A Make-A-Wish worker lost out on a big jackpot after she couldn’t solve the tough Bonus Round puzzle. The Wheel of Fortune contestant could have had over $82,000, but the letters in the puzzle were not easy to guess.
Shaunica Amantine, from Alexandria, Virginia, played against Jack Edathil, from Aston, Pennsylvania, and Linda Chapman, from Madera, California, on Monday, October 13. Amantine volunteers as a wish-granter at Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic. Her brother was a Make-A-Wish kid in 1990 and got to meet Hulk Hogan.
She and Edathil, an Eagles fan who is married to a Bills fan, solved one toss-up each. Chapman, a deaf and hard-of-hearing middle school teacher, took the lead when she solved the first puzzle, “My Guess Would Be Yes.”
However, Amantine took the lead when she solved “Subliminal Message Board” and won a trip to Pensacola, Florida, after landing on the wedge. This gave her $14,600. She also solved the prize puzzle and won another trip to Pensacola. This made her total $40,145.
Edathil solved two of the three triple toss-ups, while Chapman solved the other. Edathil solved the final puzzle, “Getting a New Pager,” to give him a final total of $14,250. Chapman left with $2,700. Amantine was the night’s big winner with $42,145.
Host Ryan Seacrest said that Amantine was “really good at this game,” so he was excited to see how the Bonus Round went down. She advanced to the Bonus Round and chose “Event” for the category.
Amantine did not bring anyone with her, but had the audience cheering loudly for her. After Wheel of Fortune gave her “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” she chose “V,M,D, and I.”
The puzzle then looked like “_ _ _ _ _ESTIV_L.” Amantine knew the second word was “Festival,” but she couldn’t guess the first one.
“Love Festival,” “Fall Festival,” “Junk Festival,” she said.
“When you got to the ‘J’, I thought you might get there,” Seacrest said. The puzzle was revealed to be “Jazz Festival.” She lost out on taking home an additional $40,000.
Fans thought the puzzle contained tough letters. “The second word was easy, but not the first word,” a YouTube user said.
“I had ‘festival’ from RSTLNE, but I didn’t solve it. This was a tough puzzle,” another commented.
“Definitely not enough letters to get it,” a third added.
“Jazz is hard to solve,” wrote another.
Wheel of Fortune, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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