Photo: Getty Images
When a person appears on Wheel Of Fortune, they have a chance at winning a lot of money, but they have an equal chance of doing something that might cause Twitter to make fun of them. In the past, contestants have made headlines for freaking out after losing, forgetting what a vowel is, missing a puzzle because of a dirty mind, mispronouncing a word or adding a word. Well on one episode, a contestant named Nura was doing great going into the final round, but then she seemed to forget how to play and started picking letters like "Z" and "Q," or just not picking any and letting her time run out. However, she had a strategy and it was incredibly heartfelt.
The clip from the show comes from late 2015 but is going viral again because of what Nura did. Nura, a veteran, was appearing during the show's first Veteran's Week, which saw past and present members of the military as contestants. Early in the game, Nura played very well, winning puzzles and amassing a strong lead, however, in the last round of play before the bonus round, she seemed to go off the rails. The category for that puzzle was, aptly, "What Are You Doing?" and the board showed two words. When it was Nura's turn, she guessed "Z." A confused Pat Sajak asked, "Say that again for me? Did you say 'Z?'" She responded, "As in Zulu. Z." Not surprisingly, it wasn't there.
In later turns, she let her time run out without a guess, or picked "X" and "Q," neither of which were in the puzzle. She lost to another contestant, a fellow veteran named Steve, who started the round without any winnings but ended it with $6,400. Nura still won the game and after the round, Pat approached her and said, "May I ask you a question?" and inquired why she chose such unusual letters. Nura shrugged and replied, "That's what I saw."
Some people suspected that Nura was picking those strange letters as a strategy since she know the answer to the puzzle and didn't want to give her competitors any hints to what it could be, however, it seems unlikely she would do that. Instead, most viewers believe that because Nura had such a commanding lead in winnings, she threw the round so that her competitors would leave with some cash as well. While the losing contestants are guaranteed to walk away with at least $1,000 in prizes, because they often have to pay their way to get to the taping in Los Angeles, it's always better to leave with more, and Nura ensured Steve did just that.
While Nura didn't solve the bonus round puzzle in time, she still left the show with about $14,000 in prizes and in doing so, reminded viewers of the many different kinds of sacrifices the men and women in uniform make.