A Wheel of Fortune contestant could have walked away with a massive $100,000 on Tuesday’s (January 14) episode if not for a tricky Bonus Round puzzle that viewers called “borderline impossible.”
The contestant in question was Nick Isadori, a New York sports obsessive from Emerson, New Jersey. In fact, Isadori loves the New York Football Giants so much that he told host Ryan Seacrest that he lists them above his family and breathing in terms of priority.
“I think you need to look up the definition of ‘priority,’” Seacrest quipped.
Isadori went up against Barbie Swiger, a part-time church HR worker from Overland Park, Kansas, and Dionne Dixon, a former assistant coach of the Long Beach Poly Cowboys from Spencer, North Carolina.
1. New York Football Giants2. Family3. Breathing-Winner of tonight’s Wheel of Fortune @NickySnacks_ pic.twitter.com/ZjagY5raeZ— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) January 15, 2025
It was a hot start for Isadori, who answered the first two puzzles of the episode to give himself a strong early lead of $7,500. However, Dixon made a comeback in the Mystery Round, landing the puzzle and taking the lead with $15,050.
Isadori got back on track in the Express Round, nailing another puzzle for $6,500 and winning himself a cruise. He also landed the first puzzle in the Triple Toss Up round, giving him a total of $25,000, enough to win the episode despite Swiger’s late game surge (she finished on $14,000, while Dixon ended on $15,050).
Heading into the Bonus Round, Isadori selected the “Place” category and introduced Seacrest to his girlfriend and father, who were in the audience cheering him on.
“So, who’s going on the cruise?” the American Idol host asked.
Isadori looked over at his dad and girlfriend and said, “Well, they’re gonna have to fight it out.”
“I don’t know if that was the right answer,” Seacrest replied.
Faced with a two-word puzzle, Isadori picked the additional letters “C, P, G, and A” to go with the already given “R, S, T, L, N, and E.” This gave him a puzzle board that read: “C _ _ _ / _ _ _ E A _ A _.”
As the ten-second timer started, Isadori clenched his jaw and looked completely clueless as he studied the board. After the time ran out, Vanna White revealed the correct answer as “Cozy Hideaway.”
“I had no shot,” Isadori said upon seeing the answer.
Seacrest then opened the prize envelope to reveal that Isadori lost out on an extra $75,000, which would have given him a huge overall total of $100,000.
Viewers jumped onto social media, with many agreeing the final puzzle was almost impossible to figure out.
“No way I could’ve guessed this,” wrote one YouTube commenter.
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“This was borderline impossible,” said another.
“It was a hard puzzle to solve,” another added.
Another wrote, “These final puzzles lately seem like they give very few starting letters.”
“He’s right. He had no shot,” said one commenter.
“This was tough,” added another.
Did you figure out this tricky Bonus Puzzle? What did you think of Tuesday’s episode? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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