It was easy to forgive a Wheel of Fortune contestant on Tuesday's episode who failed to solve a puzzle featuring a commonly misheard song lyric.
But the audience found it difficult to cut some slack for the three contestants on Wednesday night's episode who took forever and a day to solve a presumably easy puzzle with one missing letter left in the four-word-phrase.
The category featuring the head-scratcher was "What are you doing?"–which is probably what viewers at home were yelling at their TV screens.
Contestants Seann, Michele, and Crystal had a heck of a time trying to solve:
“RENTING A PEDA_ BOAT.”
It goes without saying the missing letter was an "L", but that option clearly went over the players' heads.
You can watch a clip of the moment, below.
new wheel of fortune feather in your cap just droppedpic.twitter.com/6plTr0DdqG— where the hell am i (@where the hell am i) 1647473748
Seann guessed, “Renting a Paddle Boat," Michelle said the missing letter was an "M"–which it was not, and Crystal thought a "W" would complete the phrase and still somehow make sense.
It didn't.
Finally, Seann redeemed himself and correctly solved the puzzle by saying, "Rental a Pedal Boat."
This was so painful!— Kittenfish\ud83d\udc96 (@Kittenfish\ud83d\udc96) 1647474154
Earlier this month, Pat Sajak defended contestants who were ridiculed online for failing to solve the puzzle for "Another Feather In Your Cap" with only three missing letters.
In response to the subsequent trolling online, Sajak wrote a series of tweets asking fans to "have a little heart" for contestants who are under "a kind stress that you can't even begin to appreciate from the comfort of your couch."
While the rare display of compassion from our usually sardonic host was appreciated, it didn't stop the mockery to commence in response to Wednesday's episode.
I regret to inform you that the Wheel of Fortune contestants are at it again— \ud83c\udf3bLinda Surovich\ud83c\udf3b (@\ud83c\udf3bLinda Surovich\ud83c\udf3b) 1647474460
I am without speech. Again.pic.twitter.com/Z1mQ6bGnpI— Ross Tucker (@Ross Tucker) 1647521003
Stunning. First mistake was bad enough but what the hell was going on after that??— Christopher James (@Christopher James) 1647476815
I liked the part when she said w— cinnamon bun (@cinnamon bun) 1647474958
Apparently, the Wheel of Fortune bar could go lower.pic.twitter.com/kbAPNvkKev— Bryan \ud83c\udd7f\ufe0f (@Bryan \ud83c\udd7f\ufe0f) 1647521826
Wow, Wheel of Fortune\u2026 Wow\u2026 Renting a Pedal Boat\u2026— Cyrus McQueen (@Cyrus McQueen) 1647474564
What in the actual hell did I just watch? Everyone on Wheel of Fortune deserves to be bullied. My heavens.pic.twitter.com/VkulE7JUJ4— Eric Nathan (@Eric Nathan) 1647474038
Some acknowledged the puzzle was still an easy one to get wrong.
I love how confidently I said "riding a panda bear" when looking at the thumbnail image— this fish flies (@this fish flies) 1647477166
I\u2019ve always known it as paddle boat. She got robbed.— D (@D) 1647481068
Ringing a padre bear— Larry Koch (@Larry Koch) 1647476251
Wtf is a \u201cpedal boat\u201d— Mud5or6x (@Mud5or6x) 1647476291
A special shout-out goes to the always exquisite Vanna White. The hostess of the popular game show has always exuded warmth, a calming presence, and never given a judgemental look at clueless contestants while revealing tiles on the board since 1982.
Could you maintain decorum with as much elegance as her when things go awry at the wheel?
