‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans React After Contestant Loses on ‘Unfair’ Ruling
An unlucky Wheel of Fortune contestant cost themselves a trip to Mexico after missing one tiny two-letter word from their spoken answer.
Now many fans are saying that the ruling was “too tough” and “unfair.”
Last Thursday’s (May 16) episode saw a face-off between Kerry Ruiz, a wellness studio co-owner from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Amanda Morris, a billiards player from Wilmington, North Carolina, and Dee Merritt, a Navy sexual assault response coordinator from Portsmouth, Virginia.
During the Express Round, the three contestants were faced with a six-word “Phrase” puzzle that read, “_ N O _ _ / I T / O _ T / O F / T H E / _ _ _ _.”
Merritt was first to take a guess at solving the puzzle, answering, “Knock it out the park.”
At first glance her answer seemed completely correct to many viewers. But it wasn’t precise enough.
“I’m sorry,” host Pat Sajak responded as the buzzer sounded to indicate Merritt was incorrect. Sajak then turned to Ruiz, asking, “Kerry, your turn; what would you like to do?”
Ruiz chose to solve and answered, “Knock it out OF the park,” which was deemed correct. Ruiz was rewarded with a trip to the Margaritaville Island Reserve in Riviera Maya worth $10,000.
While there didn’t seem to be a significant difference in the responses, Merritt omitted the word “of,” which allowed Ruiz to scoop in with the correct answer. As per the Wheel rules, contestants are required to say all words included in the answer, and they must be pronounced correctly. So even though it could be argued that most folks say “Knock it out the park” Pat Sajak was looking for the word “of” to be included too.
A clip of the moment was later shared on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), and fans had mixed reactions to the ruling.
@darbinkz Bro #wheeloffortune #forgotaword ♬ original sound – Dario Bongiorni
“‘Knock it out the park’ is grammatically correct,” wrote one viewer on X. “‘Of’ is an extra word in that sentence, totally unnecessary.”
“That was messed up,” added another.
“Sajak made the right call,” said another commenter.
“She left an entire word out. Of course she’s incorrect,” added another.
One fan wrote, “Honestly, people act as if a contestant has never missed a word.”
Merritt never got back into the game after this setback, while Ruiz went on to win the episode with $20,000.
Was Sajak’s ruling too harsh? Or did he make the right decision? Let us know in the comments below.
Wheel of Fortune, Weekdays, check your local listings
Spin That Wheel
Get absolutely everything about Wheel of Fortune in your inbox!
Conversation74 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Comments are closed on this story.
-
F
When the object of the game is to solve the puzzles as is, how is it unfair to not give it to someone who misses a word? To have given it to her would've been unfair to the other contestants. These people know, and accept, the rules going in.
104
-
R
The puzzle was "knock it out 'of' the park". Need to say all the words. Personally, I've never heard the quote without the word 'of' and I'm a baseball fan.
80
-
M
I haven't either. I've never heard it said "knock it out the park". I am having trouble just trying to type that. Someone said it is proper grammar. How? It doesn't make any sense to me.
3
-
-
R
Pat Sajak made the right call. The rules say contestants must say everything up on the board - don’t add anything OR miss a word. “Knock it out the park makes no sense without the OF!”
80
-
R
Regardless of colloquial speaking, slang, and street talk, the object of the game is to solve the puzzle verbatim. She did not. Hiw is this an issue?
62 1
-
R
The rules are simple and clear. She simply made a mistake, and Yes while hard to accept, where would anyone draw the line if we were to start zigzagging - now that would be a huger can of worms! She was clearly displaced and upset as were many people watching, however she did not say the correct phrase, the space for those letters/word were up there.And reading that as is is the game.
56 1
-
R
Missed a word, end of discussion. 🙄
53
-
R
She missed a word so she didn't solve the puzzle. You have to go by the rules, it's as simple as that.
37
-
J
The rules have always been the same. Even if every letter is showing, the contestant must read the entire phrase (or name, etc) audibly and clearly, or else they cannot win the round. Were they a little strict? Yes. Was the rule anything new? Absolutely not.
37
-
R
A rule is a rule, if you don't abide by the letter of the rule , where does it end. It would be discriminatory if you made an exception for one and not for all errors.. Get a life and take ownership of your lack of knowledge
32
-
R
Proper English. Read what's on the board.Lady was wrong.
31
-
R
I have watched this game since its existence. The rule has always been this way. A contestant must say every word in the puzzle. They cannot add or delete a word.
22 1
-
R
Pat made the right call. The rules are clear and she was wrong. It's a puzzle to be solved and if you miss a word, its wrong.
22 1
-
R
They made the right ruling. The issue I have is this website constantly posts articles mocking players when they make a mistake. Show some class and stop doing it or go **** off.
16
-
R
Just go by the rules like always.
13
-
J
Pat’s ruling was ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. Of was an essential part of the answer.
12
-
R
I agree she left a word of so the answer was incorrect.
-
-
R
It's absurd to even debate it. She did not abide by the rule of reading every word as it is written. It is beside the point, but her response was, without a doubt, grammatically incorrect. It seems that some people feel sorry for her and are trying to rationalize their objection to a correct decision.
11
-
R
She should have followed the rules of the game she was playing, which is to give the entire answer, not use a colloquial version of the phrase.
10
-
R
OMG these daily 'articles' about Wheel and the 'unfair' rulings. Have people really gotten this stupid? They didn't say all the words in the puzzle; case closed.
10
-
R
Why is there even a discussion?#TheDumbingOfAmerica
10
-
R
"Knock It Out of the Park" is 100% correct. I've followed MLB for more than 70 years, and I've never heard "knock it out the park." Pat Sajak was 100% right in not accepting that response.
