10 things you can learn from wheel of fortune
I had dinner with my grandmother tonight, and, of course, we ended up watching some T.V. She loves game shows, so we watched an episode of Wheel of Fortune. Here are a few ideas that I jotted down as we were watching.
1. The incidence of consonants in English: what are the best letters to guess according to the data?
Judging by the ending puzzle, they're "R S T L N E"
2. Making smart guesses: how to make a strong guess when you're lacking critical information
3. Calculated risk taking: when to spin and when to guess?
4. Creative category interpretation
Does anyone know what "Same Name" really means?
5. Investing for success: when to buy a vowel?
6. The importance of articulation
Wheel of Fortune is brutal- pronounce one word wrong, and they can refuse you victory for solving the puzzle.
7. How to spin the wheel: is there a way to get a mechanial advantage in games of chance?
Apparently, really good craps players are able to (slightly) influence the roll of the dice by the way they move their hands. Maybe there's something similar going on here, for experienced wheel rollers.
8. Letter clusters: what consonants often go together?
9. Thinking under pressure: how to perform well with time constraints?
10. Remembering the element of competition: working to help yourself but hinder your opponents.
Just like with many games: an ideal move helps you and hinders (or, at minimum, doesn't help) your opponent(s).

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