‘Wheel of Fortune’ superfan's deep dive into Bonus Round letters might just change how you play the game
Being an intriguing game show, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has had its contestants sweating in many situations. However, the most interesting round still happens to be the Bonus Round, which is solved by only one player each game, and that too within a specific time. As soon as the ten-second timer starts, the guessing game puts the player in a tough position. They could either answer the puzzle correctly or go home without the bonus prize, which could be a car, $40,000, or, in some rare cases $1 million.
Well, those who regularly watch the game show know that a few key factors matter while solving the puzzle. These factors range from choosing the right category that suits the player to picking the additional letters wisely. However, a fan tried to ease the struggle of cracking the Bonus Round by posting his study online. According to TV Insider, in 2013, William Spaniel posted a blog after studying decades of Bonus Rounds on the game show, sharing his insights on the finer details of the game.
“I found this website, which archives Wheel of Fortune bonus round puzzles and other associated information. It has a complete record from 2007-2012, or 1166 total puzzles. I scraped the data and began my analysis. Here are some of the important findings...” the blog read. He suggested that “C M D A are the four most frequently called letters at 64.6%, 59.9%, 57.9%, and 48.3%, respectively.” He went on to add, “P H O G are the next four in order at 38.2%, 34.5%, 31.1%, and 21.0%.”
He further went on to detail that the letter O happens to be the “most common letter to appear in puzzles, consuming 9.5% of all letters. This just goes to show you that the bonus round puzzles are not a random sample of words from the English language–in real life, O is the fourth most common letter after E, T, and A.” In the fifth point, the contestant noted that M is a bad pick, which ranks 21st on the list. "It only accounts for 2.1% of the letters. Only V, J, Q, Z, and X are less frequent. No one ever calls V, J, Q, Z, or X unless they already know the answer to the puzzle and want to show off. Yet 57.9% of players pick M. Go figure,” the blog reads.
“If you solely want to maximize the number of letters that are revealed, H G D O is the best selection. D (3.5%) is very close to P and B (both 3.4%), so there is some wiggle room here,” the study revealed, referring to the Bonus Round puzzle on the game show hosted by Ryan Seacrest alongside co-host Vanna White. In case you did not know, Seacrest took over hosting duties from veteran host Pat Sajak after his long run. The reality game show recently concluded its 42nd season and is expected to return this September.
