How to Win on the Game Show "Lingo"

Airing on GSN since 2002, the game show "Lingo" has been that channel's top-rated original program, and international versions have aired in 20 countries worldwide. The goal of the game is to guess five-letter words when given only the first letter of each. It's a fun and challenging word game, but there are several ways to significantly improve your odds of winning the grand prize.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• A partner
• A love of word games
• The desire to win

1. GETTING ON THE SHOW:
   Live in Los Angeles. As on many game shows, although contestants claim they're from somewhere other than LA, that's where they're originally from. Chances are they live in LA now.
2. Get a partner! Pick someone who's smart, good at word puzzles, and has a strong vocabulary.
3. Check Craigslist. GSN announces auditions for contestants on the Los Angeles Craigslist, generally December through February. Follow the instructions in the announcement to contact the show's producers. They will let you know when to come in to audition.
4. Watch the show. You don't have to know the show to audition, because the producers will explain the rules to you, but it helps if you familiarize yourself with how the game works. This will make it easier for you when you go through a practice game at the audition.
5. Audition with energy. The producers look for contestants who have good energy, are happy, speak clearly, and have fun.
6. Play well. Producers also look for contestants who know how to play the game well. That is, they know the rules, have a strategy, try hard, and use teamwork.
7. Get called back. If you auditioned well, the producers will call you and let you know when to come in to tape the show. Congratulations!
8. BEFORE THE SHOW:
   Watch the show. Familiarize yourself with the rules and the strategies.
9. Use the online game on GSN's website to practice.
10. Make a list of five-letter words. You can find many lists online on various educational and word game websites.
11. Practice with your partner. It helps build teamwork skills and chemistry.
12. Quiz your partner on common five-letter words that begin with each letter of the alphabet. Memorize two or three good words for each letter.
13. ON THE SHOW:
    Try not to repeat letters from your previous guesses to increase your chances of guessing the right letters.
14. Use words with three different vowels, like HOUSE, for your first guess. For your second guess, you can use the other two vowels in a word like HAIRY. Now you know which vowels are in the word!
15. Pay attention to the letters that appear in the word but are in the wrong position.
16. Remember common two-letter pairs. If a word begins with letters like T, S, or W, chances are good the second letter might be H.
17. Remember rare letters like Q, X and "sometimes vowel" Y.
18. Help your partner. Teammates don't have to take turns guessing.
19. Answer before time runs out. If it does, your opponents get a chance to guess. Even if you know the word is wrong, guess something!
20. Strategize. If you're down to your last guess, and you don't have a clue, it might be better to not guess something that might help your opponents by placing more letters on the board for their guess. If you let time run out, they get only one letter added to the board when they get a shot, so there's still a chance they might get it wrong, and you'll then get another guess with an additional letter.