Over the years, Wheel of Fortune puzzles have had a number of errata. These may include factually incorrect information; incorrect grammar, spelling, or punctuation; incorrect categorization; or redundancies.
Incorrect information[]
| Date | Puzzle | Erratum |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 1983 (Rick/Joan/Cecelia) | ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON | This phrase is a misquote and does not appear in any Sherlock Holmes works |
| April 11, 1985 | CARMEL CALIFORNIA | Should be "Carmel-by-the-Sea" |
| March 31, 1989 (daytime) | THE CAISSONS GO ROLLING ALONG | Was categorized as Title; the song was never titled in this fashion. It was known as "The Caisson Song" and renamed "The Army Goes Rolling Along" in 1952 |
| October 28, 1991 | GAMES PEOPLE PLAY IT AGAIN SAM | "Play it again, Sam" is a misquote (the actual quote is "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'.") |
| November 2, 1992 | ROGER OVER AND OUT | The terms "over" and "out" are never used simultaneously in radio communication |
| May 9, 1995 | LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES | Should be "Life was..." (or more accurately "Mama always said life was...", although this would not fit on the board) |
| January 3, 1996 | ME TARZAN YOU JANE FONDA | "Me Tarzan, you Jane" is a misquote |
| March 13, 1996 | HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM | The actual quotation is "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here" |
| December 4, 1996 | POLAR KOALA & CHICAGO BEARS | Koalas are not bears |
| September 26, 1997 | THE NEAT NEW SPAGHETTI YOU CAN EAT WITH A SPOON | Should be "the neat round spaghetti..."; however, this would not fit on the board |
| October 14, 1997 | YOU CAN COUNT ON ME TARZAN | "Me Tarzan, you Jane" is a misquote |
| September 22, 1998 | THE FDR MEMORIAL IN WASHINGTON | Should be "Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial" |
| May 31, 1999 | THREE LITTLE KITTENS LOST THEIR MITTENS | Should be "...they lost their mittens" |
| April 13, 2000 | ME TARZAN YOU JANE PAULEY | "Me Tarzan, you Jane" is a misquote |
| December 7, 2000 | MEL GIBSON AS THE PATRIOT | Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot is named Benjamin Martin and is not referred to as "the patriot" |
| April 11, 2001 | THE RUGRATS | The title characters of Rugrats are not collectively called "The Rugrats" |
| September 27, 2001 | THE LINCOLN CENTER | Should be "Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts" |
| November 2, 2001 | THE TETON MOUNTAINS | Should be "The Teton Range" |
| October 4, 2002 | THE ORANGE BOWL | Should be "The Miami Orange Bowl" given the category of Landmark; however, this would not be erroneous had the category been Event |
| May 19, 2003 | AND ALL THAT JAZZ | Was categorized as Title; should be "All That Jazz" or categorized as Song Lyrics, as no known notable works exist with "and" in the title |
| February 17, 2004 | JUST THE FACTS MA'AM | This phrase is a misquote (it should be "All we want are the facts, ma'am") |
| November 4, 2004 | SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE | Was categorized as Title; the magazine is called Smithsonian |
| May 10, 2007 | THE BAJA PENINSULA | Should be "Baja California peninsula" |
| January 1, 2008 | GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE | Was a Prize Puzzle offering a trip to Germany; the cake is named for a brand of chocolate and is not German in origin |
| February 6, 2009 | OVER AND OUT | The terms "over" and "out" are never used simultaneously in radio communication |
