The Cross-Wits
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| THE CROSS-WITS | |
The logos for The Cross-Wits and Crosswits. | |
|---|---|
| Airdates: | Syndicated December 1975 - September 1980, September 1986 -September 1987 |
| Hosts: | Jack Clark (1975-1980), David Sparks (1986-1987) |
| Hostess: | Jerri Fiala (1975-1980) |
| Announcers: | John Harlan, Jay Stewart, Jerry Bishop (1975-1980), Michelle Roth (1986-1987) |
| Producers: | Ralph Edwards Productions (1975-1980), Crossedwits Productions (1986-1987) |
Contents |
Gameplay
1975-1980 version: "The Cross-Wits"
Two teams, each consisting of two celebrities and one civilian captain, competed. Starting with the winner of a coin toss, the civilian contestant chose a word from a crossword puzzle consisting of several words pertaining to a person, place, or thing. The player then nominated a celebrity from his/her team, who had seven seconds to solve the word from a clue. If the celebrity was unable to solve it, the contestant had three seconds to do so; otherwise, control passed to the other team. Solving a word earned 10 points for each letter therein, and gave the player a chance to solve the puzzle or give the other celebrity the next word. Only a contestant could guess the idenity of the puzzle, but could ask for a "seven-second conference" to talk with his/her teammates about it. Solving the puzzle was worth 100 points. Originally, solving a puzzle with only one word revealed won the contestant a new car; later this rule only applied to the second puzzle and the contestant had to solve it without the celebrities' help.
Play continued in this manner, with the trailing team going first with each new puzzle, until time ran out. Both contestants received a dollar a point, and the player with the higher score chose a celebrity teammate to accompany him/her to the endgame, the "Crossfire" round. The endgame consisted of a ten-word puzzle, and the team had 60 seconds to solve as many words as possible, earning a prize of incresing value for each word solved and a grand prize for getting all ten.
1986 version: "Crosswits"
The game was played the same as before, except now players no longer nominated celebritiy teammates, who instead went in turn, players no longer conferred before solving the puzzle, and therer was no bonus for solving the master puzzle on one word. Three rounds were played in this version, with the first two worth five points a letter and 50 points a puzzle, the third was worth 10 points a letter and 100 for solving the puzzle. The higher-scoring contestant won, but players no longer received cash equivalent to their score.
The Crossfire round was played the same as before, except the player could now choose a partner from all four celebrities. Solving all ten words won a trip and the chance to play for a car, otherwise the contestant received a consolation prize. Each of the other three celebrities held a box, each of which contained the name of one of the three cars onstage. A player who earned the right to play for a car chose the car s/he wanted, then chose one of the celebrities. If the car in that celebrity's box matched the chosen car, the player won it. Later, all four celebrities participated in this round, with the fourth box containing an automatic $1000 in cash.
Notes
- In the original version, the words were lit up on a board and a hostess with a pointing stick pointed to each chosen word. In the 1986 version, all puzzles were computer-generated and color-coded by subject (blue for places, red for people, and orange for things, with purple for the Crossfire round).
