Wheel of Fortune fans screamed at their TV when the bonus round contestant couldn’t figure out the “easy” puzzle. This resulted in him losing $96,000.
Reed Meschke, from Billings, Montana, was met with a lot of opinions when he didn’t solve the puzzle. The mountain lover tried to solve the first toss-up, but it ultimately went to Danelle Taylor, from Lansing, Illinois. Meschke is a married man who has three large dogs.
They played against Debbie Jacobs, from Denham Springs, Louisiana. The huge college sports fan solved the second toss-up.
Taylor, a woman who was in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, took the lead when she solved “Renewing, Refreshing, Rejuvenating” for $11,500. She also solved “Double Dutch Jump Rope” for $13,800.
After a lot of back and forth, Meschke solved “Take The Ferry.” He won a trip to Alaska and Denali National Park. This gave him the lead with $13,990.
Jacobs put $4,000 more in her bank when she solved two of the three triple toss-ups. Meschke solved the third, giving him an extra $2,000.
Meschke solved “One Lump Sum” for the final puzzle as the buzzer went off, but the game show accepted his answer. This made his total $21,390, advancing him to the Bonus Round.
Taylor went home with $13,800. Jacobs left with $6,000.
Meschke picked “Phrase” for his Bonus Round category. The contestant brought his wife, Carrie, with him.
He was given “R,S,T,L,N, and E” and rounded out the puzzle with “F,H,P, and I.” The puzzle then looked like “_FFER _ _ _R _PINI_N.”
As the clock counted down, Meschke guessed “Offer Your,” but couldn’t guess the last word. The puzzle was “Offer Your Opinion.” There was $75,000 in the envelope, which would have given him $96,390.
Fans were shocked that Meschke couldn’t figure out the puzzle. “The way he called the letters for the bonus round, I thought he knew it,” a Reddit user said.
“Omg. That one was a gimme! Come on,” another wrote.
“…I thought he called the letters because he knew it! I don’t know if I have second-hand rage or shame right now. What other words than ‘OPINION’ would fit there???” a third added.
“That was an easy bonus puzzle….” another said.
“UGH! I had this instantly with RSTLNE. It’s beyond me how he didn’t get that,” one Reddit user wrote.
“I have no idea how he didn’t get that bonus puzzle. Especially since he knew the first 2 words and all that was missing from the last one were the 2 O’s,” a fan commented.
“I was screaming at my TV. How did he not get that?” one wondered.
“Really thought the bonus puzzle was in the bag, but I guess sometimes it’s just not obvious for some,” one last fan said.
Could you figure out the bonus puzzle? Let us know in the comments.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock