Merv Griffin's Crosswords

Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Premiere	September 10, 2007
Finale	September 4, 2008
Creator	Merv Griffin
Host	Ty Treadway
Network/Provider	Syndication
Style	30-minute game show
Company	Merv Griffin Productions Yani-Brune Entertainment
Seasons	1
Episodes	225
Origin	USA

Merv Griffin's Crosswords was the last game show Griffin oversaw. He died a month before the show premiered in syndication.

Here, two contestants are presented with crossword grids in which they buzz in to identify and spell the word based on clues like in the crossword part of your newspaper. The clues are in varying money amounts, and along the way, a correct answerer gets a "Getaway" clue (solving it puts a vacation trip in his/her ledger to be won by winning the game) or an "Extra" (like Jeopardy's Daily Double--wagering all or part of the score in identifying the word). Incorrect guesses deduct that clue value from the player's score.

In round two, three new players--the "Spoilers" are brought out in back of the two existing players. If either of the front players miss a word and a Spoiler gets it, the two must trade places, with the Spoiler's score added to the existing score. If a spoiler gets a word wrong, he/she is out until the next word is correctly answered.

The highest score of the two front podiums (be it one of the starting players or a Spoiler) is champion, wins the money scored in the game plus any prizes accumulated, and vies for an additional $2500 in the bonus round. Here, all the words identified are on a crossword puzzle grid, and in a minute and a half, the contestant must pick out grids with a letter missing and identify and spell the words.

In Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series