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Pat Sajak says go easy on Wheel of Fortune players who can't solve the puzzles

After contestants couldn't figure out where "another feather" went on Tuesday night's puzzle, the host took to Twitter to set some things straight.

By

Lester Fabian Brathwaite

Published on March 2, 2022 10:17PM EST

So let's say you're on America's favorite game show — not Jeopardy, but the other one — and you're faced with the daunting task of figuring out this popular, if slightly outdated, idiom:

"ANOTHER FEATHER _N YO_R _A_"

Three contestants on Wheel of Fortune found themselves in that very position on Tuesday night's show and their 10 attempts to get to the right answer led to a social media pile-on so severe Pat Sajak himself alighted from the golden glittering wheel in the sky on which he rests while not filming to shake a digital finger at the internet's unsportsmanlike conduct.

"It always pains me when nice people come on our show to play a game and win some money and maybe fulfill a lifelong dream, and are then subject to online ridicule when they make a mistake or something goes awry," Sajak tweeted.

He continued, "Last night's 'Feather in your cap' puzzle was a case in point. Sitting at home, it seems incredible that they couldn't solve it, but I knew in real time what was happening. The first attempted solve was 'Feather in your hat' which, by the way, is how a lot of people say it. So all three players thought it was a good solve, and were stunned when I said it was wrong."

Honestly, knowing that someone at least tried "hat" — which is the most obvious answer — does give one more sympathy for those poor, harried contestants. That being said, there's no real excuse for "lap" or "map," but I digress.

Sajak asks that you to not only have sympathy for the Wheel players, but he'd like you to save some money on buying all those vowels and purchase some empathy instead.

"Now imagine you're on national TV, and you're suddenly thrown a curve and you begin getting worried about looking stupid, and if the feather isn't in your hat, where the heck can it be? You start flailing away looking for alternatives rather than synonyms for 'hat,'" Sajak explained.

"Good-natured laughter is one thing," he added. "Heck, they laughed at themselves. But, hey, cut them some slack. Unless you're there, you have no idea how different it is in the studio."

While allowing that it's "okay to laugh" at contestants circling the drain over a seemingly obvious crossword puzzle, Sajak reminds you to "have a little heart" because you might end up on that same stage one day "and no one wants to be trending on Twitter."

Well, unless you're trending for winning a s--t ton of money, in which case, bring on the mentions!

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Pat Sajak says go easy on Wheel of Fortune players who can't solve the puzzles

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