Monday, November 8, 2010

WHEN ONLY THE SECOND-MOST-AMAZING THING IS THE STATE OF PAT SAJAK'S COIFFURE:  A woman solves a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune rather quickly.  How awesome is it?  Well, look: in the near-eight years that this blog has been in existence, we've never had reason to link to a Wheel clip before now.

added:  Via an Althouse reader, Caitlin Burke explains how she did it:


18 comments:

  1. I'd like a Z, the number 4, a Q, another Q, a third Q, and the Batman symbol.

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  2. kenedy jane10:25 PM

    Favorite part was when she said she wanted to solve and Sajak responded something like, 'uh... okay'.

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  3. Daniel Fienberg10:46 PM

    Between this, that "Jeopardy" semi-scandal and "Slumdog Millionaire," I got really nervous watching that clip, because I expected them to return from the prize package to Pat Sajak beating her with a bag of oranges...

    Genuine discomfort...

    -Daniel

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  4. Jeoparody scandal?

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  5. Don't forget the The Price Is Right semi-scandal.

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  6. Benner9:22 AM

    TH_   CAT   _N  TH_  HAT.  

    "I'd like to buy a vowel, please?"  

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  7. The Pathetic Earthling9:38 AM

    I'm with Jeff.  What Jeopardy scandal?

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  8. I think it's weird that it is such a big deal.  I've solved them before with no letters, and I don't think I'm particularly sleuthy. What i don't understand is why if she knew it before she chose her letter, she didn't go with a G, which would have tripled her cash.

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  9. She said she thought the second word was either "I've" or "I'll."  Choosing "L" helped her to confirm that her answer was correct.

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  10. She said she thought the first word was either "I've" or "I'll."  Choosing "L" helped her to confirm that her answer was correct.

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  11. Joseph J. Finn1:17 PM

    You get a million points and my first-born for the Grifters reference.

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  12. DensityDuck2:58 PM

    I'm not really surprised that she jumped on the solution--"Wheel" has a nasty tendency to get stuck giving everyone Bankrupt.

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  13. Marsha3:02 PM

    I saw the video last night, and tried to solve it with just her "L" - I got as far as "I've got a" and might have been able to get the whole thing with a bit  more time. Jake is absolutely right on why she chose the L.

    This is fun and indeed impressive, but not out of the realm of what a reasonably good player can do.

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  14. The way she explained it in the clip, she knew the answer while the other guy was going and had already ruled out the "I'll" option by her turn.

    I had the same thoughts as Slick (on the g and on the "what's the big deal?"), but that is what makes us such good, word-nerd friends. 

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  15. The Pathetic Earthling3:26 PM

    I seem to recall I solved a puzzle with just two letters: an A and an S with "Movie Roles" as the category

    A _ _ _ _ _
    S _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
    _ _
    _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 



    * * * *
    Being Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator -- there aren't many actors with a 14-letter last name, but still -- sometimes you see it.  I recall another woman getting "GRAVY BOAT" on the final puzzle with " _ R _ _ _    _ O _ T  on "Around the House"

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  16. She may have "known," as in "had a very strong hunch," but it's difficult to believe that she could have been 100% certain that no other plausible answer existed.  Given the opportunity to confirm, I think she did the smart thing, because the prizes were worth significantly more than the extra cash she would have won by picking "G."  Clearly, her goal was to win the prizes and not to maximize her cash, because otherwise she may have elected to risk bankruptcy and keep spinning.

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  17. Doubt anyone's still looking at this thread, but I came to eat some crow.  Burke told Esquire that she should have picked G or T rather than L.

    http://www.esquire.com/blogs/chris-jones/wheel-of-fortune-one-letter

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  18. Is it "Alex Karras in Webster"?

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