A woman solved a lengthy “Wheel of Fortune” puzzle after guessing a single letter. Do you think it’s legit? I don’t see how it would not be, but on the other hand she should have chosen “g” or “t.”
Sure, it’s legit. My dad often solves Wheel of Fortune puzzles with no letters revealed, just from looking at the category and the word layout.
In this particular puzzle, the lone letter has got to be an “a” and that first contraction is likely to be “I’ve.” (It can’t be “I’ll” because the L has already been revealed.) The rest is just really good pattern recognition and a little luck. If she does word puzzles and/or watches the show a lot, it’s totally reasonable that she could figure out the puzzle just from that letter.
Still very impressive, though. 
Why wouldn’t it be legit? I didn’t watch the video clip, but I did see the show when it originally aired. After she solved it, she explained her thought process on the air and it makes perfect sense.
MsWhatsit’s explanation is actually the explanation she gave on the show.
I don’t get what the big deal is, other than a lucky guess having been televised.
I do cryptoquip and anacrostic puzzles all the time. There is a great deal of guessing going on with those. Sometimes I find out that my initial guesses were spot on. The trouble with that is that Pat Sajak isn’t always handy to tell me I’m right … I have to go on figuring out the rest of the letters to find out if I’m right or not.
She had already racked up cash in previous spins. This was a prize puzzle, and she wanted it. Why take a chance on hitting “Bankrupt?” Solve it the second you know it, and she was on the ball.
I haven’t watched WoF in years (decades maybe), but if you knew the answer right away, why wouldn’t you keep spinning to build up your prize money? There’s a small chance to hit bankrupt/lost a turn, but it seems like the odds are in your favor to at least spin a few more times. You don’t get much money for just one letter.
ETA: Somehow silenus answered my question moments before I asked it.
It’s not much different from solving a long crossword clue, really.
I got it on my first guess with only the one letter.
Lots of Wheel puzzles can be solved with no letters at all, and the longer they are, the more likely it is to work. It’s also important to note that she had one letter and one punctuation mark – the punctuation marks gives away a hell of a lot of information.
She hadn’t solved it before she picked the letter – she was expecting the first word to be I’LL, that’s why she picked the L. When it wasn’t, she had to quickly re-evaluate.
I thought she said that she had it solved before she gave a letter, which is why I was questioning the whole thing. Because if that were true she should have chosen a different letter to make an extra $1800.
I’ve gotten puzzles with no letters a few times, but it seemed easier in the early years (and I haven’t watched the show in ages). Back then, you could count on a “location” puzzle to be something specific like ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO. These days it’s likely to be UNDER THE COVERS.
A few weeks ago, I got a Final Jeopardy from just the category. Now that was talent (and a whole lot of luck).
What troubles me are the people who clearly know the puzzle, continue spinning to build up their winnings, and then don’t do it right. If the wheel lands on $1,000, you get $1,000 for every occurence of that letter in the puzzle. If the wheel hits a big amount (or you’re picking one last letter before solving) call out a letter that appears in the puzzle the most times.
We watched it when it happened - my 6-year old son loooooves WOF and watches it before bed. I would definitely say it’s legit. The quote probably popped in her head and she didn’t want to take a chance at hitting bankrupt. It’s a pretty good chance of going bankrupt, usually a contestant or even two will hit it a least one or two times during the course of a show.
I solve the Jumble in the newspaper 95% of the time just by looking at the cartoon.
Then I fill in the answer squares, and, instead of leaving the clues blank, I fill those squares in with words that fit, but aren’t the answers.
Then I leave the paper open to that page in the break room.
Just think this through. It’s not that difficult:
'* *** * **** ******* ***** ****
The only thing that fits the first word is “I’ll” or “I’ve”. She asks for an L. So the first word has to be “I’ve” and she also gets an L for the fourth letter in the fifth word. The puzzle to be solved is this:
I’ve *** * **** L ***** ****
I can look at the first three words and immediately say that it really looks like it’s got to be this:
I’ve got a **** L ***** ****
After all, what else would you expect to come after “I’ve”? So all the rest of the puzzle takes is a good guess. I wouldn’t have thought of the following answer immediately, but clearly she did:
I’ve got a good feeling about this.
She decided that it was better to forget about getting extra money built up and thus to not risk losing her turn. Or perhaps she didn’t even think about the extra money and just was so excited that she went ahead and guessed.
It was a prize puzzle so anyone who solves it gets a nice extra reward regardless of the money earned. She got a Caribbean vacation for her prize. If it wasn’t a prize puzzle, she would have probably built up her earnings more.
You do that too? I love throwing out a guess when they reveal the category. “Eleanor Roosevelt!” “The Teapot Scandal!” “New Delhi!” I get one right maybe once a year. (And no, I don’t have to put it in the form of question in my own house.)
I remember when I was very young and playing Hangman with a teacher. I guessed A and she gave me A_A_A__A. I didn’t really stop to think and analyze it, but “Madagascar” popped into my head. Lo and behold.
So yeah, I have no trouble believing it happened. That WoF board was really specific as they go (unlike, say, a two-word phrase with a 6-letter word and a 7-letter word. Good luck with that).
I got the first three words on seeing the board, but couldn’t come up with the rest. So, yeah, easily possible she came up with it on her own.
There’s a longer clip here. I love the look on the other contestant’s face!
I think she hadn’t really locked it down until she picked the letter. But I don’t question the whole thing, at all.
First, because I’ve done it in my living room (actually, my mother’s living room, I don’t watch Wheel at my house), and so has my mother. I’ve solved puzzles with no letters, and the longer they are, the easier it is to do.
Second, because in all the years it has been on the air, there’s never been any hint of Wheel being rigged, and it’s not like Price where you can learn the specific prizes and details over time, or Press Your Luck of days gone by.