Wheel of Fortune Contestants Have Some other Feather, Don't Know Where to Put it

Photo: ABC and ET Canada/YouTube

The bicycle of fortune is an aboriginal motif, recurring in many cultures over many centuries. One time known to the Romans every bit Rota Fortunae, the symbol represents the arbitrary nature of man'south lot in life, all of us helpless subjects strapped to a bike spun past the goddess Fate, herself blindfolded and impaired.

It is also a reality show where y'all can win a Jet Ski for knowing how to read. And terminal night's episode of Wheel of Fortune was giving extreme "blindfolded and powerless to intervene in the chaotic ebbs of the universe" vibes. In a prune that has since gone viral, three contestants faced with the letters "ANOTHER FEATHER _N YO_R _A_" cannot for the life of them puzzle out which mutual phrase they could possibly spell. The primary players are confident Laura, hopeless Christopher, and unlucky Thomas. For those who tin can't deport to watch, hither's the play-by-play:

— Laura comes in hot with "another plumage in your Hat." This is by far the closest she will get to the reply. It's a tease.

— Christopher shouts out "G!" What did he think the terminal word was? Gag? Bag? Gal? … Vag?

— Thomas is bankrupted by the pagan goddess Fate, depicted here as a colorful wheel with numbers and lights.

— Laura, ever the showboater, goes for the whole phrase once again, guessing "some other feather in your LAP." Pat Sajak says, "The feather is moving effectually," joking through invisible tears.

— Christopher sticks to his single-letter strategy: a D. Oh how nosotros wish there could have been another feather in his dad and left it at that.

— Thomas spins the wheel once again, and while he narrowly avoids the "Bankrupt" space, he lands on "Skip a turn." The dramatic irony here is information technology seems he may be the one contestant who really knows the phrase.

— Laura, her hubris taken downwardly a few notches, opts only for a letter, correctly guessing P. This temporarily unfreezes Vanna White every bit she's finally allowed to get put something on the lath. Sajak asks Laura if she wants to guess the phrase. Surely, she'll get it now, you lot call up. She'southward got two out of three messages. Then she guesses "MAP."

— Christopher lands on "Bankrupt," sparing u.s. from some other helping of nonsensical give-and-take stew.

— Thomas finally has a turn and gives u.s.a. a "C" for "CAP." That'due south good enough for me. Sweet release.

Merely long after the episode ended, Rota Fortunae kept turning, making the clip get viral and causing Papa Pat to weigh in today in defense force of his fine feather-challenged friends.

"It always pains me when nice people come on our prove to play a game and win some coin and maybe fulfill a lifelong dream, and are then subject field to online ridicule when they make a mistake or something goes awry," Sajak tweeted every bit the first to a thread. He goes on to say that "feather in your lid" is also a correct phrase, merely not the one the prove had decided on that mean solar day, and the answer being incorrect threw the contestants a curveball, disruptive them.

Sajak admits it'southward okay to express mirth practiced-naturedly at a funny clip, but "mocking them online and calling them names?" "These are skillful people in a bad situation under a kind of stress that you can't begin to appreciate from the comfort of your couch," he tweeted. Although he makes tapings of Cycle of Fortune sound like the ravages of war, he has a bespeak. Then he closes with a harrowing, ominous gut punch. "After all, you may be there i day," he warned. "And no ane wants to be trending on Twitter."

Truer words, male monarch.

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