'Wheel of Fortune' contestant loses out on $40,000 after picking terrible choice of letters

“Wheel of Fortune” isn't all about luck, and solving puzzles on the show requires some skills with words as well. Although the losing streak in the bonus round was broken after 19 games, players still can't win the games with just a lucky guess. One contestant realized that after losing out on an opportunity to take home $67,000, because he chose the wrong letters.

According to TV Insider, the contestant named Clayton had already won $27,548 and a trip to Japan on his way to the Bonus Round. He chose the ‘Around The House’ category and was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E as per the rules. The contestant then had to pick three more consonants and one more vowel.

Clayton chose the letters C, K, D, and A. This was an absolute disaster since not a single one of the letters that he chose appeared in the puzzle even once, and the contestant was left with an almost insurmountable task. The puzzle now read, “_L_ _ER  _ _ _ES,” and he had 10 seconds to get it right. Only a miracle could have helped him win this game, and that simply did not happen.

The correct answer was ‘Flower Boxes’, but Clayton wasn’t even close. “I think you needed a head start there,” Seacrest said before revealing that the contestant lost out on an additional $40,000. That would have taken his day’s winnings to more than $67,000. The contestant was a bit disappointed, but that did not last long as he was still going home with a lot of money.

Fans of the show acknowledged that it was a tough puzzle and expressed the same in the comments on YouTube. “Ugh, that was a brutal bonus round; we may have a skunked bonus round week,” one fan wrote. “I would not have gotten that. Flower Boxes are an old school house staple, but I wouldn't have thought that first,” added another. “That puzzle was designed to be a loss,” one more fan commented.

Fans of the show aren't very happy about Bonus Round puzzles that, in their opinion, are just ridiculous. That’s what happened on a different episode of the show when a contestant named Sheree was up to play the round with a Wild Card. Having a Wild Card means that you’ll get to choose an extra consonant. The contestant chose the letters C, D, M, I, and P.

The puzzle read, “_  _  _  _ P    IT     _P,” but the contestant was not able to get the correct answer in time. The right answer was revealed to be ‘Whoop It Up,’ and fans were not happy about it. "I swear to God, since Ryan has come to the show, Wheel is creating their own words or using slang words," one user wrote. "I’ve never heard of this phrase before, let alone hear it being used in conversation," one more said.