‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Blast Show After Puzzle Stumps Contestant

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A bonus puzzle on Friday’s (March 17) Wheel of Fortune left contestant Julie and viewers at home completely stumped, with some claiming the show just “made [the answer] up.”

Julie, from Wylie, Texas, struggled with the letters on the board during the Person category, which ended up being “Founding Partner.” Unfortunately, while she figured out the “partner” section of the answer, she couldn’t work out the first word, which meant she missed out on the $40,000 bonus prize.

Some fans sympathized with Julie, taking to social media to share their confusion about the answer. “Founding Partner? The writers really phoned that one in!” tweeted one viewer.

“Founding partner is not a thing: founding fathers YES. Such BS,” wrote another fan.

Founding Partner? The writers really phoned that one in! #wheeloffortune

— Wheel Watcher (@wheelwatcha) March 17, 2023

@WheelofFortune founding partner is not a thing: founding fathers YES. Such BS

— Big V (@bigVbigVbigV) March 17, 2023

According to the Corporate Finance Institute, a “founding partner is typically a term used to designate the shareholder or shareholders of one of the first companies acquired by an equity-backed platform company.”

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Despite her loss in the bonus round, Julie, whose brother and 9-year-old son (who she described as the “highlight of her life”) came along to support her, still walked away with $15,169.

However, some viewers weren’t even able to see Friday’s episode, or Thursday’s, as some local stations switched away from the game show to show the NCAA basketball tournament.

The official Wheel Twitter posted an updated about the preemption, tweeting, “If you are unable to see tonight’s episode of Wheel due to NCAA March Madness or other special programming on your local station, we will accept any puzzle solution or word of your choice (please keep it clean) submitted by 2.59 p.m. PT tomorrow (Friday, March 17) as valid for the Fun & Games $10K Giveaway.”

(2/2) …we will accept any puzzle solution or word of your choice (please keep it clean 😉) submitted by 2:59 p.m. PT tomorrow (Friday, March 17) as valid for the Fun & Games $10K Giveaway. Enter here: https://t.co/Sj9sthYRDt

— Wheel of Fortune (@WheelofFortune) March 16, 2023

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