'Wheel of Fortune' host Ryan Seacrest left impressed as player instantly solves $40,000 puzzle

The contestant was quicker than most people who find the round challenging.

PUBLISHED SEP 28, 2025

Screenshot showing the contestant trying to solve the puzzle (Cover image source: YouTube | Wheel of Fortune)

"Wheel of Fortune" contestants have frequently lost out in the bonus round either due to silly mistakes, terrible choice of letters or because of puzzles that were too tough. But those who have won have impressed the host Ryan Seacrest with their quick puzzle-solving skills. One such contestant made it to the final round in a recent episode of the show and received a lot of praise from the host for playing an incredible game.

via GIPHY

The contestant was a woman named Vanessa. “You got that last puzzle pretty quickly,” Seacrest said, praising the contestant for her performance in the game earlier. “Yeah. You know, I’ve been to a few happy hours in my day,” she responded. The contestant then revealed that she was on the show with her mother, who was on the stage supporting her daughter. The contestant had already won more than $16,000 and wanted to win more.

Vanessa spun the wheel, and it landed on the ‘I.’ She had chosen the ‘What Are You Doing’ category and, as per the rules of the show, was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. She now had the chance to pick three more consonants and one more vowel. The contestant thought about it for a little bit and chose the letters D, G, F, and A. These were all decent choices.

Screenshot showing Ryan Seacrest and the contestant. (Image credit: YouTube | Wheel of Fortune) — Screenshot showing Ryan Seacrest and the contestant. (Image source: YouTube | Wheel of Fortune)

After these letters were revealed, the puzzle opened up a lot, and it now read, “_ND_LG_NG __SELF.” It only took her a second when her 10-second timer started ticking down to say, “Indulging myself.” That was indeed the correct answer, and the contestant won the Bonus Round. “Indulging myself is correct. I knew you knew it. Congratulations,” Seacrest said. He then opened up the envelope to reveal that Vanessa had won an additional $40,000.

That took her total winnings up to $56,300. She and her mother were happy women as they went home with a ton of cash in the bag. While Vanessa did a great job with her puzzle, the same cannot be said for a lot of other contestants. Many have fumbled easy answers, and one of them in recent times was a woman named Kathryn. She had chosen the "Food & Drink" category for the Bonus Round.

After she got the R, S, T, L, N, and E, she picked the letters M, C, D, and O. The puzzle then opened up and read, "_ R O _ E N O R _ N _ E _ _ _ C E." Kathryn’s 10 seconds started counting down but she could not get the correct answer, which was, “Frozen orange juice.” Fans of the show believed it was an easy solve and made their opinions known in the comments section.

“How could she not get it?!” one fan asked. “Oh, dear. I thought that was an easy one!” quipped one more fan. “I got orange juice instantly, but ngl I've never heard of FROZEN orange juice, so maybe she was caught on that,” another viewer commented.