‘Wheel of Fortune’: Escape Room Fan Loses Car on ‘Tough’ Puzzle

An escape room fan lost out on taking home a car on Wheel of Fortune after what host Ryan Seacrest called a “tough” puzzle. He was part of the DraftKings Bonus Puzzle week, so he had another chance to come back.

On Thursday, November 27, Chorsie Calbert IV, a man who loves escape rooms and has done over 170, played against Lenora Hebert, from Middleborough, Massachusetts, and Mike Dean, from Evansville, Indiana. Calbert, from Whitehall, Ohio, played the Wheel of Fortune board game as a child and pretended to host the game show for his parents when he got older.

Calbert took the lead early with $3,000 when he solved both Toss-Ups. Despite Dean, a poker chip collector, solving most of the letters in the first puzzle, Calbert solved “Take a Chance on Me” for $4,200.

During the Mystery Round, Calbert solved “Pretending to Be Someone Else” but got it wrong. He still racked up a lot of money, landing on the 3x multiplier, giving him $3,000 for one letter. Herbert, a Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots fan, solved “PretendED to Be Someone Else,” which was right, and gave her $2,000.

Dean took the lead during the Prize Puzzle round when he solved the “Landmark” puzzle — “Leaning Tower of Pisa.” This gave him a total of $14,448 and a trip to Italy.

For the “Fun & Games” Triplr Toss Up, Calbert solved all three of them, putting $10,000 in his bank. This gave him $14,200, leaving him $248 away from first place.

During the final puzzle, Calbert guessed “Rock Star Parking” with a confused look on his face, but was correct. This gave him an additional $6,600, making his final total $20,800. He advanced to the Bonus Round and Friday’s show, where the top three contestants face off to win more money.

Herbert went home with $2,000. Dean took home $14,448.

Calbert chose “Food & Drink” for his Bonus Round category. He brought his mom and dad with him to cheer him on.

After being given “R,S,T,L,N, and E” by Wheel of Fortune, he chose “C,H,M, and A” to round out the puzzle. It then looked like “_ _ _ _ LL_N  C_ _E.”

As the timer counted down, he guessed “Million Coke,” “Trillion Coke,” “Something Cope.”

Time ran out, and Ryan Seacrest said, “I don’t know how you’re going to get this. This is a tough one.” The puzzle was revealed to be “Bouillon Cube.” The Toyota was in the envelope.