Wheel of Fortune contestants regularly miss bonus puzzles, but occasionally, it’s because of a particularly puzzling decision. According to fans, this was the case for the winner on Friday, November 15. She improperly sized up her puzzle, so much so that her letter picks added ZERO letters to the board in a first for Ryan Seacrest as host.
Callie DeWeese, a Coast Guard vet of 22 years from Madison, Alabama, was the contestant who emerged victorious. With $14,719 in cash and a prize trip to Kauai, she went to the bonus round. One of the options was the infrequent but very helpful category, “In The Kitchen.” Unlike, say, “Phrase,” the category can be a huge boost since it’s more specific, so of course she chose it.
Joined by Seacrest center stage, the two-word puzzle read as, “_ _ _ _ E N’ ‘S _ _ _ N.’” She selected the additional letters of “KMHA.” “Alright,” Seacrest said. “Let’s see if we get any luck… I don’t think so.” Instead of going over to press more letters, Vanna White didn’t move an inch and shook her head. The audience sounded shocked, and White stood in place as DeWeese’s smile turned into a cringe (above). Those choices added not one letter to the puzzle, so it remained the same. “It’s gonna be tough but certainly possible,” Seacrest assured.
The 10-second timer began and DeWeese was unable to make a full guess, uttering “Kitchen?” seemingly having made the mistake of thinking that would be the first word and basing her letters on that despite it being in the category title. The timer ran out and she was unable to get close to the answer, “Wooden Spoon.”
Seacrest opened his golden prize card to reveal it contained the $40,000 amount, and the audience collectively moaned. “You didn’t have enough to get going,” he shared.
The game show shared the rough round on YouTube, where fans were shocked by the loss since she had a narrowed-down category, and by her poor letter picks that led to the rarity of not even one showing up.
“Feels like her letter choices were just wild guesses,” one fan wrote under the clip scoring 13 likes.
“I got it right after the RSTLNE’s came up,” wrote another.
“Oh, dear; I thought that was an easy one!” wrote a third.
“This category gave her easy time. Sad she lost,” wrote a fourth.
“That was an easy one even with out her letters,” argued a fifth.
“My house has wooden spoons,” remarked a sixth. “Those letters were not the ones I would use, I would have used a P or a W for starters. I got this puzzle even before she did. Glad callie got the trip and we salute her for her work as a veteran.”
“Surprisingly I don’t think the puzzle was difficult thanks to the category In The Kitchen,” said yet another. “And surprisingly I figured out the puzzle Wooden Spoon. There is one letter that Callie would’ve need it and that was a vowel of ‘O’s’ because there were 4 of them, that would’ve done it for her.”
“I already knew the answer without the extra letters that came in handy, but turns out to be a crappy call when she called those letters,” one more agreed.
Meanwhile, WoF fans are now in the full swing of the Seacrest era, as he became the official replacement for Pat Sajak after four decades for Season 42. His debut month was the strongest ratings month for WoF in the past three years, and viewers were already treated to a viral moment (and a round of sausage). That said, there have been some puzzling moments, not just from players, but from the new host.