You have to be careful-'Wheel of Fortune' requires you to answer almost immediately after ringing in-but going a split second early ensures that you have first shot on what will (hopefully) be an obvious puzzle. Ringing in immediately following a letter-but before you actually know the answer-might be smart. Here, the interaction resembles what game theorists call a duel.

However, occasionally the tossup reaches a point where almost all letters are on the board. The tossups tend to reward better puzzle solvers, not clever strategists. The board automatically reveals letters one by one until a player rings in with the correct solution. Each episode of “Wheel of Fortune” has three tossup puzzles, worth $1,000, $2,000, and $3,000.