‘Wheel of Fortune’ Contestant Has Wild $67,000 Win After Triple Stumper

“This is why game shows never get old. Seeing this young woman’s joy is so gratifying. Winning a trip to the Amazon and all that cash must feel surreal to Whitney. Just so happy for her,” a YouTube user wrote. 

“I love Whitney’s enthusiasm,” said another.

“Whitney was so happy when she won,” added a third.

But, the game wasn’t so easy before Smith’s big win. During the Mystery Round, fans were left confused after Kroll, a creative writer, solved most of the “Before & After” puzzle. He almost completely guessed one word, but then called out an “L,” in which there was none, and the turn moved to Unachukwu, one of 22 siblings. Both she and Smith guessed letters, but couldn’t quite figure it out. The turn went back to Kroll, who solved the puzzle — “Gravy Boat Skipper.” He got on the board with $4,600 and a Wild Card from that round.

After the clip was posted to Wheel of Fortune‘s Instagram page, fans weighed in on the puzzle. “The heck is a Gravy Boat? I’ve heard of a gravy TRAIN, but never a gravy BOAT,” one fan asked.

“Grand boat skipper?” a few others guessed.

The Toss-Up round led to a Triple Stumper among the contestants. The first two puzzles in “What are you doing?” were “Protecting the trees” and “Protecting the seas,” but the third one did not make sense to the contestants or fans. Kroll guessed the first two, but no one guessed “Protecting the plate” for the last one.

Some Reddit users didn’t know what the third one meant, and clearly aren’t baseball fans, where it’s a well-known phrase.

“Protecting the plate? What does that even mean?” a fan asked.

“We were so baffled,” said another.

Despite striking out, Kroll ended with $8,600, and Unachukwu had $1,650 by the end of the game.

Wheel of Fortune, Season 43, airing this fall, check local listings