hey, so I was watching NESCardinality playing this and thought it'd be fun to calculate the "distribution" for each word. the numbers on the right dont mean much, just use them as a general guide for how good a word is. lower = better, it's already been sorted so the words near the top are the best words.

https://privatebin.net/?a2c8f99288f4e2c4#7FmiQd4tUkB5SPZnAKr3ekC8s6Kx25RyMGSNL6sbXmpU

some caveats / other information:

• i did this really quickly, so perhaps i'm overlooking something, but i did several tests and they seem to support the sorting. i.e. ABACUS is leagues better than any other word, much better than RAMBO even (who is placed much lower than most would expect as a five letter word)
• the average is ~1300
• the best word is ABACUS, the worst word is PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH
• some words may be missing, i just found a list online on GameFAQs (https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/587763-wheel-of-fortune-junior-edition/faqs/36493) . if you see words are missing (for example, DEAD SEA was not on this list) let me know.
• yes, this takes wrapping into account.
• the time the host takes flipping letters, walking and such is not taken into account at all. there's no way around this without me finding the letter placements of each word which im not gonna do, just did this really quick for fun. so some words may actually be better / worse than they appear, although i'm willing to bet for the short words its pretty spot-on.