Grandma of 10 cracks tough ‘Wheel of Fortune’ puzzle with barely any letters — even she couldn’t believe it
A 'Wheel of Fortune' player was in disbelief after she ended up solving a really difficult puzzle. During an episode of 'Wheel of Fortune', a contestant named Karen Cunningham, a mother of five and a grandmother of 10 grandkids, from Fontana competed against Brett Lea from San Pedro and Rachel Weaver from Van Nuys. Despite a slow start, Cunningham regained momentum when she cracked a long puzzle that read, “Goodness gracious, great balls of fire," winning $7,000 and taking over the lead. During the Mystery Round, Cunningham lost to Weaver, who managed to decipher the crossword puzzle, "Sea Urchin."
In the Express Round, Cunningham made an impressive comeback. At that point in time, Cunningham won the Wild Card and a couple of thousand, before solving the puzzle, "Kick back and enjoy." Along with this, Cunningham also won an exotic trip to the Pineapple Beach Club in Antigua. Following that, the game show host Pat Sajak joked around about how he reads the body language of a contestant who solves the puzzle.
Later on, Cunningham figured out a few more puzzles, including a couple in the Triple Toss Up Round. At the end, Cunningham emerged as the big winner of the night with a total of $20,460 in cash. Meanwhile, Weaver went home with $15,600, and Lea was left with $4,000. Ultimately, Cunningham advanced to the Bonus Round. When Cunningham was asked to pick a category for the final puzzle, she selected, "What are you wearing?" After 'Wheel of Fortune' gave Cunningham the letters "R, S, T, L, N, and E," she chose the letters "D, M, P, I," and F" to round out the puzzle. At last, the puzzle looked like "_ E _ N _ _ _ _ E T."
As Sajak began the ten-second timer, Cunningham initially appeared perplexed as she didn't have many letters on the board. As per Market Realist, the game show contestant made a spectacular guess, screaming, "Jean Jacket." Shortly afterward, Sajak's co-host Vanna White revealed that Cunningham gave the correct answer. At that moment, Cunningham couldn't believe that she had made the right guess. While clapping her hands loudly, Cunningham yelled out, "I don't know how I did it. Then, Sajak opened the Golden Envelope and told Cunningham that she had won a brand new Ford Edge. In the episode, Sajak told the audience, "Well, we add it all up. It's $57,585. No problem at all."
Once the episode dropped, many fans of the show shared their thoughts on Cunningham's Bonus Round puzzle. One social media user stopped by the comments section and wrote, "Wow, she was a really good player and awesome job on the final puzzle with so few letters!" Followed by a second user who penned, "She has positive energy that helped her win. Be always happy and optimistic, and things will come your way." Another netizen went on to say, "Karen was a wonderful contestant! Great energy and a great player. :)" A 'Wheel of Fortune' fan remarked, "I was watching this on live TV, and I honestly got the puzzle before she started calling letters, I am not lying."