Driving them insane! Wheel of Fortune fans complained about the “bad” bonus puzzle that led to a contestant losing $70,000.
Abhi Bhatt, from Los Angeles, California, solved three Fortune Frenzies on November 6. The Golden State Warriors fan played against Maureen Staser, from Gig Harbor, Washington, and Andrew Dugger, from Prescott Valley, Arizona. Dugger, an Air Force veteran, solved one Fortune Frenzy.
Bhatt solved a few letters in the first puzzle, but then landed on Bankrupt. Dugger then solved “The Train Has Left the Station” for $3.050.
With only one letter left, Dugger solved the “Before & After” puzzle — “Felt-Top Pen Pal.” This gave him the lead with $6,850.
Bhatt solved “Posing for a Family Photo” and won a trip to Vietnam. This gave him the lead with $16,348. Bhatt solved two of the three Triple Toss-ups while Dugger solved the last one.
Staser, a retired registered nurse, finally got on the board with $3,200 when she solved “Some Kind of Wonderful.” Dugger left with $8,850. Bhatt advanced to the Bonus Round with $20,348.
He chose “What Are You Doing?” Wheel of Fortune gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E.” Bhatt rounded out his puzzle with “C,D,H, and A.”
The puzzle then looked like “S_ _ _ _N_ _ _ _ _ CAR.” As the clock counted down, the spice lover guessed “Spinning Up A Car,” and “Shining Up The Car.”
“I think this is a challenging one,” host Ryan Seacrest said, “Especially with no clues in that first word.” The puzzle was revealed to be “Souping Up My Car.” There was $50,000 in the envelope, which would have given him $70,348.
Reddit users reacted to the final puzzle. “Baaaad final puzzle. I didn’t even know that was spelled like that,” one said.
“My Spicy Boy got hosed on that final. That was impossible,” another commented.
“Souping up my car?! On the menu tonight: Cadillac bisque,” a third joked.
“Someone explain to me what that final phrase means. Never heard it before,” a fan asked.
One explained, “A ‘souped up’ car is one that’s been modified to be more powerful or boost the limits of its performance. I have only ever heard this phrase in the context of describing the vehicle itself, but never as a verb in this present tense. Just sounds extremely awkward and weird to me.”
Did you know the final puzzle? Let us know in the comments.
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