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Wheel of Fortune Puzzle Solved after 1 Letter

obeygiant

obeygiant

macrumors 601
Original poster
With just the letter “L” revealed, "Wheel of Fortune" contestant Caitlin Burke managed to floor veteran host Pat Sajak by solving this 27-letter puzzle:

“I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

"Is it just me, or was that the most amazing solve we've ever had?" exclaimed a dumbfounded Sajack.

The answer won Caitlin $900 and a Caribbean vacation.

The 26 year-old Manhattan resident knew she had the right answer all along.

“I didn’t hesitate once I got that ‘L’,” Caitlin told FOX411.com. “I was like, ‘Oh—this is what it is.’ I just guessed it and it ended up working out just fine!”

The winning moment, which aired on Friday, November 5, was so quick and decisive that it had some pundits wondering if Caitlin was less than honest in her win.

“For those who think I cheated, I say, ‘How?’ I don’t understand,” Caitlin told FOX411.com. “I would love to know how people think I cheated at that game—like what, I had it written on my hand? How would I even know it would be a puzzle? Or what, I snuck backstage? I don’t even know how that stuff works. I mean, if I was cheating, I probably would have cheated in a smarter way and rigged the wheel so I made more money.”

Las Vegas-based casino consultant George Joseph agrees.

“There’s no vested interest for the show, or anyone connected with it, to run the risk of cheating. It’s not like it would make the show better," he said. "At the end of the day, the contestant only won $900 and a trip. That’s your first clue she didn’t cheat.”

Caitlin, who’s planning on celebrating her birthday in March by bringing her boyfriend, Jeff Esposito, on her winning vacation, has some advice for future "Wheel of Fortune" contestants.

“If you look at the end of a word and understand how letter endings work, you can work from there. For example, if there’s an ‘N’ in a word, there’s usually a ‘G’. If there’s a three-letter word, it’s probably ‘T-H-E’—things like that," she said. "Common sense is underrated—you can really solve a lot by understanding the way words are formed.”

Good advice indeed!
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fox news

Video in the link

I believe it. Sometimes things just come to you. Although I might have spun a few more times to get some cash. 😀
 
Damn!! That is crazy.

Good for her, though. The best was Pat Sajack's reaction, as well as the contestant standing next to her. She just acted like she she's been there, done that.
 
This girl might be an idiot savant, minus the developmental disorders, insofar as being able to extrapolate the spaces given into words.

Beyond me anyway. 😱

EDIT: Just watched the link, and now I feel that it's spooky, in the mind-reading sense.
 
I'm gonna pull up a chair and a bucket of popcorn...



...and wait for all those to chime in how "because it's on Fox News, it didn't really happen."

😀
 
That is pretty cool. I saw this the other night on the news. The look on Pat's face is priceless as he is walking over to her. Good for her!!!
 
“If you look at the end of a word and understand how letter endings work, you can work from there. For example, if there’s an ‘N’ in a word, there’s usually a ‘G’. If there’s a three-letter word, it’s probably ‘T-H-E’—things like that," she said. "Common sense is underrated—you can really solve a lot by understanding the way words are formed.”
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I remember as a little kid I'd watch my Dad work out those "Cryptoquotes" puzzles (substitution cyphers) in the newspaper and I didn't understand how he could figure out that such-and-such letter in the puzzle actually represented some other letter. Then he started explaining how to look for patterns like the ones this contestant's describing (e.g. assuming common two or three-letter words, etc.) and it was like magic.
 
Look at the reaction of the contestant on her right. He looks like he thinks he's being punked.
 
I remember I used to watch the show and the puzzle would be so darned obvious to me (and probably everyone else watching) but the silly folks on TV never seemed to know what it was.

Like the clue would be "Movies" and the puzzle would be "L_RD _F THE RI_GS" and they'd guess silly letters ("is there an A?")

But if you know the answer to the puzzle, the strategy isn't to blurt it out right away, it's to keep spinning and guessing letters, racking up cash as you do so (as long as you don't hit Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, of course).
 
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notjustjay said:
But if you know the answer to the puzzle, the strategy isn't to blurt it out right away, it's to keep spinning and guessing letters, racking up cash as you do so (as long as you don't hit Bankrupt or Lose A Turn, of course).
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Yeah. I noticed that before she committed to giving the solution she was asking Pat to confirm that it was a prize puzzle. She must not have wanted to risk losing the trip by taking any additional spins (even though she probably forfeited some extra cash).
 
Lyle said:
Yeah. I noticed that before she committed to giving the solution she was asking Pat to confirm that it was a prize puzzle. She must not have wanted to risk losing the trip by taking any additional spins (even though she probably forfeited some extra cash).
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Yeah, that's possible, but still, the odds are very good that she could have won a fair bit more. Even if she just spun once more and guessed the "g", she would have won three times whatever the spin amount was. At minimum that's another $900 (doubling her current cash winnings) and if she got really lucky and hit the $5000 that would have been another $15K.

(Sometimes, when you watch someone spinning/guessing, you can quickly tell that they know exactly what the answer is, and that they're just spinning up their winnings before they finally solve it.)

Oh well... perhaps the look on Pat's face was worth $900 to her 😀
 
I guess I'm just not as amazed by this as most of you. Sometimes you see the category and look at the board, and a good guess comes to you. Apostrophes are always helpful. It happens more often than you probably think, it's just that most people would keep spinning at least a few times to up their cash.

Still an awesome win for her though.
 
If she spun again there was a small chance of losing. She knew the answer and took the sure win. Smart move IMO.
Betting on folks taking risks and being greedy builds very bug hotels in Las Vegas.
 
notjustjay said:
I remember I used to watch the show and the puzzle would be so darned obvious to me (and probably everyone else watching) but the silly folks on TV never seemed to know what it was.

Like the clue would be "Movies" and the puzzle would be "L_RD _F THE RI_GS" and they'd guess silly letters ("is there an A?")
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It's like that South Park episode, where I think it was Kyle's father was on Wheel of Fortune, and got this:

N _ G G E R S

And the hint? "They're really annoying."

The answer turned out to be "NAGGERS", but that's not what Kyle's father blurted out. 😛



EDIT: Found the video. (NSFW, Rated R, etc) 😉
 
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According to the interview she had the answer before she spun and got the "L", so really, she solved with NO letters
 
zephead said:
Hah, I'd usually agree, but I was watching it as it happened. 😛
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Does that matter? Either you think Fox News is full of ****, or you don't. I think you secretly don't believe it yourself.

MacDawg said:
According to the interview she had the answer before she spun and got the "L", so really, she solved with NO letters
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That doesn't make sense - she should have picked a different letter, like G or T, to get even more money, if she knew it before picking a letter.
 
I remember watching that episode on Friday, she went onto win the game and the bonus prize (I forget how much she won). It was quite impressive to watch, though luck and logic played a major part in that solve. If I were her though, I'd have spun the wheel a few more times to get more money.
 
Reventon said:
I remember watching that episode on Friday, she went onto win the game and the bonus prize (I forget how much she won). It was quite impressive to watch, though luck and logic played a major part in that solve. If I were her though, I'd have spun the wheel a few more times to get more money.
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Under the old rules I would have agreed with you, but nowadays it seems the entire game is decided by who gets the bonus prize. It is actually a lot less fun to watch IMO.
 
Tomorrow said:
That doesn't make sense - she should have picked a different letter, like G or T, to get even more money, if she knew it before picking a letter.
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No, you pick "L" just in case the first word turns out to be "I'll" so you dont make a fool of yourself
 
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