'Wheel of Fortune' fans think the show has run out of money and they have a strong case for it

"Wheel of Fortune" is popular among fans for games that are supposed to be fun, while they provide a window for people to win cars and vacations. That's why it faces flak for featuring increasingly difficult puzzles in the Bonus Round. Over the past weeks, fifteen contestants in a row have failed to win big on the show, which has led to fans speculating that the show may be running out of money. Recently, a player named Wanda lost out on winning a Mercedes-Benz car because of a highly unusual puzzle with the answer, "A patch of thick fog" in the finale. Following the series of losses, fans took to Reddit to discuss their theories about what is going on with the show. 

In the episode, Wanda made it to the show's Bonus Round, where winners spin the wheel and pick out a Golden Envelope that conceals cash prizes worth up to $100,000 and a brand new car. Wanda picked the "Thing" category and was faced with a word puzzle. Despite getting eight letters on the board as clues, Wanda couldn't guess the puzzle.

Viewers in the comments section of the show's YouTube clip were outraged by the difficulty level of the puzzle. "15 straight losses and no Mercedes car win tonight. You think being in thick fog is bad, losing in the bonus round 15 straight times is really, really bad," wrote @dannyblock-e4d. "These puzzles are becoming confusing and hard to solve," added @AlecRoth-id8fp.

Before Wanda, another player named Danny Harrison lost out on winning an extra $40,000 in the Bonus Round over a similarly difficult puzzle. Harrison aced a series of puzzles in the initial rounds of the show to win $28,890 in cash and emerge victorious. He made his way to the Bonus Round and picked the "What are you doing?" category. The player was stumped with only a handful of letters on the board. Despite trying his best, Harrison couldn’t figure out the final puzzle, BAKING A QUICHE, becoming the 14th player to lose out in the final round.

These losses have led viewers to debate whether the show has run out of money, which may be a reason why they are making the Bonus Rounds difficult. Over the past couple of weeks, the show has featured increasingly tough puzzles like "AQUATIC BIRDS,"  “ACCOMPLISHED AVIATOR,” “JAM PACKED CAFE,” and “RUMMAGING IN THE BACKYARD.” Fans took to the show's unofficial Reddit forum complaining about the show's unfair puzzles. 

Many started theorizing that the show may have run out of money to give out in the Bonus Rounds. "Perhaps a Sony imposed budget haircut toward the end of the season? No idea," wrote @enormous-jeans. "It's end of season budget crunch. We got some easier bonus puzzles the end of last season because of the 8,000th show week, Fan Favorites II, and Pat's final week, but obviously those aren't happening this time," added @user/jjc927. 

One user, @RAS310 suggested that this wasn't the first time the show had done this.  "They had too many wins and can’t afford any more. Don’t be surprised if we get no more wins in the remainder of the season. This same thing happened in Season 36 at the exact same point. The final six weeks, starting at the last Monday of April, had a record 20 losses in a row (shattering the previous record of 17 set in Dec 2000-Jan 2001), then one win (on a “show 6”/compilation ep that taped earlier than the other weeks), then nine more losses,"  the user explained 

Others wondered if there could be other reasons behind the difficult puzzles. "I agree that they are far more challenging recently. As there have been several puzzle changes/new categories even in the regular rounds this season, I wonder if there are new writers on staff. I'm also guessing it's an intentional step to make the final round more difficult, kind of like how Final Jeopardy is supposed to be more difficult," suggested @lynelryder44.