'Wheel of Fortune' contestant loses out on $70,000 prize — fans blame it on 'impossible' puzzle

Although puzzles are supposed to be tricky, to make sure that the best "Wheel of Fortune" players go home with a prize, sometimes fans feel that the show's producers are going too far by making it impossible for someone to guess the answer. On a recent episode of the show, a contestant named Karen Binge missed out on the chance to take home more than $70,000 thanks to a puzzle that was impossible to solve, according to TV Insider.

Binge had already won more than $30,000 on her way to the Bonus Round but was stumped by the final puzzle. She had chosen the ‘Living Thing’ category and was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E as per the rules of the show. The contestant then had to choose three consonants and one vowel, and she picked the letters G, P, H, and O. Unfortunately, none of these letters did a lot to help the contestant.

After they were all revealed, the puzzle read, “_ _ _ _ _    GRE_HO_N_.” The contestant understood that the second word was greyhound, but without a single letter open in the first word, she needed a miracle to get this one right. Her 10 seconds ticked away, and she was not able to get the puzzle right. The answer was ‘Quick Greyhound,’ and host Ryan Seacrest revealed that the contestant could have taken home an additional $40,000.

While the contestant wasn’t too upset about the loss, fans of the show took to the comments section of YouTube to make their disappointment known. “Another borderline impossible puzzle. This budget mode has to go,” one user commented. “Back to budget mode for another reason,” added one more. “The wheel of misery continues, still only 2 winners in 25 shows. And the season is almost over, so much frustration, the only good news at least it's not a million dollars lost,” wrote a fan.

While some contestants fail to get difficult puzzles right in the Bonus Round, others make it look like child’s play. That’s exactly what happened on a different episode of the show, which saw a contestant named Frank Mentesana defy the odds and win big. He already had $25,850 in his purse and was going for more. He had chosen the ‘Phrase’ category. The contestant was given the letters R, S, T, L, N, and E and picked H, C, F, and O.

After these letters were revealed, the puzzle read, "T O _ _ H / _ _ T / F _ _ R." It seemed like a hard puzzle to get right, but it only took Mentesana a few seconds to say, “Tough but fair.” That was the correct answer, and the contestant took home an additional $40,000. Fans of the show were impressed and made their thoughts known in the comments section of the clip on YouTube.

“I never would've guessed it! Good job Frank 🎉,” one user commented. “I can't believe he got it! I never would have guessed that!” added another. “Congratulations frank on a fantastic solve in the bonus round,” a viewer commented.

Although Ryan Seacrest may not be able to help contestants take home as much as they could have, he does make more money than many pop stars as the host of "American Idol."