This week brought some Wheel of Fortune controversy as one contestant lost on a wild technicality. David Pederson was really close to solving the puzzle to seal a victory, but some weird rules about the word “and” got in the way. Back in 2016, the crossword puzzle format was introduced to the long-running game show. When dealing with crosswords, the answers have to be in a list, but you can’t use the word “and” in your answer. So, Pat Sajak asked Pederson about varieties of fish, and the contestant answered, “Sole, Flounder, Cod, and Catfish,” which lost him the game. The next contestant gave the exact same answers and netted the victory. It was wild to see, but the rule has been in place for some time. There were people online absolutely stunned by the technicality. Maybe it’s time for a rule change? If not, you can bet there will be some more people upset when it inevitably happens again.
There’s nothing colder than @WheelofFortune dinging folks for adding the “and” when solving crossword puzzles
