'Wheel of Fortune’ viewers in disbelief after player misses out obvious answer with one letter left

“Wheel of Fortune” is a game show where people get to combine luck and their knowledge for winning big bucks. But apart from people with a sharp mind, absurd and at times hilarious answers also make the show interesting. Sometimes, contestants fail to see the right answer even if it’s staring them in the face. That’s what happened with Jessica Washington on a 2023 episode of the popular game show. At the time, fans of the show were shocked as she failed to figure out one of the simplest puzzles ever on the show.

It happened during the What Are You Doing category and the puzzle only had one letter missing. “DINING IN THE DINING _AR,” is what everyone could read on the screen. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that the final word was ‘car’ but Washington did not seem to think so. She picked the letter J which made the final word ‘jar.’ According to Uproxx, there was a collective groan from the audience, and even Pat Sajak and Vanna White could not believe what they had just heard.

It’s safe to say that fans had a field day on X (formerly Twitter) making jokes about the hilarious response. “New season of Wheel of Fortune but still some unfathomable responses. When have you ever heard the term “dining in the dining jar” before tonight? An epic of epic fails,” one user commented. “Imagine saying “Dining in the dining Jar” on national TV,” added another.

To be fair to Washington, not many people use that particular phrase anymore so it’s highly likely she never heard that while growing up. However, one thing she was a fan of in her younger days was “Wheel of Fortune.” It turns out that she had been watching the show since she was only three years old and being a contestant was like a dream come true. Despite the embarrassing mistake, she did manage to walk out with $4000 anyway.

While Washington’s fumble was pretty funny, it’s not the worst answer a contestant has given on “Wheel of Fortune”, not by a long shot. A contender for that could be Will Jordan’s answer in November of 2024. He was a former member of the army competing on the show on the occasion of Veteran’s Day. He started strong and was solving the word puzzle quite well until he made a blunder.

At the time, the puzzle on the screen read,  “_ _ _ E _ OURSE _ F A ROUN_ OF A _ _ _ AUSE.” If you look at it for a while and think about it, it’s obvious that the answer is, “Give yourself a round of applause.” But that’s not what Jordan saw. “Treat yourself a round of sausage,” he said, much to host Ryan Seacrest’s surprise.

After the show, Jordan said that he had blanked out in a segment with the show’s social media correspondent, Maggie Sajak. “I tell you, when the lights are on and the stars, Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White, I just went blank,” he said as per New York Post. He did however go home with $8,000.