# Wheel of Fortune win with one letter **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034 "2010-11-09T14:41:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/21 "2010-11-09T17:32:17Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > A few weeks ago, I got a Final Jeopardy from just the category. Now that was talent (and a whole lot of luck). I did that once. The category was US Presidents and I immediately said, “Grover Cleveland”. The answer was something like: “He was the only President elected twice without being consecutive.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/22 "2010-11-09T17:43:07Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > You do that too? I love throwing out a guess when they reveal the category. “Eleanor Roosevelt!” “The Teapot Scandal!” “New Delhi!” I get one right maybe once a year. (And no, I don’t have to put it in the form of question in my own house.) > [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > I did that once. The category was US Presidents and I immediately said, “Grover Cleveland”. The answer was something like: “He was the only President elected twice without being consecutive.” It was only about a month ago, so no fair if you remember it. Category: Alliterative Athletes.Who are Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/23 "2010-11-09T17:44:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > A few weeks ago, I got a Final Jeopardy from just the category. Now that was talent (and a whole lot of luck). I haven’t watched Jeopardy in years but I used to watch in religiously with my college housemates in the late 80’s. We’d always try to guess the Final by just the category and one of us would get it every few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/24 "2010-11-09T18:18:49Z")
A lot of contestants seem to guess the phrase after only 1 or 2 letters. Usually they keep spinning and bank a wad of money. Seems counterproductive to solve it with only $900 in the bank. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/25 "2010-11-09T18:21:35Z")
Except, as other people have noted, it was a prize puzzle. So she was guaranteed several thousand dollars worth of prize money if she solved it then, vs. running the risk of a bankrupt, or a lose a turn taking control away from her. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/26 "2010-11-09T18:34:34Z")
I’ve gotten the Final Jeopardy answer once with just the category, but I was helped by the fact that it was Christmastime, so when the category was Music I pre-guessed Handel’s Messiah. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/27 "2010-11-09T19:23:43Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It was only about a month ago, so no fair if you remember it. Well, I was in the right sport: I guessed Barry Bonds. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/28 "2010-11-09T19:38:52Z")
I’m not familiar with the show. Do they get given a clue, or do they go into the guessing blind? Also, what’s with all the applauding? The contestant who isn’t spinning applauds when the woman spinning the wheel spins it, who immediately starts applauding after she’s spun it. The host is applauding the whole time anyway. Then she guesses a letter and when the host says “one L” she begins applauding again. Is she applauding the letter or the host’s ability to repeat it? Then when she guesses, the hostess in the '70s dress starts applauding, then when she realises she’s got the answer right she applauds herself again! Their hands must be raw. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/29 "2010-11-09T19:40:45Z")
I knew what this thread was about before I even clicked on it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/30 "2010-11-09T19:46:04Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’m not familiar with the show. Do they get given a clue, or do they go into the guessing blind? They’re given a vague category. I think for this one it would have been “Phrase.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/31 "2010-11-09T19:57:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, what’s with all the applauding? It’s just part of the culture of the show. _Wheel of Fortune_ is probably the longest-running game show in the US, and has had plenty of time to build up its own distinct character that way. To the extent that they’re applauding anything in particular, the active player is applauding that she matched a letter (that’s how you get money), and everyone else is applauding that a player is doing well. But mostly, yeah, they’re just applauding because that’s what you do on _Wheel_. By the way, the host and hostess are Pat Sajak and Vanna White, respectively. It’s a bit eye-opening for me to realize that not everybody in the world knows who they are. They’ve both been on the show forever. And while Vanna’s job is primarily to look pretty and show off a different evening gown every night, it used to be that the letters were mounted on rotating panels, and it was her job to actually turn the panels around. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/32 "2010-11-09T20:13:32Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > In this particular puzzle, the lone letter has got to be an “a” and that first contraction is likely to be “I’ve.” (It can’t be “I’ll” because the L has already been revealed.) And when she realized all that, she probably had a good feeling about this. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/33 "2010-11-09T20:21:12Z")
