'Wheel of Fortune' contestant left with just two letters to solve puzzle misses out on $55,000
"Wheel of Fortune's" fans have been seeing a lot of losses in the bonus round in the past few months, and on a lot of occasions, they have called out puzzles that are too tough. In a string of tricky losses, a contestant called Miguel Martinez suffered a tough $45,000 loss in the Bonus Round after getting a raw deal with just two letters on the board. In the end, even the host, Ryan Seacrest, admitted that it was really tough for the player to guess the answer, but Martinez was happy to go home with more than $28,000.
Martinez started off struggling against another contestant named Johnston, who took the lead after getting the first two Toss Up puzzles to win $9,400. However, Martinez made a strong comeback in the Mystery Round, where he won a trip to Lake Tahoe, worth $7,069, according to Andy Nguyen's blog. He further stretched his income in the Express round by adding $9,450 to his bank account and taking a trip to Spain. In the end, Martinez emerged as the big winner of the night with a total of $28,517 and the trips.
For the bonus round, he chose the category, “Around the House,” and brought along his father, who cheered him on. After spinning the wheel, Martinez picked out his Golden Envelope and was faced with a two-word puzzle. With the show's standard letters, “R, S, T, L, N, E," on the board, Martinez chose “C, D, M, and A” as his additional letters. Unfortunately, his choice of letters gave him nearly no clues as the puzzle read, “_ _ ND_ _ _ _ _.”
As Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, it was clear that Martinez was at a complete loss. "Candle? No. It’s not a C. Binder? No," was all he could say before the time ran out. "Tough to figure this one out. With only two letters," Seacrest said before co-host Vanna White revealed the answer, "Window Box". "I wouldn’t have gotten that," the player immediately exclaimed as the answer showed up on the board. Seacrest then went on to add to the heartbreak by revealing that Martinez had lost out on winning an additional $55,000, which would have taken his total to $83,517.
However, Martinez was still happy to go home with some big money. "I think the man is happy. Enjoy the trips," Seacrest said in the end. Even the viewers at home sympathized with the player. "I got the first word, but despite talking it out, I couldn't get the second word," wrote @germanname1990 in the comments under the YouTube clip.
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