A recent Wheel of Fortune Bonus Round puzzle had Pat Sajak questioning his co-host, Vanna White.
Vanna has served as the long-standing tile-turner on Wheel of Fortune since 1982, revealing puzzle letters to contestants and viewers.
A lot has changed since Vanna began her job on stage, however, with the implementation of technology.
When Vanna first began her job, she had to turn each letter tile to reveal contestants’ guesses physically.
But now, the board is digital, so all Vanna needs to do is tap each letter, much like using a touchscreen device, rather than turn them.
Regardless of the technique, Wheel of Fortune viewers rely on Vanna to do her job during each and every episode.
A recent episode saw a player named Ryan enter into the Bonus Round, where his category of choice was “Phrase.”
Vanna revealed the routine consonants R, S, T, L, and N, along with the traditional vowel E, given to every player during their Bonus Round.
Ryan’s Bonus Round puzzle was too tough to solve
After Ryan chose his own set of letters, it was up to Vanna to reveal which of them were included in his puzzle.
Unfortunately for Ryan, the letter B was the only one he chose that appeared in the puzzle, leaving him with a tough board to solve.
“_ _ _ / S _ _ _ L _ / B E / _ R _ _ _” was what Ryan had to work with, making it nearly impossible for him to come up with the correct solution.
Longtime host Pat Sajak was leery that Ryan didn’t have any more letters on the board and teased Vanna about it.
Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak questions Vanna White’s tile-turning duties
“Did you leave anything out?” Pat asked his long-standing co-host. “Want to check again?”
Realizing that Vanna hadn’t made a mistake, Pat admitted, “I guess that’s it.”
Pat encouraged Ryan to talk it out and reminded him of his 10-second time limit to solve the puzzle before he wished him good luck.
Ryan was clearly stumped by the puzzle as he silently mouthed some possible phrases to himself as the clock ticked away.
“Yeah, just wasn’t gonna happen with that,” Pat added as the buzzer sounded.
Ryan’s puzzle solution appeared on the board, revealing “You Should Be Proud.”
Pat joked that Ryan “would have been more proud if he had a couple more letters up there,” eliciting laughter from the crowd.
Then, Pat had to deliver the bad news that Ryan missed out on a $40,000 payout.
Ryan dishes on being nervous to Pat’s daughter Maggie Sajak
Despite his Bonus Round loss, Ryan had a big night, walking away with a total of $28,550 in cash and prizes, including a trip to Spain.
Following his episode, Ryan spoke with Pat’s daughter, Maggie Sajak, who serves as Wheel of Fortune’s Social Correspondent.
Maggie asked Ryan how nervous he felt during his appearance, and he admitted that his nerves weren’t as bad as he anticipated they would be.
“I mean, as soon as you get up and start playing, it’s like, it’s just fine,” said Ryan. “I feel like the nerves kind of fade away, and you’re just having fun.”