HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

This ‘Wheel of Fortune’ puzzle was so vague, the contestant just stared until time ran out and lost big

Despite host Ryan Seacrest's help, this ‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant lost $70K

Ever since its launch in 1975, 'Wheel of Fortune' fans have heard countless bizarre answers. However, there have been moments when the solution to a puzzle barely made sense. In one such instance, a contestant failed to solve their Bonus round puzzle and lost out on $70,000. But what truly stole the spotlight was the puzzle's answer, leaving viewers scratching their heads and wondering if it was designed to be unsolvable.

On the Monday, April 28 episode of the game show, Dawya Davis from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, competed against Kathy Daley from Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Max Nemoy from Santa Monica, California. Davis won the first toss-up and earned $2,000. She nearly solved the first puzzle but made a mistake, answering, "Green around the gills" instead of the correct answer, "Green around the mills." Daley took the chance and solved it correctly, adding $5,600 to her total, per Community Newspaper Group.

Soon, Daley hit Bankrupt on her second spin in the second puzzle, and Davis got close but lost her turn, allowing Nemoy to solve "You’re the apple of my eye shadow" and win $10,700. Davis, however, bounced back by solving the trip puzzle "Cheeses and Chocolates," winning a rail trip to Switzerland and bringing her total to $19,049. She also solved two Triple Toss-Ups, earning another $4,000. 

Davis then solved the final puzzle, "I'm not producing my own podcast," winning $7,500 more, which brought her final total to $30,549. Whereas Daley won $4,000 and Nemoy took $10,700 home. In the Bonus Round, Davis chose 'Phrase' as her category. With the standard letters and her picks (M, P, C, A), only one 'A' appeared, leaving her with the puzzle "_ _ N_ _ A E," making it difficult to solve. Davis remained silent as the clock ran out, failing to guess even one word. The answer was then revealed to be "Kind of Vague," which also represented the unhelpful letter board.

Fans were also left wondering about the difficult puzzle, as many took to the comment section of the YouTube video to share their opinions. A fan commented, "What a difficult puzzle," while another added, "I wouldn’t have gotten it either." A viewer remarked, ""Kind of vague" is a very, very "vague" puzzle. I never would have gotten that. She had no chance. That was so obscure." A fan noted, "As in "this puzzle is kind of vague." Meanwhile, a fan shared, "I wouldn't gotten the Bonus Round Puzzle either and plus vowels would've been no help at all not even a "D" as well or a "G", weird Bonus Round Puzzle and that was a toughie puzzle to me and Dawya miss out on 40k which is the minimum but she still did good." Notably, in the November 2024 episode of the show, contestant Will Jordan, a Coast Guard veteran from Connecticut, went viral for his unexpected puzzle guess.

Now a school resource officer, Jordan tried to solve a puzzle and boldly guessed, "Treat Yourself to a Round of Sausage," which was based on the letters revealed by Vanna White, per E! News. Host Ryan Seacrest didn't react immediately to the odd answer and simply responded, "That's not correct," before moving on to fellow contestant Kitina, who correctly solved the puzzle as "Give Yourself a Round of Applause." After Kitina's correct response, Seacrest humorously added, "Although, Will, I kind of liked yours better. That sounds better than just clapping right now."