'Wheel of Fortune' player solves a really difficult puzzle and then says 'I don't know how I did it'
Winning big in the "Wheel of Fortune" is largely about a contestant's puzzle-solving skills, but sometimes it can be all about having fun. This was seen when Karen Cunningham showed after she danced and giggled her way to the show's Bonus Round. While she got a 'raw deal' in the final puzzle, her high spirits and encouragement from Pat Sajak helped her solve it to win a brand new Ford Edge car.
In the episode, Cunningham, a mother of five and a grandmother of 10 grandkids, from Fontana, went up against Brett Lea from San Pedro and Rachel Weaver from Van Nuys. After a slow start, she soon got into the rhythm by solving a long puzzle, “GOODNESS GRACIOUS, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!” for $7,000 and the lead.
However, she briefly lost the lead to Weaver after she got the Mystery Round's crossword puzzle. Cunningham then made a strong comeback in the Express Round, where she won the Wild Card and thousands more before solving the puzzle "KICK BACK AND ENJOY" to win an exotic trip to the Pineapple Beach Club in Antigua. Sajak then made a joke about how he reads the player's body language whenever she figures out a puzzle.
In the end, Cunningham went on to solve a few more puzzles, including a couple in the Triple Toss Round, as per Andy Nguyen's blog, to emerge victorious at the end of the initial rounds. With a total of $20,460 cash and the trip, she advanced to the Bonus Round and chose the category, "What are you wearing?" for the final puzzle.
With a chance of winning up to $100,000 or a brand new Ford SUV, Cunningham picked out her Golden Envelope and was faced with a short two-word puzzle. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, and E," filled in, she went on to choose "D, M, P, I," and an extra letter "F" using her Wild Card to get some more clues. Tragically, despite using the Wild Card, none of Cunningham's chosen letters appeared on the puzzle as it read, "_ E _ N _ _ _ _ E T."
As Sajak kicked off the ten-second timer, Cunningham initially looked stumped as she had almost nothing to work with. However, she made a stunning guess at the last moment, yelling out "Jean Jacket," which was the correct answer. To add to her delight, Sajak revealed that she had won a brand new "Ford Edge" with just a handful of clues on the board.
It seemed like Cunningham had surprised herself with the win as she clapped and giggled with joy. She then ran over to check out her new car and waved to her loved ones at home from the front seat. While Cunningham's win was tough, recently another player got an easy puzzle in the Bonus Round and laughed his way to a win. Rich Rinaldi solved the easy puzzle, “Gazebo!” to win a $40,000 cash prize.
More on Market Realist:
'Wheel of Fortune' contestant spins the wheel too fast and solves the puzzle even more quickly
'Wheel of Fortune' contestant went 'from zero' to winning a Mercedes in stunning comeback
How do cars make it onto ‘Wheel of Fortune’ set? Fans finally get a behind-the-scenes answer
