It’s one of the most common categories and it should offer contestants the easiest start. A “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” (WAYD) puzzle virtually always includes an I-N-G somewhere in the puzzle:
- WEARING MY UGLY SWEATER
- MAKING EACH OTHER LAUGH
- SEEING ALL THE BEST SIGHTS
Regular Wheel watchers know that players should begin by calling “N” or “G” in such a puzzle, preferably also calling an “I” as soon as possible. But we often see players begin with other letters, and many of us (or at least I) shout at the TV when they do so. How often does this actually happen, and just how much of a difference does it make when players forget this simple strategy? Let’s take a look at WAYD wheel* rounds to find out.
* Only wheel rounds are relevant here. Players do not choose letters in Toss-Ups. The Final Spin round (a.k.a. Speed-Up round) cycles through players after each letter called. The Bonus Round doesn’t allow players to keep calling letters after their three consonants and a vowel.
WAYD was the category in 58 rounds in my dataset. In a small majority of cases, the first consonant called was not “N” or “G.” That by itself makes me cringe; I had expected those cases to be somewhat rare because they undeniably, unequivocally, uneverythingally should be very rare. “N” and “G” are virtually guaranteed letters, folks!
After our collective rage subsides, we can see that the win percentage is much, much higher for contestants who do remember to start with “N” or “G.” (“N” is far more common than “G” as a first letter, by the way.) 57% of players starting with “N” or “G” win the round, versus only 23% of those starting with any other letter, even otherwise reasonable choices like “R” and “T.” That is a massive difference!
It is always possible that some of the difference in win percentage is broader than the letters themselves; selection bias may enter the conversation. Players who lead off a WAYD puzzle with “N” or “G” may be better able to juggle game strategy, time-pressured decision making, and all the other mind games they have to deal with under the bright studio lights than players who call a different letter. It may be their situational awareness that makes them more likely to solve the puzzle, rather than just the pure benefit of the “N” and “G” letters’ presence.
Now that we’ve gotten the requisite “correlation does not imply causation” warning out of the way… seriously, if you like winning, then remember to call “N” or “G” to start a WAYD puzzle. And do yourself a favor and call the “I” once you have some money in the bank. There are so few opportunities to call letters virtually risk-free, and WAYD offers you three of them.
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