Tom Stednicki had quite the game during his stint on Wheel of Fortune, and it might go down as one of the most memorable of all time.
The Watkins Glen, New York, resident showed off his incredible puzzle-solving prowess this week when he figured out a puzzle with only one letter on the board.
Tom’s category during the impressive round was “On the Map” and he was left to solve a puzzle with every letter worth a whopping $6,000.
Tom’s puzzle read, “_ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ S _ _” after Vanna Whie revealed the first letter.
Tom only hesitated for about two seconds before he blurted out, “Glacier Bay, Alaska!”
Tom was correct, sparking applause from the crowd and a low-key response from host Pat Sajak.
Wheel of Fortune contestant baffles host Pat Sajak
“Of course,” Pat jokingly told Tom as his teammates congratulated him on his phenomenal work.
Pat gave Tom a staredown as he approached him at the wheel before asking what everyone else was thinking: “How’d you do that?”
Tom shared that he looked at many maps before coming on the show, and felt that helped him figure out the puzzle quickly.
“Well, that’s exactly what I would have said,” joked Pat.
Wheel of Fortune viewers are impressed by Tom’s solve
Over on X (formerly Twitter), Wheel of Fortune watchers at home lauded Tom’s efforts, deeming him the game show’s “GOAT.”
“Im convinced tom is a time traveler and came back to just dunk on everyone,” expressed @MReduce20025.
Another fan of the show asked, “Ok but how the f**k did Tom on Wheel of fortune just get ‘Glacier Bay Alaska’ from just the ‘S’ in Alaska?”
“Tom the Wheel of Fortune GOAT??” read a post by @AdamAwes10K. “Gets the final puzzle with 1 letter 😂.”
Tom says playing the Wheel of Fortune app keeps his gameplay sharp
Following his awe-inspiring work at the wheel, Tom spoke with Pat’s daughter, Maggie Sajak, who is the Wheel of Fortune Social Correspondent.
Maggie interviewed Tom regarding his play skills at home, asking whether he’s as good of a player off-screen as he was during his segment.
“I played with my parents as a kid, you know? And now I have the app on my phone, so I play, you know, to practice,” Tom shared.
During Maggie and Tom’s interaction, Pat infused some humor into the moment as he showed up unexpectedly and uttered, “Glacier Bay, Alaska!” as he sandwiched himself between them before swiftly walking away.
Tom’s Bonus Round didn’t come as easily to him
Although Tom was able to solve a puzzle earlier in the game with just one letter, he didn’t have as much luck during his Bonus Round.
Pat told him, “For a really good solver, you sound perpetually confused,” before he began guessing his puzzle.
But Pat added that if anyone could pull off solving the puzzle, it was Tom.
Tom was left with a puzzle in the “Phrase” category that read “IT / _ _ S / _ / _ L _ _ E.”
Despite sounding out several possible options, Tom came up short. The correct answer was “It Was a Fluke,” costing him $50,000.
After all was said and done, though, Tom made out like a bandit, walking away with $33,048.