‘Wheel of Fortune’ Player Loses $50,000 Bonus Puzzle in Ironic Fashion (VIDEO)

Wheel of Fortune contestants regularly miss bonus puzzles, but sometimes they do so in particularly puzzling ways. According to fans, such was the case on Friday, October 25’s episode when an answer was within a player’s reach and given her background, directly in her wheelhouse.

Janie, a retired music and theater arts teacher from Bennington, Vermont went to the coveted bonus round with $19,200 cash, a prize trip to Savannah, Georgia, and the off-side support of her doting husband. Joined by new host Ryan Seacrest, she selected the dreaded “Phrase” category which is warned against given how vague it can be, and the additional letters of “FDHO.” The three-word puzzle read, “‘_EE_’ ‘_ _’ ‘THE’ ‘_OOD’ ‘_OR_’.

Unfortunately, Janie couldn’t muster up a full guess, saying “…Good Word?” she said and the 10-second timer ran out. “You probably needed a little more help,” Seacrest comforted her, as the puzzle was displayed: “Keep Up The Good Work.”

Seacrest opened the gold prize card to reveal she lost out on a whopping $50,000 and Janie threw her head back in disappointment, which quickly transformed into a chuckle: “I’m very happy.”

The game show shared the tough break on YouTube, where fans in the comments section weren’t shy in expressing that this was a rather common phrase, and one of the most common phrases in classrooms.

“Wow, they actually had a phrase in the bonus round that people use,” the top comment read.

“I was shocked she didn’t get it! But I mean if you don’t know, you might not know,” defended another.

” I knew it before she called the letters!” wrote a third.

“This was the phrase commonly used in schools,” pointed out a fourth.

“Janie is actually a teacher so how did she forget keep up the good work,” agreed a fifth.

“Omg how she ain’t get that Another layup missed,” piled on a sixth.

That said, others fairly pointed out that the letters just weren’t there: “I got it. Once you get it, it’s easy. But it was a crapshoot. I was struggling at first but was able to figure it out. Too bad she was not able to do the same.” 

Meanwhile, WoF viewers are warming up to Seacrest, who officially replaced Pat Sajak as the nightly host after four decades last month. He brought in the strongest ratings month for WoF in the past three years, as was announced last week. That said, the Hollywood multi-hyphenate has inevitably had some stumbles as spotted by fans.

Earlier this month, viewers called out the host for an on-air blunder they dubbed his “first blooper”, which involved a delayed reaction to telling a player they won a bonus round. Fans also called out the host for ruling against another player before the timer was up. And there have been a few on-screen “glitches,” like the iconic Vanna White appearing to separate from her body with her reflection walking away.