Wheel of Fortune viewers voiced outrage after a contestant walked away empty-handed from a $70,000 bonus prize on November 6, and host Ryan Seacrest admitted the puzzle posed a real challenge.
Ryan Seacrest acknowledges Wheel of Fortune question’s difficulty
Abhi Bhatt of Los Angeles reached the Bonus Round with $20,348 after a strong showing that included three Fortune Frenzy solves. He picked the category “What Are You Doing?” and received “R, S, T, L, N, and E” from the show, then added “C, D, H, and A.”
The board read “S_ _ _ N _ _ _ _ _ CAR.” Under the clock, Bhatt offered “Spinning Up A Car” and then “Shining Up The Car.” Neither landed. The correct answer was “Souping Up My Car,” and the envelope contained $50,000, pushing his potential total to $70,348. “I think this is a challenging one,” Ryan Seacrest said, “Especially with no clues in that first word.”
Bhatt had earlier solved “Posing for a Family Photo,” winning a trip to Vietnam, and took two of the three Triple Toss-ups. He defeated Maureen Staser, a retired registered nurse from Gig Harbor, Washington, who finished with $3,200, and Andrew Dugger, an Air Force veteran from Prescott Valley, Arizona, who left with $8,850 (via TV Insider).
Wheel of Fortune fans slam difficult puzzle
Reddit users blasted the Wheel of Fortune puzzle. “Baaaad final puzzle. I didn’t even know that was spelled like that,” one wrote. Another called it impossible: “My Spicy Boy got hosed on that final.”
A third fan joked, “Souping up my car?! On the menu tonight: Cadillac bisque.” One viewer questioned the phrase outright, asking what it meant, while another explained that a souped-up car is modified for more power, adding that hearing it used as a present-tense verb felt “extremely awkward and weird.”
The backlash adds pressure on the show’s Bonus Round puzzle selection. For now, Bhatt’s near-miss stands as one of the season’s most debated moments.
