Merv Griffin's Crosswords

''OPENING SPIEL: Welcome to Merv Griffin's Crosswords, and now, here are your Crossword Solvers: (insert two contestants). And now, here's your host, Ty Treadway.''

''REST OF SPIEL: Thank you, Edd. Thank you, everyone. Welcome to Merv Griffin's Crosswords, an exciting new way to play one of America's favorite pastimes, and it's Winner Take All.''

A game show where 2 contestants answer questions related to a crossword puzzle presented to them. Three players called "Spoilers" are added and they can get a chance to steal the active player's podium.

Gameplay
The game was played in three rounds. They played with the same crossword puzzle for the entire show.

Round 1
In the first round, the two main contestants filled in the words in the day's crossword puzzle by solving its clues one at a time. When answering, they must spell out the answer too, and some answers may contain more than one word. The first player to buzz-in with a correct answer wins money for the question, but an incorrect answer loses money and gave the other player a chance to answer.

Rounds 2 & 3
In the last two rounds, the main players were joined by three extra contestants called "Spoilers" who stood behind podiums behind the main contestants. The Spoilers can ring in at any time but the front row players always get to answer first. Should both the front players miss or if they don't buzz in at all, that's when the Spoilers come in to play; if any of the Spoilers came up with the correct answer, they had a choice of which front podium to steal; if only one of the front players misses, then the Spoilers can only take that podium; either way, that Spoiler (who's now one of the front players) was also credited with the value of the clue.

Special Words
Some of the words in the puzzle were special that either affected gameplay or won a prize.

Crossword Getaway
A correct answer to that word exposed that special, and won a trip which was inserted into the bank. This lasted for the first two months.

Crossword Extra
This was where the player who answered a clue had a chance to wager any or all of his/her current dollar total (or up to $1,000, $2,000 or $3,000 (depending on what round it was) if he/she had less than those amounts) on a follow-up clue. A correct answer added the wager, but an incorrect answer deducted the wager.

Early Rules
There were only two Crossword Extras and neither one was part of the main puzzle, so they were just what they sounded like. The player who buzzed in with the correct answer to the first word, had a chance to solve the extra for $300 in round 1 and $600 in round 2.

Later Rules
In later weeks, there were three Crossword Extras (one in each round) throughout the game; but after the removal of the Crossword Getaways, there were five Extras (one in round one, and two in the last two rounds).

Crossword XBOX 360 Extra
For a brief period, the show was sponsored by XBOX 360. So therefore, the Crossword Extras were renamed Crossword XBOX 360 Extras.

The front player with the most money won the game. If the game ended in a tie, one final crossword clue was played in which the winner of that question became the victor.

The winner of the game kept all the cash (and trips) and went on to the bonus game where he/she can fill in the remainder of the crossword puzzle for more cash & a trip.

Bonus Round
In the bonus game, the winning contestant had 90 seconds to fill in the rest of the puzzle. He/she picked off a word (by number & direction), and then must answer it & spell it after hearing the clue. He/she can pass on a word and may return to it later although there's no penalty for an incorrect guess.

Successfully completing the crossword puzzle before time ran out won an extra $2,000 (later $5,000) and a trip. While the show was sponsored by Microsoft's XBOX 360 video game system, the system in question was also a grand prize. In earlier episodes, the winning contestant won $100 for each word correctly solved win or lose.

Merchandise
A Board Game was Released by Parker Brothers in 2008.

Cancelled Games
A DVD version was planned to be in the works but it was never released.

A DS version was planned to be in the works but alas it was cancelled before it was even started.

Trivia
Creator & executive producer Merv Griffin died before this show premiered. He was credited posthumously as executive producer.

Contestants Eddee Colos and Ed Young both won $12,800. They both completed the crossword puzzles at the very last second.

Despite low ratings Crosswords was renewed for a second season, but producers claimed they were putting the show on hiatus due to financial issues, stations were instead offered a repeats package of crosswords, a repeats package of Style by Jury (a Canadian makeover show) or Inside the Box (a Canadian pop culture game show). About a year later, producers officially cancelled the show.

