Wheel of Fortune fans were impressed by a contestant’s fast solve. They said he had “hacked” the game before his $70,000 win.
Randy Bird, a nonprofit data analyst who loves spreadsheets and is an amateur photographer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, played against Sarah Crisman, from Los Angeles, California, and Diego Wyatt, from New York City, New York, on the March 12, 2025 episode. His fast solve was posted to the game show‘s Instagram on July 26, 2026.
Bird didn’t start out too well at the beginning of the game. He passed on both of the toss-ups to Crisman, a certified storm spotter for the National Weather Service.
However, he then blew everyone away when he solved the next three puzzles and then two of the three triple toss-ups. The first one, in the category “Thing,” looked like “D _ I N K _ _ G _ T _ _ W” when Bird solved “Drinking Straw.”
The second one went to Crisman. But fans were amazed when Bird solved the third one as it looked like this — “_ _ _ / _ _ _ T
_ _ _ _ _ .” Bird solved “The Last Straw.”
“And you got that one too,” host Ryan Seacrest said.
“We were still reading the category when he buzzed in #WheelOfFortune #GameShow #puzzles #impressiveskill,” the post was captioned. “He solved it with 1 letter!”
Fans were amazed at his solve, leaving their shock in the comments. “Uh. Stumped. Also still trying to gather my thoughts before he solved it with only that one letter. And a THING no less. Wow,” one fan said.
“I actually got it! No freaking way!” another said.
“Well, that was a fast solve!” a third added.
“How did he do that? Omg,” another asked.
“Bro hacked Wheel,” a fan joked. Another fan joked that he was a “witch” because only a witch could solve a puzzle that quickly.
Bird went on to solve the final puzzle — “Making Each Other Laugh” — giving him a total of $37,049, including a trip to Ireland. Crisman left with $5,000. Since Watts, an extreme sports enthusiast, had no money in the bank, the game show gave him $1,000.
Bird chose “What Are You Doing?” for his Bonus Round category. Wheel of Fortune gave him “R,S,T,L,N, and E,” and he guessed “P,G,H, and O.”
This made the puzzle look like “_H_NG_NG O_T_ _ TS.” Before the time could even start, he solved “Changing Outfits.” Since there was $40,000 in the envelope, the contestant took home $70,049.
Wheel of Fortune, Season 44, September 2026, check local listings
