No, throw it to Victoria

Throwing this Veto competition to Victoria is certainly a risk. If one of the nominees comes off the block, you leave yourself **** to being named the replacement. However, if this gamble works out, the benefits will be great. You can keep your competitive ability under wraps, help protect your ally Victoria, and keep your alliance hidden. You decide to take the risk and help Victoria win.

The horn sounds and the six of you race ahead. You scale the ramp and duck down into the well, getting your entire lower body covered in the slick soapy substance before entering the temple ruins on the other side. You quickly discover that although there are hundreds of stones to sift through, only some of them have letters etched onto them. To win, you need to find letters that go together to build the longest word you can, all while dealing with slipping and sliding around on the smooth plastic floor. The cameras make sure to get plenty of good shots of the competitors slipping and falling that they can compile together with cartoon sound effects in the edit.

LIAM (Diary Room) - "This competition is hilarious! Everyone's sliding around, falling on their asses, and I've got a front row seat! I'm so glad that I wasn't picked for this, but I feel really bad for Danielle. She took some pretty hard falls."

DANIELLE (Diary Room) - "This competition sucks! I cannot for the life of me stay on my feet. Every time I try to stand up, I come tumbling right back down like a ton of bricks. Eventually, I gave up on walking and just started crawling everywhere. It might be slower, but at least it's safe."

You didn't have the opportunity to strategize with Victoria before the competition began, but shortly into the competition you manage to find a moment to whisper to her when no one else is in earshot. Rather than spending extra time looking for specific letters, you tell her to focus on getting as many stones to her station as possible, then you'll help her figure out the best word they can make. Victoria gives a slight nod and immediately grabs the stones she's gathered and starts bringing them back to her station.

VICTORIA (Diary Room) - "My initial strategy was to come up with a word I wanted to make and look for the letters I needed to build it. However, John is helping me out, and he suggested a different approach. So, instead, I'm just going to focus on quantity. The more letters I grab, the fewer the other players can get, and the better chance I'll have to come up with a word that no one else can beat."

John (Diary Room) - "Once I decided I was going to throw this Veto to Victoria, my focus was entirely on her. I still played the gmae and collected stones for myself to make it look like I was trying to win, but truthfully I didn't even look at what letters I was grabbing. Luckily, Victoria's puzzle board was right next to mine, so every time I went back and forth, I would look at what she'd gathered and start putting words together in my head."

Five minutes into the competition, Victoria is on her third trip back to her puzzle board, having lapped everyone else in terms of number of stones gathered, and she's maintaining her balance well on the slippery floor. Julian is also moving fast, though he seems to be more selective about what letters he's grabbing. Alina seems to be growing frustrated with the competition, and Eugene and Danielle are starting to gas out.

ALINA (Diary Room) - "It took me a while to find my footing on the slippery floor, but I eventually got the hang of it. What I couldn't figure out was why I was getting such terrible luck with these letters. Every time I found a letter, it was always something like a Q, an X, or a Z. I'm thinking...what does a girl have to do to get some normal letters around here?"

EUGENE (Diary Room) - "I got off to a fast start in this competition, but running back and forth, getting up when I fall, carrying the stones through that well, it's exhausting! Ten minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but I was struggling. Some people like John, Julian and Victoria were able to run back and forth no problem, but I had to start taking it slow and just focus on getting the right letters."

When Liam announced there were two minutes left in the competition, you look up and notice Victoria heading back to her puzzle board with her fourth set of letters while everyone else was still busy searching in the ruins. You decide to grab what you've got and follow Victoria so you can have a short time to help her before the other competitors arrive. When you get back, Victoria has all her letters laid out and you glance at them out of the corner of your eye:

A E E E E E E I O O O O M M T T L G S V H N K C

She's managed to grab over twenty different letters, and it looks like she managed to get a good variety of consonants and plenty of vowels, too. You start whispering letter combinations trying to give Victoria ideas while looking over your shoulder to see when the next competitor would arrive. When there was one minute remaining, you see the rest of the competitors making their way towards you, but before they can get there you get one last idea. You whisper "something-ologist, like a scientist" just as Julian is ducking through the well. Now, it's too risky to keep whispering, so the rest is on Victoria. You now shift your focus back to your own letters, which you're only just taking in for the first time:

A I I O K K B B D D M N S R L

You wish you had gotten more vowels, but all you need to do is put a half-decent word together so people don't suspect you of throwing it. As you're just beginning to study your letters, you hear Julian lock in his word first, followed swiftly by Alina. With 30 seconds now remaining, you see Eugene and Danielle finally make it back to their puzzle boards as you rack your brain trying to put something together. You hear a gasp next to you from Victoria, and she starts putting letters up on her board rapidly. As Victoria locks her word in, you manage to find something and start filling your board as well. You lock in your word fourth, followed by Eugene and finally Danielle. All the other houseguests cheer for the six of you after making it through such a grueling competition (and also because the producers directed them to for TV).

