‘Wheel of Fortune’ Fans Confused by Puzzle as Contestant Misses $75,000 Win

Wheel of Fortune showcased a puzzle that confused fans but was explained at the end of the show. They were thankful for the explanation after the night’s winner bombed the Bonus Round puzzle that many viewers thought was easy.

On Friday, March 28, Stephen Sporer, from St. Paul, Minnesota, played against Christina White, from Long Beach, California, and Megan Russell, from Sylvester, West Virginia.

Sporer and Russell guessed the first two toss-ups, giving them both $1,000 each. However, all three players landed on Bankrupt during the first puzzle, making it an even playing field. Russell wound up solving the first puzzle, earning $3,500.

For the second puzzle, the category was “Event.” White solved the puzzle — “Seeing the green flash” — which confused some viewers because they didn’t know what that meant, nor how it was an event.

“The Event category puzzle – What did that even mean???” a Reddit user asked.

“No idea,” another fan said.

However, the game show explained what the green flash was at the end of Friday’s episode, which fans were thankful for. Hosts Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White gave their outro like they normally do. “Earlier in the show, we had a puzzle ‘Seeing the green flash,'” White said. “Do you know what the green flash is?”

“For a sunset,” Seacrest said. “It’s when I’m sitting there in a lawn chair with a wine cooler, watching its final moments, when it flashes at the last second and ducks under the horizon, and you see this green refraction of light. It’s quite beautiful.”

“I’m glad they explained it, but I’ve never heard of that before. Or seen it in the many, many sunsets I’ve watched. I’m guessing plenty of other people haven’t, either, or else they wouldn’t have felt the need to explain it in the closer,” a Reddit user said.

“It’s a rare event. The condition have to be just right,” explained a fan.

For the prize puzzle, White guessed, “Take a shower under a water fall.” She took the lead with $9,000 and won a trip to Aruba. However, Sporer took the lead when he correctly guessed all three Triple Toss-Ups at the end of the game, earning $10,000. He also guessed the final puzzle — “In the home stretch” — securing his spot in the Bonus Round.

He ended with a total of $35,000. White was not far behind with $22,132. Russell took home $5,800.

Sporer brought his partner, Jeremy, and his best friend, Mary, with him to watch him try and win. He chose “Phrase” for his final puzzle.

Wheel gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” and he chose “C,M,G, and O,” to round out the puzzle. However, he looked hesitant with his choices. After that, the puzzle looked like “ON O_R  _ _ _.”

Sporer kept guessing “On Our…” but couldn’t guess the final word. The puzzle turned out to be “On Our Way.” He lost out on an additional $40,000.

Fans were shocked when he didn’t figure out the easy puzzle. “I GOT IT!! I cannot believe he didn’t know it was On Our Way,” one fan on YouTube said after his Bonus Round was posted to the platform.

“I was answering the answer to my TV repeatedly, haha!” said another.

“I’m not usually good on solving the puzzles, but I guessed this one even before they put the extra letters up,” another fan commented.