In the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, the Major Arcanum numbered 10. Signifies destiny, change, vision.

From the classic game The Fool's Errand, this card game entertained me for quite some time. Its a deceptively simple game played with the major arcana from a tarot deck that bears a similarity to Black Jack.

The dealer and the player are each dealt two cards from the Major Arcana of the tarot deck, one face up, once face down. Three cards are dealt face up between the two players. The player could then select one of the three cards to add to the existing hand or forfeit at a penalty of 27 points. After this, the dealer would then select a card from the remaining two or forfeit with a penalty of 27 points. If both players had the same score, the tie was broken by looking at the highest valued card (first list below). Example: Hierophant and Hermit beats Emperor and Empress (both Royal Pairs) because the Hierophant has a higher value. Likewise, Magician and Fool (High Pair, 81 points) beat Tower, Chariot, Lovers (Low Triplet, 81 points) because the Magician has a higher value.

Winning with no pair or triplet scored 9 points. Winning with a pair would score between 18 and 81 points, and winning with a triple would score between 81 and 144 points. First person to 700 points wins.

Value of single cards:

  1. Death
  2. Magician
  3. High Priestess
  4. Hierophant
  5. Devil
  6. World
  7. Moon
  8. Star
  9. Justice
  10. Judgment
  11. Strength
  12. Emperor
  13. Empress
  14. Hanged Man
  15. Hermit
  16. Wheel of Fortune
  17. Temperance
  18. Tower
  19. Chariot
  20. Lovers
  21. Fool
Combinations of cards, and point value. The triple is 72 points higher valued than the pair. There is no High Triplet.

A verb meaning "to guess a phrase merely by knowing the lengths of the words, any punctuation in the phrase, and the category (or other similarly little other information about it)". Derived from the idea of being able to guess puzzles on the TV game show when they are first presented, or with very few letters added.
The best example I have of a puzzle being "wheel of fortuned" is from an event at the 1999 National Puzzlers League convention. A large group event was prepared in which teams had to solve Wheel-of-Fortune-style puzzles by asking yes-or-no questions. Each team submitted a question in writing to the organizers each round, and received a yes/no response. Then all the questions that were answered "no" were read to the group. To solve the puzzle, the team simply submitted their guess as their question.

The first puzzle was intended to be "wheel of fortuned". It read:

_ _ _ _ ' _   _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ _ (event)
(Answer as link)

Alternatives, decisions, controlled chaos, the ability to decide/not to decide.

People born under this card are placed before numerous decisions, continually through their whole life, all of which look the same and they are somehow forced to decide between them. May be positive or a negative thing, depends on the ability to know yourself and to decide quickly, for all the alternatives generally become the same, after some time.

The whole meaning of the card can be easily derived from the previous text. You will be placed before alternatives, you have to decide, or you'll be stuck on the wheel, turning round and round with only the decision being able to pull you out of the cycle, and only after you decide, you'll understand its advantages. It means something new, something original, generally a change controlled by your consciousness.

"Wheel of Fortune" was created by Merv Griffin, who based it on the game Hangman. Three contestants competed. In turn, each would spin a horizontal wheel that was marked with various dollar amounts as well as special spaces reading "Lose a Turn" and "Bankrupt." A contestant landing on a dollar amount called out a consonant; if it appeared in the puzzle, the amount spun would go into the contestant's bank after being multiplied by the amount of times that letter appeared. If it wasn't in the puzzle, the next contestant in line took a turn.

If they had at least $250, contestants could also, instead of spinning, pay $250 to buy a vowel; it often helped in solving the puzzle to have the vowels filled in.

The contestant who solved the puzzle got to "go shopping" for prizes in one of several themed showcases, spending the money in their bank on items ranging from pianos to ceramic Dalmatians, all marked at their actual retail price. They would be obligated to keep spending until they ran out of money; if they couldn't get all the way to zero, the remainder could go on a gift certificate or on account. Money on account would go into their bank if they solved another puzzle in one of the following rounds, but it would also go away if the contestant landed on "Bankrupt." (As the host's instructions at the beginning of the game went: "Try not to hit Bankrupt; if you do, you lose your cash but not your merchandise, because once you buy a prize, it's yours to keep.")

"Wheel of Fortune" premiered on NBC on January 6, 1975, at 10:30 A.M. Eastern time with Chuck Woolery hosting and Susan Stafford turning the letters on the puzzle board.

When Chuck Woolery was replaced as host by Pat Sajak as of December 28, 1981, a bonus round was added, in which the winning contestant could play for one of the higher-value prizes from the showcases (eligible items were marked with a gold star). A fairly short puzzle was revealed on the board, and the contestant could pick five consonants and a vowel to be filled in. If the contestant solved it, they won the prize they had chosen. R, S, T, L, N, and E were the usual choices; years later, the rules were changed to automatically fill in those six letters, with the contestant allowed to pick three other consonants and one other vowel.

Susan Stafford left the show in October 1982, and following a few weeks of substitutes, her permanent replacement, Vanna White, began turning the letters on December 13, 1982. In the late 1990s, when the movable letters were replaced by computer monitors, Vanna was still around, but now touched the frame around each monitor to reveal each letter.

In September 1983, a daily syndicated version was added, airing at either 7:00 or 7:30 P.M. in most markets. While the daytime version had been fairly popular, the new nighttime version soon became one of the most popular syndicated shows in the U.S.

After a couple of years, shopping for prizes was eliminated on the syndicated version, with the contestants winning cash in the main game, and cash or prizes in the bonus round. It took a couple more years until the shopping was eliminated on the daytime version.

Pat Sajak left the daytime show at the beginning of 1989 to host a late night talk show on CBS, "The Pat Sajak Show." He was replaced by former San Diego Chargers placekicker Rolf Bernischke, who stayed with "Wheel of Fortune" until its last episode on NBC, June 30, 1989.

The following Monday, the show premiered on CBS at 10:30 A.M. with host Bob Goen and a lower budget that resulted in strangely small dollar amounts on the wheel. It limped along until January 11, 1991.

It then went back to NBC, still with Goen, where it continued to limp along from January 28 to September 20, 1991.

Despite the troubles of the daytime version, the syndicated version remained strong in the ratings, as the most popular syndicated game show from the mid-1980s through the 1990s and beyond.

Wheel of fortune.

A gambling or lottery device consisting of a wheel which is spun horizontally, articles or sums to which certain marks on its circumference point when it stops being distributed according to varying rules.

 

© Webster 1913

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