‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Groans After Losing $40,000 on ‘Tough Puzzle’

A Wheel of Fortune contestant groaned after losing the Bonus Round. She didn’t take home an additional $40,000 after fans called the puzzle “tough.”

Eboni Lovell, from Ashlans, Oregon, played against Kate Shearer, from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and Leigh Price, from Austin, Texas, on the Friday, April 4, episode.

Lovell, a huge movie buff who is into multiple fandoms, didn’t start the game out too well as both of her opponents solved the first two toss-ups. However, she did solve the first puzzle — “Archaelogical Sites” — putting $2,850 in her bank.

The marketing and sales manager solved most of the “Before and After’ puzzle before guessing a letter that wasn’t in it. Eventually, the turn moved back to her, but she guessed “P,” which also wasn’t in the puzzle. Price, a huge heavy metal fan, solved the puzzle, putting him in the lead.

Lovell lost a turn on the third puzzle, with Price, originally from Australia, going Bankrupt, and Shearer, a woman who promised to give each of her kids $500 from her winnings, landed on the One Million Dollar wedge. However, Lovell, who is the only person in the world with her name, swooped in and solved “Sun-Kissed Sky & Cool Breeze,” earning $ 3,000 and a trip to Aspen, giving her the lead with $20,108.

Each of the game show contestants solved one of the Triple Toss-ups. Despite not guessing the final puzzle, Lovell still won the game with $22,108. Price left with $17,750. Shearer won $3,000.

Lovell picked “People” for her Bonus Round. Host Ryan Seacrest asked her if she was feeling lucky, and she said she was feeling “so lucky.” After Wheel gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” Lovell chose “P,C,M, and O.”

Her puzzle then looked like “_  N_CE  _RO_P  O_  _ _ _S.” Lovell said, “A nice group of…” but couldn’t figure out the last word. She said both “pies” and “wine,” but neither of them was correct. Seacrest told her that it was “A nice group of kids.”

Lovell threw her head back and groaned, and then she laughed. The host told her that she had lost an additional $40,000. Despite groaning, she said she “wasn’t mad” at her total and prizes.

“That was a tough puzzle,” a YouTube user said.

“I think all of us got ‘a nice group of.’ That was really hard,” wrote another.

“I guessed ‘A nice group of guys’,” one fan said.

“That’s tough, but $22,108 is not bad,” wrote one user.

“That’s a harder puzzle than meets the eye. There’s many ways that phrase could go depending on what letters you get right. Even if all your selections were right, this one requires the wild card or the right placement of your selections,” a fan said. 

“There was no way she was going to get that last word,” one last fan said.