Audience members at the taping of the May 22 edition of Wheel of Fortune were openly disappointed on behalf of finalist Paul Dodson who lost out big-time when faced with a devilishly difficult puzzle. They outright booed when Dodson was unable to complete the puzzle and the answer was revealed to be a near-impossible-to-guess word under the category “What Are You Doing?”
At that stage of the game a $1 million jackpot was up for grabs.
With the usual accompanied R, S, T, L, N, and E, the puzzle board read: “_ _ _ _ _ L _ N _.” Dodson guessed the letters C, H, P, and A, none of which appeared on the board.
The final answer was revealed to be “Quibbling” to which the audience first gasped at then proceeded to boo. (Fittingly so, the definition of quibbling is “arguing or raising objections about a trivial matter” according to Oxford Languages.)
Dodson, beside host Pat Sajak, encouraged audiences to boo louder, using his arms to encourage them to raise the volume, before laughing in jest shortly after.
Sajak, however, did not find the uproar funny.
The often-sassy host turned to the audience and said point-blank, “Who asked you?”
The audience responded in laughter and applauded the host.
Sajak then presented the card that Dodson had picked for his final spin, revealing that Dodson had lost out on an Infiniti car. The veteran host also pointed out where the $1 million card was, not too far away from Dodson’s choice.
Dodson, a married dad-of-two from Aurora, Ohio, had amassed $33,550 against his opponents Venetia Brown from Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania and Jessica Huffman from Moore, Oklahoma. Huffman finished in second with $7,550. Brown finished in third with $2,000.
For his final round category, Dodson picked “What Are You Doing?” over “Thing” and “Phrase.”
Fans have taken to the game show’s social media pages to echo the upset felt by the in-person audience, seconding that “quibbling” was too difficult a word for anyone to guess.
“I gotta agree with the audience there,” wrote a fan. “That was terrible.”
“Evil bonus round puzzle!” wrote another. “Evil!”
“That was unfair beyond belief,” expressed one fan. “They’re right to boo.”
What did you think of Dodson’s final puzzle? Let us know in the comments section below.
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