This may have been mentioned previously, but I sure didn't know about it.
The Magic Wand tool behavior is directly affected by the settings on the Eyedropper tool.
Specifically, the Eyedropper tool has a drop-down for the Sample Size:
This Sample Size determines the area to be averaged when taking a measurement, but ALSO determines the selection for the Magic Wand tool.
The default is Point Sample, which can be an issue when using the Magic Wand tool, depending on the area you click. If you click a pixel that does not accurately reflect the area, you end up with some random selection (tell me that you haven't had this happen) and wonder "what the heck?".
I just experimented with using the "3 by 3 Average" through "101 by 101 Average" settings, and the difference is dramatic (although not entirely useful in some situations). Essentially, the larger the area to "average", the more lenient the selection (it's not determined by the single pixel that you clicked on).
For scenes with a lot of color/tone changes, these settings can help to average out any random pixel variations, and it really does produce more accurate selections.
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