9
-
R
Rules are there for a reason. I watched that whole episode and she knew she was wrong. There's no participation trophy when you're playing for thousands of dollars!
9
-
L
And the word "OF" was clearly on the board it's not like it wasn't there for her to see ... She should have took her time to read it I mean come on. Basically rules are rules... it's sucks but it is what it is. I bet it's a mistake you won't make twice
9
-
R
Unfair ruling. Yah Right, why publish such stupid stories, wrong is wrong.
10 1
-
R
Who says Knock it out the park? It sounds uneducated to say it without the of.. but unfortunately we're seeing a lot of people butchering proper English, and half of them can't spell.
9 1
-
R
Just like if the puzzle was You Must Be Out Of Your Mind, but the contestant answered, "You out chyo mind!"and then think they're correct.
-
-
R
I've always heard the phrase with the word "of". Pat made the correct call according to WOF official rules.
7
-
T
Viewers are wrong. I attribute that to poor grammar among the modern populace.
6 1
-
T
I didn't see the program. After reading other comments, I realized that the contestant's native language might have been Ebonics. If so, bad luck under pressure. Still, the game is in English and "rules is rules" (as the saying goes).
5 1
-
R
Has nothing to do with grammar. She can see and read. She simply made a mistake. She wasn't complaining. Not the first time it's happened. But she was wrong
2
-
R
Please stop.
-
-
R
She did not solve the puzzle correctly. Play by the rules or go home.
4
-
R
The OF is needed to make the phrase correct. It is on the board. There is no excuse to not say it. Urban speech is not necessarily correct English. British dialects are not necessarily correct English.
5 1
-
R
Stick to the rules
4
-
R
Perhaps if she, and everyone else, was raised to use proper English; there would be no issue period.
3
-
R
Has nothing to do with proper English, if you can see and read which she obviously can; then you just say what you see. She froze/choked/made a mistake. She didn't win and didn't complain.
2 1
-
R
You mad bro...
1
-
-
C
I think Pat absolutely made the right call. ALL words have to be read aloud.
2
-
R
This is not a singular ruling. There are other instances that are ruled incorrect because the response is not as written. Right call.
1
-
R
Rules say that every word must be pronounced. Missed a word, you screwed up!
1
-
R
You mad bro...🤭
1
-
R
What world do you live in when you don't use the word [of]. Nice post, I feel smart now. 😝
1
-
R
"Knock it out the park", isn't even correct English, let alone the correct answer.
1
-
R
To solve the puzzle, you have to fill in all of the blanks! Pat made the correct call.
-
R
Stupid question. Shouldn’t even be controversial. She got it WRONG. And so did the person who said OF is not part of that statement! Not a new rule.
-
R
Not everybody gets a trophy….. the rules state you must correctly pronounce every word in the puzzle!
-
R
Correct ruling by Pat. The rules are the rules. Sorry about the result, but that's the way it goes.
-
R
She was wrong...did not say all the words in the puzzle....and the phrase is "knock it out of the park " Any real sports fan will tell you that is the phrase...most people do not say" knock it out the park" I have NEVER heard a fan or a sports announcer say the phrase without the of...
-
R
Contestant got it wrong. Period. One person said “knock it out the park” is grammatically correct. Weird. I’ve never heard it that way. No matter. One word was left out.
-
R
She was using ghetto talk. Like get out ta way. I ķnew it was gonna create a stir
-
R
They missed a word; they were wrong!! I have never heard anyone say, “Knock it out THE park.
-
R
He called it right!!! She left the word out!
-
R
I have never, repeat, never, heard "knock it out the park". The worst part was it was there on the big board to read and she missed it. You don't reward somebody for screwing up.
-
R
How is this even an issue??Should she have been rewarded for lazy language and bad habits??English is English, and "of" is NOT unnecessary. If she thinks 2+2=5, is that OK because she was close enough?C'mon.
-
M
Also, no different than when they add an extra word when solving the crossword puzzle.
-
R
She missed an entire word, no matter how short the word was. I don't understand how it's "unfair" that this was ruled a wrong answer when it actually WAS a wrong answer. 🤔
-
R
Sometimes Pat tells a contestant to be careful and read every word up there, but this time he didn't. I wouldn’t say “out the park” but some people would. The contestant was very excited and made a mistake. I’ve seen this happen often.
-
R
Unfortunate but still not unfair. The object of the game is to solve the puzzle in front of you. While an answer may be correct for a sentence, it is not what is in front of you. It's Wheel of Fortune , not That's Close Enough .
-
R
She left out a word, how in hell could anyone say she should have won? How about a participation trophy, would that suit you?
-
R
I've been a baseball fan for decades and have NEVER heard anyone say "knock it out the park." This answer was incorrect and the ruling was proper.
-
R
What would you bring race into this for? This isn't even the first time a contestant has accidentally done this. Racists strike again.
-
R
Racist!
1 1
-
R
Must solve the puzzle with ALL the correct words! Pat was absolutely correct!
-
R
Sajak made the right call and he made the tough call
-
R
In almost every game there are a variety of ethnicities including African Americans
-
R
She made a mistake as others have in the past. When she tried to solve it, the entire word “OF” was there. Ooops. She did not appear upset. I think she high-fived the contestant who got it right.
-
R
Sorry, but AAVE isn’t winning you the game. Omitting an entire word is no different than saying “Finna” instead of “Fixing”
1 1
-
R
Oh, gee, I'm sorry, but that is incorrect. "Fixing TO..."!
-
-
R
You mad bro...
-
R
I'll give you the first sentence (even if it is a short-sighted reading of the situation), but the second ? Just, "no."
2 2
-
R
Has nothing to do with race. I've seen white ppl make the same mistake. You mispronounce a word or skip one...you lose.
2
-
R
Your commentary pass is hereby revoked
3 6
-
R
You should be punished for existing.
6