JULIAN (Diary Room) - "I felt really good about my performance in the Veto competition. My strategy going in was to look for letters that I knew would go together and build my word as I went. I know that Victoria collected more letters than I did, but when I looked at her station at the end of the competition, a lot of them were still on the ground. It looks like she just grabbed whatever she could find and hoped that it would miraculously turn into something. I think my more methodical approach will win over brute ****."

After giving the competitors all a chance to catch their breath, they each take their mark next to their puzzle boards. Liam then asks each competitor to reveal their word starting with the person who locked hers in last: Danielle.

LIAM - "Congratulations to all of you for completing the Slip 'N Spell competition. Now it's time to find out how you did. Danielle, you were the last houseguest to lock in your word. Please go ahead and reveal what you spelled."

DANIELLE - "Well, after a lot of struggle, I managed to spell the word: PARTNER."

LIAM - "Danielle, that is a correctly spelled seven-letter word. You now have the score to beat."

Danielle lets out a little 'whoop' as the rest of the houseguests clap for her.

DANIELLE (Diary Room) - "As soon as I started falling all over the place, I knew that I was probably not going to win this competition. Even still, I'm glad that I kept at it and didn't give up. That's what I always tell my daughters, so I'm proud of myself."

LIAM - "Eugene, you were the fifth houseguest to lock in your word. Please reveal what you spelled."

EUGENE - "I spelled a word that I think is very fitting for this competition: PHYSICAL."

LIAM - "Eugene, that is correctly spelled eight-letter word which means you take the lead."

EUGENE (Diary Room) - "I couldn't make as many trips through the course as the other competitors, but hopefully I did enough."

LIAM - "John, you were the fourth to lock in your word. Please reveal what you spelled."

John - "I spelled a beautiful word: DIAMONDS."

LIAM - "John, that is a correctly spelled eight-letter word. That means that John and Eugene are tied, but since John locked in his word first, he takes the lead in the competition."

John (Diary Room) - "Mission accomplished. I gave Victoria all the help I could, and I still managed to beat at least two other players. Now, it's up to Victoria to pull out this win and take herself off the block."

LIAM - "Victoria, you were the third houseguest to lock in your word. Please reveal what you spelled."

VICTORIA (Diary Room) - "John did so much for me in this competition. He basically gave up his own shot at safety so that I could have a better chance. If I don't win this now, then I'm letting him AND myself down."

VICTORIA - "I spelled the word: METEOROLOGIST!"

This reveal gets a huge reaction from the other houseguests. Some shout in excitement, others are left shocked and speechless. Victoria simply stands at her board with a beaming smile.

LIAM - "Victoria, that is a correctly spelled thirteen-letter word, putting you in the lead!"

Victoria cheers in celebration as the houseguests on the sideline give her an uproarious applause, many still in disbelief.

LIAM - "Alina, you were the second houseguest to lock in your word. Please reveal what you spelled."

ALINA - "Well, I couldn't find very many good letters, but I eventually spelled the word: ATTEND."

LIAM - "Alina, that is a correctly spelled six-letter word, however, that is not enough to beat Victoria, who remains in the lead."

The observing houseguests clap lightly for Alina while shouting "Good try" and supportive statements of that nature. Alina simply looks at the ground trying to keep her composure.

ALINA (Diary Room) - "I'm embarrassed. I did well with the physical part, but I just kept getting bum letters so there was nothing I could do. Now I look like an idiot, and I lost to f***ing Danielle who spent most of the competition crawling. *sobs* It's such bull****."

LIAM - "It all comes down to this. Julian, you were the first houseguest to lock in your word. If you can match or beat Victoria's thirteen-letter word, then you will win this competition. Please reveal what you spelled."

JULIAN - "Well, I spelled a word that I know very well from studying law, the word: CORRELATIVES."

The houseguests mostly have a confused reaction, unsure what to make of this unfamiliar word.

MARCUS (Diary Room) - "I don't know what Julian's word was. I've lived 51 years on this Earth, and I've never heard that word before."

JULIAN (Diary Room) - "A correlative is a law that establishes both a legal right and how that right will be protected. If people can't exercise their legal rights, then someone has to be held responsible. I know, it's pretty cool."

LIAM - "Julian, that is a correctly spelled twelve-letter word. However, that is not enough to beat Victoria, which means: Victoria, you have won the Golden Power of Veto!"

Victoria jumps up and down screaming in celebration as the houseguests all applaud her victory. Liam places the Veto medallion around Victoria's neck.

VICTORIA (Diary Room) - "Oh my gosh, I just won the Veto! I'm not going anywhere this week. Sorry, Julian. Looks like you're going to need to find a new target *winks at the camera*."