‘Wheel of Fortune’: Teacher Wins Car After Stunning Puzzle Solve in Record Time

She was very witty. A Wheel of Fortune contestant solved a tough puzzle before the timer started to count down. This resulted in her winning a Ford Bronco.

Julie Allen, from Spokane, Washington, played against Thomas Young, from Detroit, Michigan, and Nikki Lopez, from Melbourne, Florida, on Tuesday, April 16. Allen is a third-grade teacher at Meadow Ridge Elementary School, who watched WOF every night and said it got her through her maternity leave.

Young, the first of his family to be on any game show of any kind, solved the first two toss-ups, putting $2,000 in his bank. However, his luck ran out when he landed on Bankrupt during the first puzzle after solving two letters. Despite his misfortune, the turn eventually moved back to him, and he solved the puzzle for $8,600.

Allen solved the second puzzle in the category “Before and After.” It was “Chilli Dog Whisperer,” which gave her $4,700.

For the prize puzzle, both Young and Allen landed on Bankrupt, so it was finally Lopez’s, a woman who is single as a pringle and does landscaping for fish, turn to earn some cash. She solved most of the puzzle before landing on Bankrupt as well. Young landed on Lose a Turn, so it moved to Allen, who solved “Lions, Leopards, and Hippos.” She won an African safari, which brought her total to $17,890, and put her in the lead.

Allen solved two of three Triple Toss-Ups, putting $4,000 in her bank. Young solved one, adding $2,000. Allen solved the final puzzle — “I Appreciate You” — putting $1,700 in her bank. She won the game with $23,590. Lopez went home with $1,000. Young left with $10,600.

For the Bonus Round, Allen brought her friend, Amy, with her, since her husband was home watching their one-year-old daughter. She chose “What are you doing?” for the category and landed on the “&” on the wheel.

After Wheel gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” Allen chose “G,D,H, and I.” Her puzzle then looked like “_EING  _ _ ITE  _ITT_.” Before host Ryan Seacrest could tell her she had 10 seconds to solve it, she said, “Being Quite Witty,” which was correct. The timer had barely ticked down one second.

“You got it!” Seacrest said with a smile and then showed her the envelope with the word “Ford” in it. Allen threw her hands on her head and hugged the host. She then hugged her best friend, and they jumped up and down together before walking over to the car. The car was worth $43,760. This gave her a grand total of $67,350.

“CAR WINNER?! LET’S GO!!! Good job, Julie!” a YouTube user commented. 

“I couldn’t believe she got it. I had ‘being’,” said another.

“I wouldn’t have gotten that,” said another.

In an after-show interview with social correspondent Maggie Sajak, Allen said that being a teacher helped her solve the puzzle because she deals a lot with letter patterns.

 

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