FED PHRASE GAME (Early Edition)
Wednesday 18 April
by Gwaptiva
This week, the host decided that the roadshow would visit Art's Bistro on Rhea. Unfortunately, the players decided that it would be the Sierpinsky Lounge for some reason, and after a heated discussion Gwaptiva flew to Silk with his portable wheel. After last week's successful introduction of a new category from which phrases can be pulled, Gwaptiva thought it might be a nice idea to have ALL the phrases in that category: Fed Songs.
After briefly explaining the rules to newcomer Meltdown, it was decided by the wheel that the order of play would be Sean, Supermayman, Meltdown and finally Cloudbase. Sean was so eager to get going he started spinning the wheel and guessing consonants before the first phrase was even displayed. When it finally was, Sean spun again but guessed the wrong consonant. Mayman found two consonants, but then tried to buy a vowel that wasn't there, giving Meltdown his first opportunity; he scored 1000 points on his first spin, and then used the majority of those points to buy all available vowels. But then, disaster struck! After collecting 1950 points, and with the phrase nearly completely revealed, the wheel showed up Lose a Turn. Cloudbase added a letter but then for him too, Lose a Turn came up and Sean walked away with the 750 points minimum for a solution by solving the phrase correctly as Black Hole Sun, Soundgarden.
In this special edition of the Roadshow, the second category too was Fed Songs, and Mayman started it off. Then, when we were well into the game, there was great consternation. A camera droid was seen being carted off back to, presumably, The Lattice, with sparks flying everywhere. The director then informed Gwaptiva that there had been a malfunction and could he re-play the second phrase.
So, Mayman started off the phrase with his traditional choice of letters and this time, there was indeed an H in the phrase. He then added an L and this had Cloudbase bouncing around excitedly already. It was clear he was hoping it would be his turn soon. Mayman meanwhile steadily revealed letters in the phrase, building up to 900 points, and then solved correctly Silver Machine, Hawkwind. This put him in the lead after two games, but not by much.
Round 3 saw Meltdown start the game, looking for a four-word song/artist in the Fed Songs Special. The points he scored with his first spin were quickly re-invested by buying vowels, but again our debutant had to learn the hard way how fickle the wheel can be sometimes, because he spun up Bankrupt. Cloudbase this time did manage to pounce on the chance and took the overall lead with 1450 points by finding that the phrase was Sleeping Satellite, Tasmin Archer.
Now, with Cloudbase on 1450, Mayman on 900 and Sean on 750, there was still everything to play for in this, up to now, low-scoring game. Cloudbase would get first crack at the final phrase, again a Fed Song of four words. With each guess, he added big points, each of his first four guesses revealing only a single letter but scored a whopping 2750 points. He went on a little further, but at 3750 points he stumbled and asked for the G that wasn't in the phrase. Sean had picked up a Free Spin, which he had to use this time around. Unfortunately for him, he guessed two consonants in a row that weren't in the phrase, thus giving Mayman the chance to win the game. The solution did not want to come to him though, but Meltdown did manage to figure out the artist they were looking for. He seemed destined for a complete solution, but Bankrupted once again. Cloudbase then found the final few consonants, all but the final vowel, and then came up with a solution that made everybody, himself included, slap their heads. Sean wasn't as confused and found that the solution was Astronomy Domine, Pink Floyd, scoring him just enough points to win the overall game.
So, Sean is our new champion, winning with 1500 points. Cloudbase came second with 1450, and Supermayman was third. Meltdown showed he has oodles of talent, and the experiences with the wheel must surely make him much stronger. Who knows, he, and others, may join me again on Wednesdays at 4.00pm eastern (9pm UK time; 22:00 CET).
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