| March 24, 2011 | SIMPLY THE BEST | Was categorized as Song Title; should be "The Best" (the title of the Tina Turner song) or categorized as Song Lyrics, as no known notable songs exist with "simply" in the title |
| January 16, 2012 | TONY AWARD WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL | Was a Prize Puzzle offering tickets to Rock of Ages, which was only nominated for a Tony and did not win any |
| March 7, 2017 | HAWAII'S GARDEN ISLAND | Should be "Garden Isle", a nickname for Kauai |
| December 4, 2017 | GIZMO THE GREMLIN | Gizmo from Gremlins is a mogwai, not a Gremlin |
| February 27, 2018 | EXPLORING THE GARDEN ISLAND | Should be "Garden Isle" |
| November 28, 2019 | NATURAL RESERVOIR | Was categorized as Place; a body of water known as a reservoir is artificially made by definition, and the only use of the term "natural reservoir" is in disease studies |
| May 10, 2023 (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune) | SURVEY SAYS! | Should be "survey said" |
| November 15, 2023 (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune) | PLAY IT AGAIN SAM ROCKWELL | "Play it again, Sam" is a misquote |
Incorrect punctuation[]
| Date | Puzzle | Erratum |
|---|---|---|
| August 23, 1983 (daytime) | SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER | Should not be hyphenated |
| February 1, 1985 (daytime) | WINDOW-SHOPPING | |
| Early 1984 (Thelma/Sam/Lisa) | BACHELOR'S-BUTTON | |
| June 4, 1984 | RING-AROUND-THE-ROSY | Should be spelled "Ring around the Rosie" with no hyphens |
| November 13, 1987 | FRONT PAGE NEWS | "Front-page" should be hyphenated |
| March 10, 1989 | YABBA-DABBA-DOO | Should not be hyphenated |
| March 24, 1989 | WILLIAM TELL-OVERTURE | |
| March 29, 1989 | ATTENTION GETTER | Should be hyphenated |
| March 31, 1989 (daytime) | WAKE UP CALL | |
| June 5, 1990 | FLULIKE SYMPTOMS | |
| October 27, 1992 and May 22, 2002 | KNOCK KNOCK JOKES | |
| September 6, 1994 | YABBA-DABBA-DOO FAMILY | "Yabba dabba doo" should not be hyphenated |
| September 15, 1995 | HOUSTON ROCKETS N.B.A. CHAMPS AGAIN | "NBA" should not have periods |
| December 12, 1995 | TIFFANY STAINED-GLASS WINDOW | Should not be hyphenated |
| January 11, 1996 | BEATLES MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR ALBUM | First word should be either "Beatles'" or "The Beatles'" |
| January 12, 1996 | HOME-MADE VEGETABLE SOUP | Should not be hyphenated |
| May 31, 1996 | TIDAL WAVE GOOD-BYE | |
| October 1, 1996 | SAFE-DEPOSIT BOX OF DIAPERS | |
| December 18, 1996 and December 20, 2004 | JINGLE-BELL ROCK | |
| March 14, 1997 | DIET-AND-EXERCISE GURU RICHARD SIMMONS | |
| September 9, 1997 | AMUSEMENT-PARK FUN RIDE | |
| September 15, 1997 | HANK AARON BREAKS BABE RUTH'S HOME-RUN RECORD | |
| January 8, 1999 | JUMP-START | |
| April 14, 1999 | DRY ROASTED | Should be hyphenated |
| March 6, 2000 | THRILL-SEEKER | Should not be hyphenated |
| October 6, 2000 | EIGHTIES SONNY CROCKETT & NINETIES NASH BRIDGES | Should be "Eighties'" and "Nineties'" |
| November 13, 2000 | COFFEE-TABLE BOOK | Should not be hyphenated |
| December 8, 2000 | MAKE-UP MIRROR | |
| December 27, 2000 | CASH-AND-CARRY | |
| February 14, 2001 | ELVIS ALOHA FROM HAWAII | Should be either "Elvis'" or "Elvis's" |
| March 15, 2001 | FORMER U.S. SENATOR AND ELDEST SPACE-TRAVELER | Should not be hyphenated |
| April 17, 2001 | TOSS UP PUZZLE | "Toss-up" should be hyphenated |
| May 9, 2001 | NONSTICK FRYING PAN | "Non-stick" should be hyphenated |
| October 3, 2001 | A BACK-UP PLAN | Should not be hyphenated |
| October 19, 2001 | HAND-HELD VACUUM | |
| October 30, 2001 | PETER PETER PUMPKIN-EATER | |