The show's theme song is an updated version of "Buzzword" written by Merv Griffin originally used as prize music on Wheel of Fortune.

Music
An updated version of "Buzzword" by Merv Griffin

Inventor
Merv Griffin

Catchphrases
"Welcome to you both and you know the way we play this game. First player to buzz-in with the correct answer and the correct spelling earns cash. If you get wrong, we'll subtract that amount from your score and your opponent may get a shot at it".

"And remember some answers may contain 2 or 3 words".

"(insert names), ready to play?"

"Alright, let's do crosswords".

"Take a look at the puzzle, we'll be trying to complete today, hands on those buzzers, good luck to you both, here's our clue".

"And you just discovered the crossword getaway, that means you're gonna win a trip to where, Edd"?

"Congratulations, we're gonna put (insert amount) into your podium. We'll also throw that trip in there and we'll see you'll walk away with it at the end of the show".

"Alright, back to our puzzle, here's our next clue".

"Our next clue".

"Here our spoilers, they're gonna be hovering over you, breathing down your necks just waiting for you to make that one mistake. If you do, they'll have the opportunity to steal your podium, your cash and your prizes. So, you must protect/defend those podiums".

"Here our spoilers, they're gonna be hovering over you, breathing down your necks just waiting for you to make that one mistake. If you do, they'll have the opportunity to steal your podium and your cash. So, you must protect/defend those podiums".

"And that's the end of our 1st round".

"Welcome spoilers".

"Now, front row, you have priority when answering. If you answer incorrectly if you don't ring in/buzz-in/answer at all, that's when the spoilers will get their shot/chance".

"Dollar values are doubled in this round. Hand on those buzzers, here we go".

"(insert name), chance to spoil".

"No, sorry, you are locked out for now until the other 2 spoilers get a shot to answer".

"No, sorry, you are locked out for now, but you can get back in the game if someone else spoils or if all 3 spoilers are locked out".

"That is correct for the spoil, pick that podium".

"(insert name), you are a spoiler, (insert different name), come on down to that front row bringing (insert amount) with you giving you (insert total)".

"And (insert names who got locked out), you're back in the game".

"And that's the end of our round".

"Alright, it all comes down to this. Whoever has the most money in their podium at the end of this round will be our champion who'll go on to our final round, have a chance to complete the/that puzzle and win the/that grand prize. It's winner-take-all, so good luck everyone.

"And you just discovered the Crossword (Xbox 360) Extra which is a clue that only you/(insert name) may answer".

"Now, since you have less than $500/$1,000/$2,000 in that podium, you can gamble up to $500/$1,000/$2,000 on this next clue".

"Now, since you have more than $500/$1,000/$2,000 in that podium, you can gamble it all/the whole thing if you'd like".

"That sound means time is up and (insert name), you are our champion with (insert total). Well played, great game everyone. When we come back, we'll see if (insert name) can complete the puzzle and win that grand prize, so stick around, we'll be right back".

"All you have to do is complete the puzzle, answer all of the clues, spell them/everything correctly, do it in 1 minute 30 seconds and you'll win [an Xbox 360 Console with game package,] an additional $2,000/$5,000 and a trip to where Edd".

"Take a look at your puzzle, 1 minute 30 seconds on the clock, call out your first clue".

"Next clue".

"(insert number) seconds".

"You just won $2,000/$5,000 and (insert trip name/the Xbox 360) which brings your grand total to (insert overall total) and (insert trip name/the Xbox 360)".

Tagline
"Thanks for playing along, everybody. Keep thinking outside those boxes. We'll see you next time on Merv Griffin's Crosswords." - Ty Treadway (2007)

"Thanks for playing along with us, everyone. We'll see you next time on Merv Griffin's Crosswords. Bye-bye for now". - Ty Treadway (2007-2008)