A Wheel of Fortune participant virtually didn’t win the Bonus Spherical as his guess got here all the way down to the wire. This occurred after a controversial ruling by the judges precipitated one other contestant to lose a toss-up.
Serena Sahadeo, from Lengthy Island, New York, who has an identical puzzle piece tattoo along with her mother, performed in opposition to Frank DiGangi, from Marlboro, New Jersey, and Travis McGaney, from Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, March 26.
Sahadeo guessed the primary toss-up, “Large Seaside Towel,” incomes $2,000. DiGangi guessed the second toss-up, “The Wild Robotic,” including $2,000 to his financial institution.
DiGangi, a collector of autographed gadgets, guessed a lot of the letters for the primary puzzle — “ShowBiz — incomes $3,200, till he landed on Bankrupt. The flip moved to McGaney. He solved the puzzle — “My Favourite Film Soundtrack” — and earned $17,598 and a visit to Finland.
Within the Thriller Spherical puzzle “Earlier than & After,” McGaney, a self-professed international language/geography nerd, racked up much more cash till he guessed “B,” which wasn’t within the puzzle. The flip then moved to Sahadeo. She solely guessed two letters till she landed on Bankrupt. DiGangi guessed “M,” however there wasn’t any, so it was McGaney’s flip. He landed on Bankrupt, rapidly ending his flip. Sahadeo additionally landed on the dreaded wedge, so the flip moved to DiGangi once more. McGaney solved the puzzle, “Deposit Slip of the Tongue,” incomes one other $1,000.
For the Prize Puzzle, DiGangi gained $3,100 earlier than he landed on Lose a Flip. Sahadeo and McGaney each guessed incorrect letters. After choosing two extra letters, DiGangi solved it — “Drink with a Tiny Umbrella.” He received a visit to Curacao.
Throughout the Triple Toss-up, DiGangi guessed the primary one, “Monetary Planner,” getting $2,000 extra. For the second, Sahadeo, a civil developer at a land growth agency, buzzed in however it was unclear if she mentioned “Economist” or “Economics” as her pronunciation was someplace in between the 2 phrases. The sport was silent for just a few seconds as host Ryan Seacrest requested the judges for his or her ruling. “Nope,” he mentioned, and the spherical continued. McGaney buzzed in and mentioned, “Economist,” incomes $2,000. Sahadeo mentioned, “Ooo,” earlier than they moved on to the subsequent one. Nonetheless, she redeemed herself when she guessed the ultimate one, “Skilled Poker Participant,” additionally placing $2,000 in her financial institution.
Reddit customers thought that she ought to have been awarded the cash although her pronunciation was off. “Economist,” the unique poster wrote. “I believed she pronounced the phrase accurately however simply put emphasis on the fallacious syllable. Is there a rule relating to bizarre however phonetically appropriate pronunciations?”
“Emphasizing the fitting syllable is a part of saying a phrase accurately,” one other fan wrote.
“One of many guidelines of ‘Wheel of Fortune’ is when a contestant tries to resolve a puzzle, they have to pronounce it utilizing the widely accepted pronunciation,” a spokesperson for the sport present advised TODAY,” a person advised the unique poster.
“Given the size of the delay, it looks like the judges weren’t actually positive whether or not to permit it or not, however traditionally, correct pronunciation (or at the least utilization of a standard pronunciation permitting for various dialects/accents) has been required on sport reveals,” added a 3rd.
“One other WOF screw up,” mentioned one fan.
“I don’t have DVR so I wasn’t in a position to return and test, however I’m 99% positive the lady within the Toss-Up spherical (I’m additionally fairly unfamiliar with the terminology) accurately answered ‘economist’ however pronounced it like ‘economics,’ with the stress on the final syllable as an alternative of the second, and so they dominated in opposition to her. Did I simply hear it fallacious?” a unique Reddit thread person wrote.
“I believed she mentioned ‘economics,’ which isn’t the identical phrase as ‘economist, ‘” a person mentioned.
“She mentioned Echo-nah-mist as an alternative of Econo-mist, proper?” requested a fan.
DiGangi guessed the ultimate puzzle, “I Instructed You So,” including $1,000 to his financial institution. He ended with $18,275 in money and prizes. Sahadeo left with $3,000. McGaney received $20,598 in money and prizes and superior to the Bonus Spherical.
He selected “Phrase” for his Bonus Spherical. After Wheel gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” he picked, “H,C,M, and O.” The puzzle then appeared like “_O_N TO THE _ _RE.” “All the way down to the….,” McGaney repeated over once more. On the final second, he mentioned, “All the way down to the wire!”
“You bought it!” Seacrest mentioned enthusiastically. “You probably did it! All the way down to the wire. Congratulations!”
“I actually received it all the way down to the wire,” McGaney mentioned.
McGaney added $40,000 to his winnings, taking dwelling $60,598 and a visit to Finland.
“It was actually all the way down to the wire!” one YouTube person mentioned.
“Speak about a detailed name! Good job Travis,” mentioned one other.
“Wow, actually all the way down to the wire. Congratulations!” wrote a 3rd.
“How excellent! All the way down to the wire. Approach to go, Travis,” mentioned a fan.
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