I’ve been on the lighting crew for WoF for more than a decade now whenever they tape in Las Vegas, and I can tell you that this was, no question in my mind, legit. I know firsthand what the security measures are, and short of actual mind reading or a huge conspiracy involving about 40 people, there’s no way this anything other than a terrific bit of puzzle solving. Plus, it’s not the first time a contestant has solved a puzzle this way. Between tapings, they always run a montage of clips from the show, and there’s always a few with “impossible” solves. The crowds love to see them; it’s the equivalent of meeting someone who won the lottery, i.e. “this could be you (with a lotta luck)”. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/34 "2010-11-09T20:27:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s just part of the culture of the show. _Wheel of Fortune_ is probably the longest-running game show in the US, and has had plenty of time to build up its own distinct character that way. > > To the extent that they’re applauding anything in particular, the active player is applauding that she matched a letter (that’s how you get money), and everyone else is applauding that a player is doing well. But mostly, yeah, they’re just applauding because that’s what you do on _Wheel_. Correct. They coach the contestants prior to their taping. They don’t want people sulking, or making crude noises, etc. They want people who are enthusiastic and happy to be there, and they want that to be conveyed to the viewers at home. > [@Chronos](#): > > By the way, the host and hostess are Pat Sajak and Vanna White, respectively. It’s a bit eye-opening for me to realize that not everybody in the world knows who they are. They’ve both been on the show forever. And while Vanna’s job is primarily to look pretty and show off a different evening gown every night, it used to be that the letters were mounted on rotating panels, and it was her job to actually turn the panels around. Correct again. Now it’s her job to touch the screens, which changes them from a blank to the letter. And IRL, she’s wearing a new dress every 50 minutes or so. Last summer we taped more remote episodes here in Vegas than they had ever done in one place & time before (28 shows in 6 days of taping, I think it was). So Vanna wore 4-5 new outfits per day. Sometimes that means new makeup as well. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/35 "2010-11-09T20:46:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Seems counterproductive to solve it with only $900 in the bank. And to win only $53,000? Not enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/36 "2010-11-09T21:01:24Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Correct. They coach the contestants prior to their taping. They don’t want people sulking, or making crude noises, etc. They want people who are enthusiastic and happy to be there, and they want that to be conveyed to the viewers at home. > > Correct again. Now it’s her job to touch the screens, which changes them from a blank to the letter. And IRL, she’s wearing a new dress every 50 minutes or so. Last summer we taped more remote episodes here in Vegas than they had ever done in one place & time before (28 shows in 6 days of taping, I think it was). So Vanna wore 4-5 new outfits per day. Sometimes that means new makeup as well. Are they actually touch sensitive screens, or is there an intern somewhere who presses a button to light them up just as she touches them? I always thought the latter. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/37 "2010-11-09T21:15:22Z")
I have a vision of WoF 20-30 years in the future. Vanna will be sitting in an easy chair, cigarette butt hanging out of her mouth, “turning” the letters with a remote. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/38 "2010-11-09T22:49:13Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > \ > A few weeks ago, I got a Final Jeopardy from just the category. Now that was talent (and a whole lot of luck). > \ I \*\*love \*\*Jeopardy, as much as it frustrates me. My husband & I play a game where we shout out the first thing that pops into our heads while the categories are being revealed, and then award each other “points” if our shout ends up being a correct response to one of the questions in that category. It doesn’t take much to amuse us. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/39 "2010-11-09T23:05:02Z")
I miss the days when Vanna actually did stuff. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034/40 "2010-11-09T23:35:09Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Are they actually touch sensitive screens, or is there an intern somewhere who presses a button to light them up just as she touches them? I always thought the latter. Yes they are (touch panels that is). I read that the producers considered remote control screens (apparently they’re cheaper), but went with the touch panels because the audience loves Vanna. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheel-of-fortune-win-with-one-letter/560034.md?page=3)