Newlyweds' confusion costs them a massive win as they struggle to solve tricky ‘Wheel of Fortune’ puzzle
NBC's 'Wheel of Fortune' is once again in the news, but for all the wrong reasons. Thanks to the unique format of the game show, countless participants have taken home major rewards. However, there have been moments when the show grabbed negative attention, all because of its difficult puzzles. In one such instance, a tricky puzzle left a couple with a $70,000 loss. For obvious reasons, fans were left dumbfounded and openly blamed the tricky puzzle for the loss and called it 'hard.'
In the January 2025's special episode, three married couples faced off, where Danelle and Adam started slow but made a big comeback in the Express Round, securing the lead and winning a honeymoon trip to Aruba, per Market Realist. They continued their momentum in the Triple Toss-Up round, finishing the night as overall winners with $22,082 in winnings.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, they chose the category Person. Host Ryan Seacrest joined them at the wheel, along with Williams' mother for support. The couple picked their prize envelope and faced a short two-word puzzle. With the standard letters filled in, they added U, M, D, and K, which revealed only one extra clue, leaving the puzzle as 'U K STUD.' In the Bonus Round, after Seacrest started the ten-second timer, the couple appeared to have the second word but struggled with the first. Looking at each other in confusion, Adam guessed, "Err, I don't know, like, work study?"
Once time ran out, co-host Vanna White revealed the correct answer was "Quick Study." Seacrest added to the heartbreak by showing that they had missed out on an extra $70,000 before consoling them with, "You still got that honeymoon trip and $22,082." While Danelle and Adam took the loss gracefully, fans slammed the difficult puzzle and shared their opinion in the comment section of the YouTube video.
A fan wrote, "I never heard of a quick study person," while another added, "That puzzle didn't make any sense to me tbh." Meanwhile, a fan noted, "This puzzle...was HARD. I didn't get QUICK." Another wrote, "How is quick study a person?" Notably, the co-host of the game show, White, admitted she considered leaving 'Wheel of Fortune' alongside Pat Sajak in 2024, sharing, "People tell me all the time, 'I grew up watching you. My parents grew up watching you.' It's just an awesome thing."
She explained, "I thought I would step away with Pat [in 2024]. My thought was, how am I going to continue working with a new person? It's a scary thought to bring somebody new in. And then I thought to myself, am I ready to retire? And the answer was, in my heart, no. I still love what I do," per TV Insider. White and Sajak hosted one final season of 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' together before his retirement, after which Seacrest took over as host in Season 42 for both the syndicated and celebrity versions, with White continuing by his side.