| November 12, 2001 | CANNED PEACHES-AND-CREAM COMPLEXION | |
| January 14, 2002 | ON-LINE SHOPPING | |
| February 1, 2002 | PASS THE BUCK-NAKED | |
| May 22, 2002 | THE STARTING LINE-UP | |
| September 24, 2002 | THE OK CORRAL IN TOMBSTONE ARIZONA | Should be "O.K." |
| September 25, 2002 | OUT-TAKES AND BLOOPERS | Should not be hyphenated |
| December 9, 2002 | BODY-SURFING THE INTERNET | Should not be hyphenated, although this would go against the categorization of Before & After |
| January 23, 2003 | SPORT-UTILITY VEHICLE | Should not be hyphenated |
| December 2, 2003 | TROUBLE-SHOOTERS | |
| March 1, 2004 | FLAT SCREEN TV | "Flat-screen" be hyphenated |
| March 2, 2004 | R & B LEGEND ARETHA FRANKLIN | Should not have spaces on either side of the ampersand |
| April 27, 2004 | SOAP-ON-A-ROPE | Should not be hyphenated |
| November 1, 2004 | MEET ME IN ST LOUIS | "St." should have a period after it |
| March 1, 2005 | I'M LOOKING OVER A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER | Should not be hyphenated |
| June 8, 2006 | JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE | Should have an exclamation point at the end |
| April 7, 2009 | CAESAR'S PALACE | Should not have an apostrophe |
| January 24, 2012 | COFFEE-TABLE BOOK | Should not be hyphenated |
| November 28, 2013 | BABYPROOFING | Should be "baby-proofing" |
| January 27, 2014 | WIND-CHILL FACTOR | Should not be hyphenated |
| February 10, 2017 | WINDOW-SHOPPING | |
| February 2, 2018 | CHATTANOOGA CHOO-CHOO | |
| March 11, 2019 | BED-AND-BREAKFAST | |
| April 2, 2019 | WORLD FAMOUS CHEF | "World-famous" should be hyphenated |
| April 15, 2019 | BED-AND-BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS | Should not be hyphenated |
| April 18, 2019 | RARE-COIN COLLECTOR | |
| March 13, 2020 | BREAKFAST IN BED AT A BED-AND-BREAKFAST | |
| October 21, 2010 | BALLOON-ANIMAL ARTIST | |
| October 30, 2022 (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune) | MO' MONEY MO' PROBLEMS | Should not have apostrophes |
Incorrect grammar or spelling[]
| Date | Puzzle | Erratum |
|---|---|---|
| January 1976 (daytime) | BLUE BIRD OF HAPPINESS | "Bluebird" should be one word |
| November 15, 1979 (daytime) | TICK-TACK-TOE | Should be spelled "tic-tac-toe" |
| Unknown, possibly early 1983 (daytime) | DOC SEVERINSON | Should be spelled "Severinsen" |
| June 4, 1984 | RING-AROUND-THE-ROSY | Should be spelled "Ring around the Rosie" with no hyphens |
| September 1984 (Lynn/John/Pat) | SLEDGE HAMMER | Should be one word |
| Circa October 1984 (Lance/Virginia/Brenda) | GENERAL DOUGLAS MAC ARTHUR | Should be "MacArthur" |
| Early 1985 (Kathy/Marty/Molly) | SWEAT SHIRT | Should be one word |
| Mid-1985 (Kathy/Richard/Dawn) | FORTUNETELLER | Should be "fortune teller" |
| May 6, 1988 (daytime) | PLACE MATS | Should be one word |
| September 16, 1988 | NOTHING COULD BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH | "Farther" should be "further" |
| March 22, 1989 | CHARLIE AND AMERICAN PRIDE | "Charlie" should be "Charley" |
| GOOD WILL AMBASSADOR | "Good will" should be "goodwill" | |
| October 5, 1989 | GILBERT AND ED SULLIVAN | Omits the "and" from "Gilbert and Sullivan" |
| October 20, 1989 | DOG HOUSE | Should be one word |
| January 10, 1990 | PAUL AND LINDA MC CARTNEY | "Mc Cartney" should be spelled "McCartney" |
| March 23, 1990 | DOCTOR FEELGOOD | First word should be "Dr." |
| May 8, 1991 | M C HAMMER AND SICKLE | "M C" should be "MC" |
| October 27, 1992 | PIE IN THE SKY DIVER | "Skydiver" should be one word, although this would go against the categorization of Before & After |
| November 11, 1992 | FOG HORN | Should be one word |
