Could there be a formula for winning the Bonus Round on Wheel of Fortune?
Contestants who earn the most cash and prizes are awarded a trip to the final game, where they get a chance to add even more to their winnings for the day.
Players meet with host Ryan Seacrest to spin the mini wheel and pick up their prize wedge, which is revealed after their segment.
The prizes range anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000, with a very select few seeing the ever-elusive $1 million prize wedge.
It’s customary that each contestant is provided with five consonants and one vowel for every Bonus Round puzzle: R, S, T, L, N, and E.
Then, the contestant must choose three more consonants and one more vowel before their 10-second timer begins, and they attempt to solve the puzzle.
Contestants don’t typically reveal whether there was any rhyme or reason behind their letter choices, but now, Wheel of Fortune contestants are sharing their secrets to choosing optimal letters.
Wheel of Fortune viewers and a former contestant discuss their strategies for choosing Bonus Round letter combos
On Reddit, one Wheel watcher proposed, “What are the best letters to pick during the bonus round?”
Other fans of the show offered their theories, including one former contestant who prepared a spreadsheet to help them with their letter choices.
“I had a spreadsheet for this prepared for my appearance. I took every bonus round in season 40 and found the most common letters used other than RSTLNE,” u/Salzano14’s explanation began.
“I think I omitted ‘What Are You Doing’ categories because of the prevalence of the letter G in those,” the comment continued. “Anyway the most common three consonants + vowel were PHG-A. I used those letters on both my bonus rounds… and lost both. Lol.”
One Redditor shared that the letters F, D, Y, and O are the best picks and that the letter G is an “unhelpful” letter.
u/PlasticBubbleGuy added that the letter Y “seems to be the best since [it] can be a consonant or a vowel.”
As u/fsk pointed out, there is no universal answer to choosing letters during the Bonus Round.
“You can use the information you get from RSTLNE to guess. If you think you know one of the words, pick a common letter that’s in that word,” was their advice.
Basing their picks on “nothing but conjecture,” another Wheel watcher felt as though A, B, C, and D would be the most helpful to solve a Bonus Round puzzle.
As they theorized, “I know this isn’t the most common letter distribution, but you’d be surprised how many puzzles put themselves within reach by guessing those four and seeing what comes up, or doesn’t.”
The Bonus Round has evolved since Wheel of Fortune’s debut
The Bonus Round has undergone several changes since Wheel of Fortune’s inception in 1975.
The end-of-game segment has been presented as Shopper’s Special and Star Bonus, with the time given to solve the puzzles varying over the years, as well as differing prizes being doled out.
At one time, contestants were asked to name their own consonants and vowel combinations. Interestingly, nearly all contestants would opt for some configuration of R, S, T, L, N, and E.
The combination of R, S, T, L, N, and E rarely gives contestants more than half of any puzzle solution so as not to make the game too easy for players.
In 1982, the Bonus Round became a permanent part of Wheel of Fortune’s gameplay.