‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Blast Show Over ‘Old-Timey’ Puzzle After Contestant Loses Car
Wheel of Fortune fans do not want to be buddies with the game show after that Bonus Round puzzle. A contestant lost out on taking home a car after not solving a confusing puzzle that viewers called “bogus” and “old-timey.”
Jim Spallina, from Chicago, Illinois, returned for his second game on April 9. He won $13,800 the day before. All April long, the night’s previous winner returns for a chance at more money, and they can continue until they lose.
On Thursday, Tucker Dunn, from Alhambra, California, solved the first toss-up. The red-headed man with blue eyes has a friendly debate with his wife about which midwestern state has the best beef and steaks.
Spallina and Dunn played against Ally Metcalf, from Memphis, Texas, on April 9. Dunn also solved the second toss-up, giving him $3,000.
He also solved the first puzzle — “Listening To My Walkman” — for $9,500. Spallina and Metcalf, a woman who was born in London and spent most of her childhood in Dubai, both landed on Bankrupt on the “Before & After” puzzle. This paved the way for Dunn to solve “Barbeque Pit Stop” after solving only two letters. He continued in the lead with $10,900.
Spallina tried to solve the Prize Puzzle, saying “Bring Out Your Itinerary,” but he was wrong. Once Metcalf guessed a few more letters, she correctly solved “Print Out Your Itinerary.” She won a trip to Puerto Rico, putting her in the lead with $15,200.
Metcalf solved two of the three Triple Toss-ups. Spallina finally got on the board when he solved the third one. The returning champion solved “Bite-Size Candy” for the final puzzle, giving him a total of $7,700. This gave him a two-day total of $21,500.
Dunn left with $10,000. Metcalf won the game and moved on to her second game with a total of $19,200. She chose “People” for the Bonus Round and brought her husband, Ryan, with her.
Metcalf was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E” to start her off. She chose “M,D,P, and A” to round out her puzzle. Before the game show contestant solved, the puzzle looked like “_ _ _MM_ _ _DD_ES.”
“Oh God,” she said as the clock counted down. Metcalf thought the last word might have been “Paddles.”
“It’s a tricky one,” host Ryan Seacrest said, after she didn’t solve “Chummy Buddies.” Metcalf lost out on taking home a Ford, but got a second chance on Friday’s episode.
Fans criticized the Bonus Round puzzle, saying they never heard of the word “Chummy.” “That bonus puzzle, wtf man?” a Reddit user said.
“Seriously!! Chummy buddies?! Who would ever think of that?” a fan replied.
“It’s kind of old-timey,” a third said.
“Even Ryan was like yeah I mean no one was getting that one lol,” a fan said.
“Another one of those puzzles where they put some words together, but nobody ever actually says those words together. That puzzle was pretty bogus,” another commented.
Could you solve the puzzle? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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