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'Wheel of Fortune' contestant solves puzzle in seconds despite bad choice of letters to win $40,000

The host was impressed with the contestant, John Boese's puzzle solving skills.
PUBLISHED SEP 8, 2025
Screenshot showing John Boese attempting his Bonus Round Puzzle (Cover image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)
Screenshot showing John Boese attempting his Bonus Round Puzzle (Cover image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)

"Wheel of Fortune" contestants are themselves caught by surprise and disappoint fans on many occasions when they fail to solve a bonus round puzzle. But some players make it look like a walk in the park. One such contestant was John Boese, who left Ryan Seacrest stunned after pulling off a miraculous Bonus Round win. He demolished his competition to make it to the finale, and looked stumped as his choice of letters turned out to be unlucky. However, this did not stop him from cracking the $40,000 puzzle in seconds and earning the host's respect.

Screenshot showing the winning moment (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)
Screenshot showing the winning moment (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)

Boese had a flying start in the first Toss Up round and didn't look back as he racked up thousands of dollars. In the Mystery Round, he went on to solve the prize puzzle for $10,500, and then in the Express Round, he won a trip to the Grand Canyon National Park and a stay at the Tanque Verde Ranch worth $7,500, according to Andy Nguyen's blog.

He went on to crack a few more puzzles in the following rounds and emerged as the big winner of the night with a total of $23,000 and the trips. Meanwhile, the runner-up, Roberson, could only manage to amass, $12,000.

Screenshot showing Boese spinning the wheel alongside Seacrest (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)
Screenshot showing Boese spinning the wheel alongside Seacrest (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)

Advancing to the Bonus Round, Boese chose the category "Phrase" for the final puzzle and was joined by his mom, his girlfriend, and his sister on the stage for support. He spun the wheel alongside Seacrest, and after picking out the prize envelope, he was faced with a short three-word puzzle. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E," gave him only one clue on the board, he chose, "C, G, H, and O," as his additional letters. With this, the final puzzle read,  "O _ _  _ E      GO."

Screenshot showing the Bonus Round puzzle (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)
Screenshot showing the Bonus Round puzzle (Image source: YouTube/Wheel of Fortune)

As Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, Boese initially looked stumped. However, he quickly figured out the first word and then went on to yell out the correct answer, "Off We Go," with five seconds to spare. To add to his delight, the host revealed that he had won an additional $40,000. "Oh, you got there fast. Great job. Well done," Seacrest said as he showed the player his grand total of $63,000.

While Boese got there in the end with ease, viewers at home were worried. "I was worried for a minute! I solved it myself, and he literally got to it midway! Good job, John!" wrote @06MAN in the comments on YouTube.  "He luckily selected two critical letters + it was a short puzzle = easy solve! Way to go, John!!!" explained another fan, @loveforeignaccents.

More on Market Realist: 

'Wheel of Fortune' contestant fails to solve puzzle even though the most important word was obvious

'Wheel of Fortune' contestant wins $120,000 after a surprising mishap changed the whole game

'Wheel of Fortune' player solves difficult puzzle and wins a massive $50,000 on her son’s birthday

RELATED TOPICS WHEEL OF FORTUNE
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