Pat Sajak was dismayed when a trio of Wheel of Fortune contestants couldn’t solve a seemingly easy puzzle.
During “Secret Santa Holiday Giveaway” week, three hopeful puzzle-solvers — Jennifer, Meg, and Rakesh — tried their hands at a $1,000 toss-up puzzle to kick off the episode.
The puzzle’s clue appeared as “_ _ L _ D _ _ Y_L_ _ _ G,” in the category “Around the House,” but none of the contestants were able to solve it.
As the letters continued to pop up on the board, it was revealed that the last two words were “Yule Log,” but neither Jennifer, Meg, nor Rakesh could figure out the first word, “Holiday.”
Meg and Rakesh each took a stab at solving the puzzle, but each made incorrect guesses.
Pat encouraged Jennifer to make a guess, telling her, “Jennifer, just don’t let all the letters come up before you ring in.”
Pat Sajak cracks jokes after Wheel of Fortune contestants fail to solve a holiday puzzle
But Jennifer was too late, and that was exactly what happened as the buzzer rang and Pat told her, “Well, you did.”
Pat continued to make light of the missed puzzle, joking, “Well, we saved $1,000 for the Christmas party.”
While waving his hand, Pat continued to joke, “You can put those devices down because they’re pretty useless anyway, and now…we’ll just meet everyone!”
“It happens, you know, you’re in the Holiday spirit,” the 77-year-old host added.
Not only was Pat disappointed that none of the three participants weren’t able to solve the puzzle, but so were Wheel of Fortune viewers.
Fans of the long-running weeknight game show headed to X (formerly Twitter), where they grumbled about the contestants’ incompetence.
Wheel of Fortune viewers aim for the contestants’ ‘rough start’
One Wheel of Fortune viewer headed to the social media platform to complain, accusing the contenders of being unable to read.
“What the hell?” they wrote. “Gotta love when the Secret Santa show starts off with 3 people who can’t READ.”
Another X user groaned that Jennifer missed an opportunity to earn easy cash.
“WTF! Jennifer passed up a free $1000! Holiday yule log!” they penned.
“What a rough start to #WheelOfFortune — 3 morons!” read another complaint from a Wheel of Fortune fan.
Wheel of Fortune fans wonder if Pat Sajak is growing tired of his hosting job
Although Pat downplayed the contestants’ inability to solve the puzzle, some may be wondering whether there is some genuine frustration behind his lighthearted facade.
As Monsters and Critics reported, in recent weeks, Wheel of Fortune viewers have voiced that Pat might want to hang it up early before his June 2024 retirement date.
That’s because they believe he’s becoming increasingly annoyed with players on the show, both on-air and backstage, based on his recent remarks.
Regardless, it’s clear that Wheel of Fortune viewers were on Pat’s side in this instance.
I don’t care who the hell ya are, or even who ya think ya are “(JACKASSESS!!)”, I LOVE SAJAK NO MATTER ANYWAY!!
He has been a great man, and an icon since the show started, including the lovely Miss Vanna White!!
Perfection!!