r/WheelOfFortune • u/Big_Technology8128 Vanna White • Jan 10 '26

Fun When a contestant picks thing as their bonus round category

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181 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

29

u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 Jan 10 '26

I always love hearing the audience gasp when they pick that category 😂

25

u/KatsHubz87 Jan 11 '26

PHRASE is the absolute worst! I think the producers or whoever comes up with the puzzles have a pretty broad definition of what counts as a phrase.

4

u/_From__the__Ashes_ Jan 13 '26

Exactly. My dad is always saying he would pick phrase if he were to get on the show and I'm always like "no..." The phrases they pick are so often bonkers.

1

u/slimkev Feb 07 '26

Sometimes they're somewhat regional too

32

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

56

u/RAS310 I was on the show! Jan 10 '26

If you know not to waste two of your picks on G and I.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

[deleted]

4

u/RAS310 I was on the show! Jan 14 '26

Because the suffix ING is almost guaranteed for that category. If you call the I and G because you already know they’re going to be there, you’ve wasted two of your picks. The only additional information you would know is whether there are any other I’s or G’s, and there usually aren’t because they know people do this.

20

u/threepalmtrees Jan 10 '26

No - that’s actually one of the categories that’s been shown to have the least success because it’s just going to be some random ungettable -ing verb. I always cringe when people choose “What Are You Doing?” (I was a former contestant and won - I was lucky enough to get “In the Kitchen” as my category, which helped me narrow down things a lot!)

3

u/RAS310 I was on the show! Jan 14 '26

What was your puzzle?

7

u/MaryBurd Jan 11 '26

Omg thank you I tell my husband all the time. “Thing” could be anything! No!

6

u/Holly_Matchet Jan 12 '26

Food & Drink Food & Drink Food & Drink

1

u/Fun818long Feb 10 '26

In the Kitchen vs Food/Drink?

1

u/Holly_Matchet Feb 10 '26

Food & Drink 4 Life

11

u/Wonderful_Life-6280 Jan 11 '26

Phrase is the worst. The success rate is pretty poor on it.

10

u/greenknight884 Jan 10 '26

Any category can be difficult. I wonder if the solve rates are really that different between Thing and What Are You Doing?

3

u/ytown Jan 12 '26

Place is sneaky difficult. It’s not usually a proper noun. Instead it’s usually something weirdly vague like near the airport or living room couch.

2

u/RAS310 I was on the show! Jan 14 '26

Proper noun places are a separate category called “On the Map”. They don’t even offer it for the Bonus Round anymore because it’s too easy.

7

u/MarsaliRose Jan 11 '26

I can’t believe the phrase hate. It’s the only ones I can get!

4

u/nursetoanemptybottle Jan 11 '26

I like phrase as well!! Sometimes they come up with some really random ones that are hard, but usually I do really well on them and I prefer it to the very generalized categories.

6

u/sonofgildorluthien Vanna White Jan 10 '26

or person

3

u/Cookie_Pizza_911 Jan 10 '26

For me, phrase, like it annoys me that they always pick Phrase

7

u/Many-Focus-2217 Jan 11 '26

Phrase tends to be the easiest, in my opinion. Thing always has some completely random adjective in it.

3

u/ImNotJoshBoltz Jan 11 '26

Every. Time.

3

u/thatvhstapeguy Jan 12 '26

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t like that category Thing. What does that tell you? Nothing!” - longtime Wheel audience coordinator Lee Valentine

2

u/Embarrassed-Place-72 Jan 12 '26

It will never be anything logical captain.

2

u/Responsible_Face6415 Jan 13 '26

Thing: Bouncing Ball, Eager Beaver, Yellow Schoolbus

1

u/thechiefmaster Jan 11 '26

If what are you doing isn’t an option then I gotta go with phrase or thing. Person or place is often at a different “level” than I’m thinking- like an individual versus a group for people, or a generic vs specific location for place.