Wheel of Fortune viewers have become more and more perturbed with the show’s Bonus Rounds.
Big wins for Bonus Round contestants have become few and far between as of late, and many Wheel of Fortune viewers blame the show’s producers for poorly worded categories.
Such was the case during a recent episode of Wheel of Fortune in which a contestant named Laura got a chance to win big during her episode’s Bonus Round.
“Place” was Laura’s category, and after choosing her vowels and consonants, and being provided with the usual R, S, T, L, N, and E, she was left with a puzzle that seemed nearly impossible to solve.
After all was said and done in the letter-picking department, Laura’s puzzle read “_ R _ _ E L / _ _ L _ _ _ _.”
“Well, that’s all you’re gonna get,” host Pat Sajak told Laura before her 10-second timer began counting down.
Laura was at a loss for words and unable to even utter a single guess, noting that there “has to be another vowel in there.”
Pat Sajak offers his condolences to Laura after she misses out on $100,000 in Bonus Round cash
Unfortunately for Laura, she came up short and couldn’t give Pat the correct solution before the buzzer sounded.
“Gravel Walkway” was the “Place” and Pat was upset about showing Laura how much it had cost her. He asked her to turn away from him as he showed the audience the $100,000 prize envelope.
Pat then allowed Laura to open the envelope herself, and when she discovered how much she could have won, she was flabbergasted.
Pat’s condolences weren’t enough to appease viewers at home, however. Wheel of Fortune fans felt as though Laura would have had a shot at winning if the category was more aptly titled.
Critics headed to social media to sound off, calling out Wheel of Fortune producers for what they deemed a misleading category name.
Wheel of Fortune viewers are annoyed with Bonus Round categories
A clip of Laura’s segment was shared on Wheel of Fortune’s YouTube channel, where critics took aim at the show’s writers for labeling “Gravel Walkway” a place instead of a thing.
“That’s a thing not a place!” proclaimed one disgruntled viewer.
Another wrote, “Yet again the show chooses to miscategorize a THING as a PLACE. This must be intentional. Ugh.”
Others echoed the sentiment, declaring that “Gravel Walkway” is not a place.
One viewer at home surmised that Wheel of Fortune producers were “using the same puzzle for both categories” since, for the second time in one week, a Bonus Round puzzle category was listed as “Place” but should have been categorized as “Thing.”
“Gravel Walkway is a thing, not a place, “added @alexwells9948. “It’s one of the miscategorized puzzles.”
Although Laura didn’t win big in her Bonus Round, she left as a winner overall.
Laura took home $19,350 in cash and prizes, and Pat congratulated her on her winnings, calling her “a lot of fun” on the show.