‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Wins Big on ‘Impossible’ Puzzle – See Pat Sajak’s Reaction
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Wheel of Fortune viewers know how the “Phrase” category can trip many players up, but an impossible-looking puzzle did not deter one contestant on Wednesday’s (November 1) episode.
Derrick Rucker, a pipefitter welder from Paducah, Kentucky, led the competition throughout the episode, at points more than tripling the combined score of his opponents, musical lover Tricia Sakamoto and mom-of-one Talya Lee.
By the end of the episode, Rucker had amassed $24,158, sending him into the Bonus Round, where he picked the dreaded “Phrase” category. In recent weeks, viewers have complained that some of the phrases used on the show have been “impossible” to solve, too obscure, or not commonly used sayings.
After Rucker chose the additional letters “C, H, K, and O” to join with the already given “R S T L N E,” it looked like we had another Bonus Round dud on our hands. The four-word phrase read: “_ T _ _ _ HT _ E _ SE _ _ L.”
Even host Pat Sajak realized how difficult it was, telling Rucker, “That’s all you’re going to get, wow. Well, you have ten seconds to try to talk it out, and that’s the key, keep talking it out.”
That’s exactly what Rucker did; he kept talking it out, repeating “It might be…” over and over until he finally figured out the last word with just one second to spare. “Useful! It might be useful,” he answered as the audience broke into screams and applause.
“You got it! A textbook way to do it, man,” Sajak said before revealing that Rucker won a bonus $40,000 to add to his previous winnings, giving him a grand total of $64,158.
Look at Derrick coming up HUGE! pic.twitter.com/Zn6aJZozPO
— Wheel of Fortune (@WheelofFortune) November 2, 2023
Sajak looked pleased for the married father of three, even if earlier in the show, Rucker had joked that his family prefers Vanna White over the long-time host.
“Your daughters are big Vanna White fans?” Sajak asked Rucker, to which he responded, “Yeah, Pat, unfortunately, in my house, you’re not the star of the show.” Sajak quipped back: “Guess what, in my studio, I’m not the star if the show!”
After Rucker’s Bonus Round victory, his wife, Alyssa, rushed to the stage to celebrate with him. “Oh my god, can you believe that?” Rucker said. “That is unreal!”
Fans were super happy for Rucker and impressed with his puzzle solve.
One commenter on YouTube wrote, “HOW? Just how?” in regards to Rucker’s last-second solve.
Another viewer on X (formerly Twitter) said, “I got the useful part,” but they didn’t figure out the beginning of the phrase. “Good for him! I was hoping he would get it.”
“Derrick, you beat the buzzer. Well done,” added another fan.
“Way to go, Derrick! You got that puzzle before the clock ran out!” said another viewer.
“I was cheering all throughout the episode for him. He made all of Kentucky proud. He was a great contestant!” wrote another fan.
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