Wordplay is an American game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 which ran on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 from December 29, 1986 to September 4, 1987. It was hosted by Tom Kennedy (occasional celebrity guest Jamie Farr

Jamie Farr

Jamie Farr is an American television, film, and theater actor. He is best known for having played the role of cross-dressing Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger in the television sitcom M*A*S*H.-Early life:...

 filled in for one week) and announced by Charlie O'Donnell

Charlie O'Donnell

Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...

. The show was produced by Scotti Bros.-Syd Vinnedge Television in association with Fiedler-Berlin Productions and Rick Ambrose Productions.

The show's pilot was hosted by Peter Tomarken

Peter Tomarken

Peter David Tomarken was an American television personality primarily known as the host of Press Your Luck.-Early life:...

, with Rod Roddy

Rod Roddy

Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy was an American radio and television announcer. He is primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows Whew!, Press Your Luck and The Price Is Right. On the latter two, Roddy appeared on camera on...

announcing.

The main game

The game was played by two contestants on an electronic "board" graphic with nine words on a 3-by-3 grid, with the middle column raised one spot higher than the other two. The champion, or the player on the left if there was no champion, played first and selected a word. Each of three celebrity panelists would give a definition of the word along with a humorous story. The contestant then chose the definition they believed was correct. If their choice was correct, the contestant earned money; an incorrect choice gave the opponent a chance to guess.

Every word on the board was connected horizontally and/or vertically to at least one other. Choosing a correct definition awarded the contestant the value for that word, plus the total of all the other values to which it was connected. If both contestants missed a word, the space turned into a block that prevented any connections from being made through it.

Money Amounts

Rounds	Values
Round 1	$25, $50, $75
Round 2	$50, $100, $150
Round 3	$100, $200, $300

One word per game was designated as a bonus word. Choosing this word and guessing its definition correctly awarded a trip to the contestant, which was his/hers to keep regardless of the game's outcome.

The contestant who was trailing went first in the third round. At the end of the third round, the contestant with the most money won the game and played the bonus round, "Double Definitions." Losing contestants received parting gifts in addition to their cash winnings and bonus prizes.

If there was a tie after three rounds, a seventh word was played. The champion (or player to the left) chose the word and the celebrities provided a brief definition (without an accompanying story). The contestant who initially chose the word either guessed the correct definition or let the opponent do so. If the contestant chose the correct definition they won the game, otherwise their opponent won.

Double Definitions

The contestant faced a board of 24 boxes on a 4-row, 6-column grid, with every box connected horizontally and vertically to its neighbors. Behind each box were two short definitions for a common word that the contestant had to guess (e.g. "Writing Implement/Animal Enclosure" referred to "pen"). The contestant had 45 seconds to build a path across the board, starting at the left side. Multiple guesses for a single space were allowed, but if the contestant passed, the space became a block and he/she would have to work around it.

Winning this round awarded a jackpot that started at $5,000 and increased by $2,500 after each unsuccessful attempt, while losing awarded $100 for each word correctly guessed. The highest jackpot value was $27,500, reached during the show's final week.

Champions were allowed to remain on the show for a maximum of three days or until defeated.