Wheel of Fortune contestants don’t have to win the game to have the episode’s most impressive puzzle solve. Case in point: on Friday, December 13, a contestant named Christian Gallardo solved a five-word puzzle with so few letters that host Ryan Seacrest needed to rest on the centerpiece wheel and collect his thoughts.
Gallardo’s stunning solve took place on the prize puzzle. The Disney memorabilia collector from Chula Vista, California, had control of the wheel, and the category was “Phrase.” He chose an “S” and bought the vowel “E.” This left the puzzle reading as, “_ _’ ‘_ _ E S _ _”_E_’ ‘_ _ _’ ‘_ E _ _ E _’.
Then came the shocker: Gallardo opted to solve it. “I’d like to solve,” he said. The audience fell silent, one person yelling, “Yeah!” He proceeded to do so correctly, saying, “IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER.” The iconic Vanna White burst into applause and a beaming smile, and Seacrest could be heard exclaiming, “Wow!”
Cut to all three players, where Gallardo cheered for himself and the audience went wild. Seacrest was so caught off guard that he slumped onto the wheel and took a moment to talk about what had just happened.
“Christian! You gotta be somewhere? What’s going on over there?” the host asked. “How’d you do that?” Gallardo had a hilarious two-word response. He exclaimed, “Prize puzzle!”
The incredible solve won Gallardo $450 and a $7,428 trip to the Aulani Resort in Oahu. Ultimately, he came short of winning the game with $11,878 total while a player named Staci won out with $24,866. That said, it didn’t- or doesn’t- get any better than that!
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This isn’t the first time during Season 42 that a contestant pulled off an utterly incredible puzzle guess. On December 4’s episode, a player named Layvin Mangnane rang in to solve an “Around The House” triple-toss-up that read, “_ L _ _ T _ _ _ T _ _ T _ _ _ _ _ _.”
Despite just four letters being up, Mangnane declared, “Electric Toothbrush,” which was the correct answer. The other players were blown away and Seacrest tripped over his words: “Is it psychics’ week all of a sudden? How did you—yeah—good job. Great solve.”
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