEAN AIR of beautiful ARUBA! That vacation is worth $7,500, so she's earned $7,850 that round.

Wrong Letter: T (Daniel)
Lose a Turn: Tony

Daniel: $13,650 + WC
Tony: $2,000
Rachel: $8,850 cash and Caribbean

Toss-Up 3: Things (hey, enough with those!)
A _ T _ O N
F I G U R _ S

Rachel buys a $3K set of ACTION FIGURES, so she's moved closer to Daniel with that solve.

Round 4: Landmark

Rachel and Daniel hit LaT back-to-back. Tony grabs the obvious S for $500 (near the empty MDW), but time's ticking...

_ _ _ _ _ _ ' S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _

...and this will decide between Daniel and Rachel...consonants are worth $1,600 each (a Bankrupt next to $5K was edited out). But Tony's not out of it yet.

Tony - 2 T's!
Rachel - No R.
Daniel - 4 N's!
Tony - 3 L's!

Can Tony solve it with this setup?

L _ N _ _ N ' S
N _ T T _ N _ / _ _ L L

Nope. Rachel then BLOWS IT with an E. Daniel's next with the first letter of his name (a D)...

L _ N D _ N ' S
N _ T T _ N _ / _ _ L L

...and this is a fitting puzzle for this guy - while on his Scotland vacation, he could visit LONDON'S NOTTING HILL. Well, guess what - Rachel's mistakes have cost her the game. Wow. But Daniel wins it with another $8,000 in his pockets!

Wrong Letters: R (Rachel), E (Rachel)
Lose a Turn: Rachel, Daniel

Daniel: $21,650 + WC
Tony: $2,000
Rachel: $11,850

Maingame Winnings: Better than last night - $35,500

Bonus Round: On the map

After surviving a tight match, Daniel lands on the R in AMERICA'S.

This puzzle is a three-liner, so there's a lot of RSTLNE...

_ _ _ R L E S T _ N
_ E S T
_ _ R _ _ N _ _

This guy doesn't need his Wild Card! He's going with CHVI and his WC pick of W...

C H _ R L E S T _ N
W E S T
V I R _ I N I _

...and he nails CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA for $30K, giving him $21,650 cash and Scotland on the night! Well done!

3 comments:

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  3. Nice improvement from last episode.

    Toss-Ups: Good job to Rachel for getting two out of three.

    Round 1: Great opening round for Daniel!

    Round 2: Looks like Daniel's a gambler to me.

    Round 3: Well, at least someone else - Rachel - is cashing in big...

    Round 4: ...but her mistakes were an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. No wonder she lost.

    Bonus Round: Way too easy of a BR.

    Rating: 7.5 out of 10

    For this episode, I picked the $45,000 Hollywood location; this was the 5th-played episode.

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