'Wheel of Fortune' fans slam phrase they 'never heard of' for costing contestant $55,000 win
Tricky puzzles on "Wheel of Fortune" have been leaving fans outraged for months by coming between contestants and big prizes. The same happened once again when a puzzle cost a player $55,000. Liz St. Claire, a former "American Bandstand" dancer who won nearly $20,000 in the night, was stumped by an unusual phrase featured in the show's Bonus Round. While the player was happy to win cash and a trip to Argentina, fans weren't happy with the show's phrase selection.
St. Claire was off to a rough start after her competitor, Turner, took the lead early on in the game by cracking the first Toss Up puzzle. Things got worse for St. Claire in the Mystery Round after Turner stretched her lead to over $8,400 while she struggled to get off the mark. Finally, in the Express Round, St. Claire made a strong comeback by solving the prize puzzle to win a trip to Algodon Wine Estates in Argentina worth $8,415, as per Andy Nguyen's blog.
Going into the Triple Toss Up round and the Speed Up Round, she kept her momentum up by solving a couple more puzzles. In the end, she emerged as he big winner of the night with a total of $19,415 in cash. Advancing to the Bonus Round, St. Claire chose the category 'Phrase' for her final puzzle and joined the host, Ryan Seacrest, at the wheel. After spinning the wheel and picking out her Golden Envelope, she faced a four-word puzzle on the board.
After the show gave her the standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E," she chose "C, P, M," and "A" as her additional letters. Unfortunately, the letter picks did not do her any good as only the letters A and C showed up on the board, with the puzzle reading, "_ _ _ C _ A S A _ _ N _." After Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, it was clear that St. Claire had no clue what the puzzle was. While she guessed "Black" and "Wind", neither was in the puzzle. Once the clock ran out, co-host Vanna White uncovered the answer, "Quick As A Wink." "I feel like if you had, maybe this q here, you might have got it," Seacrest said before revealing that the player lost out on taking home an additional $55,000.
While St. Claire was still happy to walk away with the exotic trip and nearly $20,000, fans were quick to call out the puzzle in the comments of the show's YouTube clip. "Never heard that phrase in my life," wrote @loveforeignaccents. "I thought the second word was IS, not AS. I’ve heard of the British phrase, gone in a blink, but never have I heard of quick as a wink," added @lunamelody2025.
"'Quick as a wink' was done before, back in the early 2000s. That must be a tricky puzzle since it seems no one has guessed it even back then!" shared @Swordtee40.
Watch the video here.
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