*MUST-SEE* Scrabble - Champion/Mary, Ellen/Brad (July 18, 1989)

A darn fine match-up. Mary Hammond was a Wheel of Fortune champion in 1984, and a Jeopardy! champ in 1987. Originally uploaded by Christopher Ryan. NBC game show hosted by Chuck Woolery.

[@SkylerTN]

Wow!!! What a game.

[@SapinskiMath]

Insane. I know one of the $55K champs from the first year had to battle... gonna say an 11-second time in 3 words and beat it. This is right up there. Outstanding.

[@therealbrentrolland]

That was an OUTSTANDING episode. Probably the best in the run. Epic playing from both ladies and solid intuition/speed all around. Thank you for posting this masterpiece, Chad!

[@DocTrower1980]

Best. Sprint. EVER!

[@thomasbranham4374]

Best sprint round I’ve ever seen

[@Firewizard23]

Hot Damn! What a match!

[@dpsulliv]

Incredible performances.

[@drummingdanny84]

Let’s see…Scrabble ’89 generated some legendary champions: Annie Banfield, Eddie Green, Parnell Marcano, Greg Craig, Nyla Rankine, Margaret Simms, Eve Greenfield, Lorri Levine, Eric Ogren, Jen Scogdamilia, Ellen Domenico, Ron Whitney, Jackie Culkin, Lauri Irving, et al. And some unforgettable contestants: Alzalee Colbert, D-Dub Washington, John Joseph, Birdman, Michael "Super Newk” Newkirk, Gilbert Rios, Beth Lonner (and sister Helaine), Eddie Oddish(sp), Vartan the Magnificent, et al.

[@richardhernandez4490]

The ones I would put as Legendary in my honest opinion, so far: Eric Ogren ($18,500) Annie Banfield ($20,500) Lorri Levin ($30,500). Nyla Rankin (we don't know how much she won but she did go to day 4). You forgot Jim Kennedy ($21,500). You mispelled Jennifer's last name though: Jennifer Scogdamiglio ($22,000)

[@rachel_c4558]

That year really brought some of the best and some of the quirkiest characters, if anything. I would love to see late-89 to the final run thru 1990 and the notable Players at the final era (i.e. Byron Harvey, Tracia Newman, etc), maybe more

[@richardhernandez4490]

@@rachel_c4558 There will be a surprise or two upcoming soon Rachel. We just have to wait for it. As for the scheduled 1989 episodes on the weekdays, we are getting very close to some unforgettable contestants. VERY close. Lorri Levin was one of my favorites and her run already is uploaded on here.

[@drummingdanny84]

@@richardhernandez4490 Jim Donnelly, you mean. Thank you for correcting the spelling of Jen's surname. Nyla won $20,500 before we could find out how much she'd win on day 4 because that was interrupted by the week-long contest between "General Hospital" and "Santa Barbara".

[@drummingdanny84]

@@rachel_c4558 Bucky Falk, Mary Pascal, George Sealy, John Licciardello, et al.

[@phen314]

At about 9:30, I had Mary locked in as a five-day champ. Sheesh.

[@samsticka]

I’m sure Chuck was quite impressed with those ladies.

[@kenvr2287]

Gotta love the Monopoly money Chuck uses to pay out bonuses.

[@megamanj2004X]

Aka the “Chuck Bucks.” 😂

[@richardhernandez4490]

@@megamanj2004X ...and apparently Chuck thought the Chuck Bucks were too cheesy.

[@Eminem200183]

I believe they started the color Chuck Bucks in the Spring of ‘89

[@richardhernandez4490]

@@Eminem200183 Taping January 19, 1989 is the debut.

[@andrews4425]

Out of curiosity, do we know the time record for the Sprint round?

[@MrKaraokeguy88]

13 seconds flat I believe

[@richardhernandez4490]

I have to applaud both Sprint players. Well done by both!

[@wschmrdr]

I would've been blown out of the water. Granted I had the 3rd one a little earlier, but didn't have the 2nd at all....

[@lobstertexas]

A most thrilling Sprint! So, let's break this down: When Ellen gets up there she sees there's 15.8 seconds to work with; while that's an intimidating time, that's also a possible indication to her that some of the words must have been gotten off the clue - she had an interesting look of confidence before her round started. Certainly, DEVIL was obvious, a lot of people would have nailed that right away. She got lucky with ABACUS, her hesitation showed that she may have accidentally hit the plunger (probably wanting to see the shuffle letters first) and wasn't sure, but it was the right guess. TRIPODS was much harder and needed a few letters placed, as "they have long legs" could really be anything. The final clue "he was framed" made it pretty obvious the pun is likely referring to an artist, so you have to cycle through your head some 9-letter artists.. and if it didn't come to you right away, the reveal of R and E in the shuffle may make someone instinctively think of REMBRANDT, as they both did for an easy quick-solve. For the Bonus Sprint, I was fooled by the 2nd clue entirely. Was almost certain "They're often close to a girl's heart" was a red herring clue irrelevant to the use of "girl" and was a human body organ in proximity to the heart; but in the couple seconds you have to gather your thoughts, I couldn't think of any 7-letter words except RIBCAGE but reasoned it was wrong because of the use of "they're" .. LOCKETS was an insanely good guess. Good clip as advertised, Chad, did not disappoint! 🙃

[@defoedude]

I have Ellen’s Charlotte Observer article and it mentions she thought SATAN at first for DEVIL. Great pivot either way!

[@megamanj2004X]

Incredible! Just absolutely INCREDIBLE! Imagine if these ladies played in the earlier 1985 or 1986 Tournament of Champions! 😳

[@Eminem200183]

I wish USA would had aired the Scrabble Clue address, cause it’s always funny when the contestants does it and Chuck would make funny comments

[@MrJamieBattle]

WELL DAMN😮!!! Was that a record?!?

[@user-sy3oe7vh9e]

I believe they mentioned it was .3 off, then this got beaten by Jackie Culkin by over 3 seconds in 1989

[@richardhernandez4490]

@@user-sy3oe7vh9e Her name is actually spelled Jacqui Calkin. We will get to her legendary run soon.

[@misstee101]

19:44

[@richardhernandez4490]

Had I played the Bonus Sprint, I would have failed. Tough words.

[@wschmrdr]

Wheat toast.... wow....

[@richardhernandez4490]

Honestly, the third sprint word I thought it was SPIDERS.

[@wschmrdr]

At first, I did as well. But depending on what position you're in is whether you take that chance.

[@richardhernandez4490]

12:21: Oh boy. LOL

[@wschmrdr]

Y'all have dirty minds, I got that off the clue.

[@lobstertexas]

I do have to call some supreme disgratz 🤌@11:58 when Brad buzzes in a hair early, and Chuck lectures about how he didn't say GO yet. I've seen so many people buzz in after Chuck says READY? (but before he says GO) it's almost worth a compilation 🐷

[@wschmrdr]

You only do that if you have no idea and think it's really tough to psyche out your opponent. That's how Mark DeCarlo won on $OTC, by faking a buzzer hit.

[@philershadi6037]

They changed that rule partway through the run. You didn't have to wait for the "go" in the earlier episodes, but they began enforcing that rule more strictly in the later years.