Express is one of the gameplay elements on Wheel of Fortune.
History[]
Express was introduced on September 16, 2013.
Placed on the red $700 in Round 3, the Express offers a "face value" of $1,000; if a contestant lands on it and calls a correct letter, they may either take another regular turn or risk their current earnings to "hop aboard the Express" by continuing to call correct letters for $1,000 per consonant. During an Express run, a contestant may also continue to buy vowels at the usual price of $250. Unlike flipping the Mystery Wedge hiding a prize, the contestant does not forfeit his/her earnings to hop onboard the Express.
The player remains on the Express until they solve the puzzle or lose their turn, the latter of which also acts as a Bankrupt (and plays the slide whistle). Should a player go Bankrupt on Express, the wedge is still kept in play, thus allowing the possibility of more than one Express run in a game.
A train horn plays when the wedge is landed on. The wedge is animated and elevated similarly to Free Play.
If the Express is played, the shot of that player shrinks down to a square window insert with a border matching the player's podium color in the bottom-right corner with the puzzle board on the rest of the screen (similar to the Bonus Round). The player's current score is displayed below the window (using the same text graphic used for the Jackpot amount in Season 30) and always scrolls upwards (even when they buy vowels), and the logo-bug on the category strip is replaced with an "EXPRESS" graphic identical to the one on the wedge. Starting in Season 32, a music bed plays during Express runs.
Interestingly, the show appears to have two Express wedges: the normal electronic one, and a cardboard one presumably used for rehearsals. The cardboard wedge uses a different font for "EXPRESS" and "$1000", with black lines behind "EXPRESS" and "$1000" written horizontally with a comma.