Sometimes if you don’t know a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune, it doesn’t matter how much of it is filled in – you just won’t get it. Such was the case for Rashad Jennings, on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune alongside fellow NFL veterans Marcellus Wiley and Jared Allen in the October 18 episode. Jennings had seemingly never heard of movie director Quentin Tarantino and lived to regret it that he couldn’t solve what seemed to be an easy puzzle.
“Tonight’s superstars made big plays in the NFL but can they tackle our puzzleboard?” host Pat Sajak asked at the beginning of the episode.
The first challenge came in the first round, with the category “Rhyme Time.” Allen was the first to spin and filled in quite a bit of the puzzle before his incorrect guess of S; he had $12,950 at the time. Then it was Jennings’ turn, and he admitted, “I feel like I’m supposed to know something but I don’t.”
As Sajak had noted at the beginning of the round, they would be adding $5000 to whoever guessed the puzzle correctly, with the three playing for charities: Jennings for The Rashad Jennings Foundation, Wiley for Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Allen for Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors. And so Jennings could have won $5000 without a spin. But, Sajak told him, “If you don’t know the puzzle, and you probably don’t at this point, you can spin the wheel. But if you do know it, you can solve it.”
Jennings spun, with Sajak remarking, “This is a rare opportunity for me to tell these guys what to do.” The NFL vet filled in almost the entire puzzle, with only one letter missing, as you can see in the photo above, but he still couldn’t figure it out. “You know what, this is bad, right? Why don’t I know that letter?” he asked while the others laughed.
All he needed to do was announce the letter Q to go before the rest of the filled out name _UENTIN TARANTINO. But for some reason he selected “P.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I wish I could help. I really do,” Sajak said, suggesting, “You can buy some time by spinning the wheel.” Jennings did, but then he incorrectly guessed P. “No, I’m sorry,” the host told him, turning to Wiley and telling him he could solve it if he knew it and then get the $5000 bonus. Wiley did.
That was the first round for the first half of the game; Jennings ended that in third, with $5000, behind Wiley’s $23,450 and Allen’s $34,850.
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Wednesdays, 9/8c, ABC
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
