'Wheel of Fortune' fans in disbelief as contestant loses out on $97,000 over an 'impossible' puzzle

"Wheel of Fortune" among other popular game shows that have captivated Americans for decades, is a platform where people can combine luck, skill, and knowledge to win big bucks within minutes. The ABC series, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary is especially loved among the brainy viewers and lovers of 'Wordle'. While fans often think they could do better than the contestants if given a chance, one puzzle recently featured on the show was deemed impossible by all of them. The bonus round sparked outrage on social media as people called out the producers for making it difficult to win. 

While the 50th-anniversary celebrations treated the viewers with high-scoring games and a special Pat Sajak cameo, fans weren't happy with one particular puzzle. In the January 8th episode, Jason Blackwell along with two more contestants, was fighting hard to go into the bonus round. Blackwell, a maintenance electrician had accumulated a five-figure prize money but was struggling to get ahead of the other players. 

However, he made a shocking comeback in the final Speed Up round where he racked up an additional $24,000 to beat his competition. He won the game and bagged $27,000, which was about $3,000 more than his opponents. Blackwell headed into the Bonus Round with hopes of adding more to his total and was joined by his wife on the stage when he spun the wheel and picked out the bonus envelope.

Host, Ryan Seacrest started off the round by stating that the last game had a minimum reward of $50,000 in honor of the anniversary, so Blackwell would walk away with at least $77,000 if he solved the puzzle. For the round, the contestant chose the “What Are You Doing?” category, and the puzzle board opened with a two-word, ten-letter phrase that read, “_ _ _ _ _ N _ / _ _ _" after the standard letters R, S, T, L, N, E were filled in.

Looking at the puzzle, even Seacrest admitted that there was “not a lot to work with.” Moving forward, Blackwell chose the additional consonants, G, M, C, and the vowel A, to help him out. However, the move didn't yield much as the phrase had only the letter G.

In the end, the puzzle read, “G _ _ _ _ N G / _ _ _" and Blackwell had all but 10 seconds to guess all the remaining letters. With a flushed face, the contestant made an attempt to say, "Giving, getting, getting here".  He even made a joke saying, "Not getting this prize," indicating how tough the puzzle was.

Seacrest also believed that it was an impossible solution as he said, "I don't know how you're going to get there". Unfortunately, the time ran out on Blackwell and the answer was revealed to be GOOFING OFF.  "You need a lot more letters to get there," the host added. 

In the end, it was revealed that Blackwell had lost out on winning an additional $70,000, which would have taken his total prize to a whopping $97,000. 

Viewers in the comment section of the YouTube video weren't happy with how things went for Blackwell. Many complained that the puzzle was simply impossible to solve and the producers did him dirty. "Jason was dealt the RAW DEAL list tonight," @richardhernandez4490 commented. 

Many complained that there was something wrong with the $70,000 envelope as it was the third loss in a row for the bonus prize. "3 $70,000 winners in a row are you kidding me right now? We need to get a bonus round win tomorrow or it’s going to get worse," @StarrtasiaJackson-jj4ou wrote.