‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Complain Puzzles Are ‘Getting Weirder’ After Car Loss

Yurt kidding me! Wheel of Fortune fans claim the puzzles are “getting weirder” after a  contestant lost out on taking home a car. The backlash came after an unusual word was used in the Bonus Round puzzle.

John Phillips, from Watervilet, Michigan, solved the first toss-up. He is a man who lives on a farm and cooks maple syrup with his family, but made time to be on Wheel of Fortune because it is not maple season.

He played against Mariah Littauer, from Plano, Texas, and Jeminesse Hudson, from Wanette, Oklahoma, on March 11. Hudson, a cross-stitcher who loves the color yellow, solved the second toss-up.

Phillips solved “Just A Stone’s Throw Away” for $3,750. He did not pick up the Mystery Wedge during the Mystery Round, but did obtain the Wild Card. However, he should have risked it since Littauer, a married mom of two daughters, picked it up, and it had $10,000 on the other side. She tried to solve, but drew a bank and didn’t guess it.

With only two letters left to solve in the “Same Name” puzzle, Phillips guessed “Fairbanks & Baked Alaska.”  This gave him $10,300.

Hudson won a trip to Thailand when she solved the Prize Puzzle — “A Handwritten Thank-You Note.” This put her in the lead with $20,098.

Phillips solved two Triple Toss-ups while Hudson solved the third. This gave Phillips $14,300 and Hudson $22,098.

With only a few letters guessed, Hudson solved the final puzzle in “Body Temperature” — “Cold-Blooded.” This gave her a final total of $25,498.

Phillips left with $14,300. Littauer did not win any money, so Wheel of Fortune gave her $1,000.

Hudson chose “Place” for her Bonus Round category. She did not bring anyone with her and said her husband, Benny, was a “bad luck charm.”

The game show contestant was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” and she picked “P,D,M, and O.” Her puzzle then looked like “N_ _E    _ _RM  _ _RT.”

“Oh no!” Hudson whispered. As the clock counted down, she guessed “Nice Warm Part” and “Nice Warm Fort.” Hudson couldn’t figure out “Nice Warm Yurt.”

“That last word was tricky,” host Ryan Seacrest said. She lost out on taking home the Toyota, which was yellow, her favorite color.

Reddit users had no idea what “yurt” meant. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a yurt is a “circular domed tent of skins or felt stretched over a collapsible lattice framework and used by pastoral peoples of inner Asia.”

“WTH is a yurt? Puzzles are just getting weirder,” one Reddit user said.

“Puzzles ARE getting weirder! Category: “body temperature”?! What???!!!” another replied.

“They always have a ridiculous answer for the prize puzzle,” a third added.

“What the furt is a yurt??” a fan asked.

“Yurt threw me. Would anyone get that?” another wondered.

“Nice warm yurt??? What the heck?” one last fan asked.

Do you know what a Yurt is? Do you think the puzzles are getting harder? Let us know in the comments.