How to Pick the Right Letters on "Wheel of Fortune"

Make sure you look at the letter board and the category carefully first. It gets you an idea on what letters to go for first.

Remember the most common letters in the English language: in order, E, T, A, O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L, C, U.

Note that the commonly-guessed letter R is less common than often-slighted H and that L appears even further down on the list.

If the category is a plural, there's a 90% chance there's at least one S in the puzzle. This is a 90% chance because not all plurals end with S. In addition, if there is no "&", see if you can call the N, D and buy the A.

In the categories, SONG/ARTIST and TITLE/AUTHOR, most contestants don't normally call the B & Y. But those letters should be called first because those letters make perfect sense to be found in the puzzle as one word will contain the word BY.

In STAR & ROLE, the S is the no brainier followed by buying the A as the vowel, because you're sure to find the word AS in the puzzle.

In ON THE MAP, if the T is the third letter of a four-letter word, the C & Y could be the next choices before buying the I as your vowel, hoping CITY is in the puzzle.

In FOOD & DRINK, call a T first. If the T is the third letter of a four-letter word, the H & W could be the next choices before buying the I as your vowel, hoping WITH is in the puzzle. Another hint in FOOD & DRINK, is there could be a C & H in a seven-letter word or a nine-letter word, hoping it's either CHICKEN or CHOCOLATE. If you see a nine-letter word in the puzzle, call a T first to make sure it's the second last letter in the word to know it could be CHOCOLATE. If a four-letter word starts with a C, the word could be CAKE, unless the word could be CANE as in a CANDY CANE, which could be considered for the holiday tapings.

If the T is the first letter of a three letter word, there's a 90% chance there will be the H before buying the E, hoping the puzzle has the definite article.

If you thought the T_ would be TO, it's not always the case. If you buy a O and it's not where you thought the vowel would be, spin the wheel and call for a V.

A TITLE or PHRASE that has a two letter word may have the word OF. Call the N first to make sure.

For a PROPER NAME, take a look at the first blank word. If there's five letters, try calling a T & R. If it's displayed _ _ T _ R, try spinning the wheel and call a C before buying the A & O as your vowels. If it's _ _ T R _ _ _, call a S & C. Make sure you call the multiple consonants on a higher dollar value before calling the A & E as your vowels.

The contractions can be interesting if you know what words fit as a contraction. If there's a long word with one letter at the end after the ', call the S. For _ ' _ you should call either a M or D before buying the I as your vowel. For the ' followed by two spaces, it's best to call either the R or L. If neither filled in those two spots, try calling a V before buying the E as the vowel.

If you call a N and it's the second last letter of a lengthy word, try calling a G before buying the I as your vowel. It can be usually found in either an EVENT or FUN & GAMES.

If there's a Q in the puzzle, buy the U as Q is normally followed by a U.

If you see any single spaces and you have the money, try buying the A first and if it's not where you thought, buy the I. Remember that if you don't know it, have the money, buy the vowels, they can always help, especially if there's a lot of money, prizes and a possible prize puzzle on the line. So if you don't know what consonant you should pick next, buy vowels if you have at least $250 to make sure you know which consonant you should pick next after spinning the wheel.

If a THING begins with a two-letter word, it's most likely that the word is AN so call the N before buying the A, meaning the next word either starts with a vowel, or a silent H.

If you see a puzzle with a ? at the end, the best choice of letters to call are the W first and there would be a 90% chance the H will be in the puzzle as well as the first word could be WOULD. The other possible words: WHO; WHAT; WHEN; WHY; WHERE; HOW. Look at the spaces carefully to get the idea on what the word might be. If you see W H _ buy the O first to make sure. If the O is elsewhere, spin the wheel and call a Y.

If you see any . in the puzzle, such as _ _ . try to call the R first and then use your instinct on the other letter is a D or M for DR. or MR., otherwise if there letters are not where you thought, it could be ST. for "saint". If it's _ _ _ . call the M, R & S as they could be those letters in that part of the puzzle.

If you know one of the key words in the puzzle, use context to deduce what some of the other key words could be. For instance, if the puzzle is a two-word occupation, and you determine that the last word is "engineer," think of different kinds of engineers that would fit with what's displayed so far for the first word.

Try to call the multiple set of consonants when landing on a higher dollar amount. Five consonants at $300-$400 each would still make you happy, but wouldn't you be happier if you pick a consonant that only has one in the puzzle first? Make sure you save the multiple set of consonants for a higher dollar amount you land on, something with at least $600.

Buy vowels. They cost $250 & can be a huge help in trying to solve the puzzle. You don't have to risk spinning the wheel, although you do risk losing your turn. Do not waste money buying a vowel if you already know where it is. In particular, NEVER call a vowel if you land on Free Play! This is an utter waste of a very valuable turn. Landing on Free Play gives you the chance to call a less common consonant that might reveal one of the more obscure words. You can always buy a vowel, so don't waste your precious Free Play on a vowel. After you call a consonant, you can still buy the vowel whether or not the consonant was in the puzzle.