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Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak is retiring after presiding over the beloved game show for a whopping 41 years.<\/p>\n
Sajak, 77, announced his departure last June, telling fans at the time: \u201cIt\u2019s been a wonderful ride, and I\u2019ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it\u2019ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)\u201d<\/p>\n
In honor of the host\u2019s final episode, which airs Friday night at 7:30 p.m., we\u2019re looking back at some of the show\u2019s best moments \u2014 and worst guesses \u2014 from the past four decades. You know, the ones that prompted shouting at the TV screen.<\/p>\n
Whether they\u2019re inappropriate answers or contestants simply struggling to solve an \u201ceasy\u201d puzzle at all, here are some of the most ridiculous guesses from contestants ever. <\/p>\n
Just two weeks ago, contestant Tavaris Williams went viral after he blurted out an X-rated guess. It was only minutes into the May 24 episode when Williams, who was up against two other competitors, made the unfortunate slip-up.<\/p>\n
As letters to the puzzle began to quickly appear on the board, the contestants were tasked with deciphering the phrase using only a few characters.<\/p>\n
Williams proved to be overhasty when he rang in and promptly guessed: \u201cRight in the butt.\u201d His answer left Sajak flabbergasted and the audience roaring with laughter. <\/p>\n
Sajak swiftly moved on, calling on fellow contestant Blake, who correctly answered: \u201cThis is the best!\u201d <\/p>\n
In one of the show\u2019s more shameful moments, contestants left viewers in complete \u201cagony\u201d after all three failed multiple times to guess a nearly solved puzzle correctly. <\/p>\n
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On the 2022 episode, one of the contestants, Laura, was tasked with solving the puzzle: \u201cAnother feather in your cap.\u201d<\/p>\n
The puzzle was missing just a few key letters, but Laura still struggled to guess the final words to complete the well-known cliche, with her first guess being: \u201cAnother feather in your hat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up next was contestant Christopher, who incorrectly guessed that the puzzle included a \u201cG.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third contestant, Thomas, was left bankrupt by the spin of the wheel, with the game eventually circling back to Laura, who again guessed incorrectly when she suggested: \u201cAnother feather in your lap.\u201d<\/p>\n
It took a total of six failed attempts before Thomas finally guessed the correct phrase. <\/p>\n
A mispronounced word leaves a fully solved puzzle up for grabs <\/p>\n
One of the show\u2019s rules that seems to controversially catch a few contestants here and there is that \u201cwhen a contestant tries to solve a puzzle, they must pronounce it using the generally accepted pronunciation,\u201d according to a Wheel of Fortune spokesperson. <\/p>\n
Back in 2014, contestant Stephen had guessed all the correct letters in the puzzle: \u201cMythological hero Achilles.\u201d<\/p>\n
But when he went to solve the puzzle, he flubbed in pronouncing the name \u201cAchilles\u201d correctly. Following a brief and awkward silence, Sajak finally let him know that they weren\u2019t able to accept his answer. <\/p>\n
His competitor, Shelby, was then given the chance to correctly read out the puzzle to win the category.<\/p>\n
An American patriotic anthem gets a rewrite<\/p>\n
Wheel of Fortune makes you realize that some people really are living under a rock when it comes to pop culture.<\/p>\n
During a 2022 episode, a contestant named Shafi \u2013 whom many on social media noted sounded like American actor Joe Pesci \u2013 made an incorrect guess that some have labeled \u201cthe dumbest Wheel of Fortune solve ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
After correctly adding a few letters to the board, Shafi was left with: \u201cTH_S _AND _AS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.\u201d <\/p>\n
Instead of guessing the correct response: \u201cThis land was made for you and me,\u201d the lyrics to Woody Guthrie\u2019s 1951 song \u201cThis Land Is Your Land,\u201d Shafi tossed out: \u201cThis band has made for you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enough said.<\/p>\n
Second time is not the charm<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understandable that some contestants are so focused on the prize that they forget everything else. That at least seemed to be the case for one contestant, Christine, in 2016. <\/p>\n
During the episode, the contestants had to solve the toss-up puzzle under the \u201cfood & drink\u201d category. As the letters began popping up at random, the first contestant buzzed in early to incorrectly guess \u201chomemade waffles.\u201d <\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Christine frantically jumped in to guess the exact same answer, \u201chomemade waffles,\u201d with Sajak responding: \u201cStill not that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The right answer ended up being \u201chomemade muffins.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was later reported that Christine had misheard the previous answer. Whatever the reason for her mishap, she\u2019s still left her mark on Wheel of Fortune history. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails Longtime Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak is retiring after presiding over the beloved game show for a whopping 41 years. Sajak, 77, announced his departure last June, telling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n