In the pantheon of “Wheel of Fortune” fails, one contestant’s missed answer Tuesday night was pretty epic.
With two blank spaces remaining, a player named Kevin guessed “C,” leaving him with the following puzzle:
A S T R E E T C A R N A _ E D D E S I R E
Kevin chose to spin the wheel again, narrowly avoiding a “Bankrupt” tile and landing on $600. It should have been his moment of glory.
Instead, he called out: “K!”
There was silence.
A gasp and some pained groans from the audience.
The jarring squawk of the buzzer.
Host Pat Sajak could only respond, after a brief pause, with a self-restrained “Nooo …”
Kevin’s mistake quickly went viral.
The next contestant, a woman named Lisa, capitalized on Kevin’s fail and solved the puzzle – which spelled, of course, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” the 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams.
As the camera pulled back, all the contestants appeared to be laughing.
Kevin shook his head.
And Sajak congratulated Lisa – with a caveat.
“Although you got the right answer,” he said, smiling, “I’d rather see Kevin’s play.”
(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Amy B Wang