| November 30, 1992 | SKY DIVER | Again, "skydiver" should be one word |
| December 10, 1992 | CAVE MAN | Should be one word |
| January 5, 1993 | COMPUTER & SLIPPED DISK | Should be "slipped disc", although this would go against the categorization of Same Name |
| October 3, 1995 and November 18, 1997 | VOICE MAIL | Should be one word |
| November 21, 1995 | CHILLED EGG NOG SPRINKLED WITH NUTMEG | "Eggnog" should be one word |
| January 17, 1996 | A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER | "Forever" should be "for ever" (at least within the context of the John Keats poem "Endymion", from which this is a quotation) |
| February 23, 1996 | PICTURE POST CARD | "Postcard" should be one word |
| November 26, 1996 | WATCHBAND | Should be "watch band" |
| November 23, 1997 | TICKETHOLDER | Should be "ticket holder" |
| March 6, 1998 | HOSTESS CUP CAKES | Should be "cupcakes" |
| May 12, 1998 and November 21, 2000 | WEB PAGE | Should be one word |
| April 8, 1999 | BELLYBUTTON | Should be "belly button" |
| April 19, 1999 | BIG WIGS | Should be one word |
| October 6, 1999 | MOUSE PAD | |
| April 14, 2000 | JACK RABBIT | |
| April 20, 2000 | WORKWEEK | Should be "work week" |
| April 24, 2000 | CANDLEWICK | Should be "candle wick" |
| May 5, 2000 | FAVORITE WEB SITES | Should be "websites" |
| September 13, 2000 | I COULD'VE BEEN A CONTENDER | Should be "I coulda been a contender" |
| October 9, 2000 | HEART-WARMING STORY | Should be "heartwarming" |
| December 22, 2000 | KEY WORD | Should be one word |
| March 1, 2001 | QUIET AS A MOUSE PAD | "Mousepad" should be one word, although this would go against the categorization of Before & After |
| April 3, 2001 | PLAYING TICK-TACK-TOE | Should be "tic-tac-toe" |
| April 19, 2001 | FIREPLACE LOG ON TO OUR WEB SITE | "Website" should be one word |
| April 27, 2001 | FOUNTAIN & BULL PEN | "Bullpen" should be one word, although this would go against the categorization of Same Name |
| September 18, 2001 | CREATING A WEB SITE | Again, "website" should be one word |
| October 5, 2001 | BULL PEN AND PENCIL SET | Again, "bullpen" should be one word, although this would go against the categorization of Before & After |
| October 19, 2001 | TICKETBUYERS | Should be "ticket buyers" |
| December 26, 2001 | A PAIR OF SHOETREES | "Shoe trees" should be two words |
| September 5, 2002 | A JOY RIDE | Should be "joyride" |
| September 18, 2003 | PEAS PORRIDGE IN THE POT | Should be "pease porridge" |
| November 14, 2003 | PIECE OF MIND | Should be either "peace of mind" or "a piece of your mind" |
| February 5, 2004 | BABY'S HIGHCHAIR | Should be "high chair" |
| December 16, 2008 | FACTS & ACTION FIGURES | Omits the "and" from "facts and figures" |
| April 26, 2010 | WAIT A WHILE | Should be "awhile" |
| October 31, 2004 | SALTED PUMPKIN SEEDS | Should be "pumpkin seeds" |
| October 19, 2014 | COLLECTING PINECONES | Should be "pine cones" |
| March 3, 2019 | SALAD FORKS AND SOUPSPOONS | Should be "soup spoons" |
| August 31, 2020 | ZIPPING DOWN A WATERSLIDE | Should be "water slide" |
| January 21, 2021 (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune) | DYING MY HAIR | Should be "dyeing" |
| May 10, 2023 (Celebrity Wheel of Fortune) | NO WHAMMIES! | Should be "Whammys" |
Incorrect "bonus" questions or Puzzlers[]
| Date | Puzzle | Erratum |
|---|---|---|
| October 6, 1995 | MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE | Puzzle was categorized as Next Line Please with the intended line being "able to leap tall buildings at a single bound", when it should have been "...in a single bound" |
| March 5, 1998 | RICH MILK CHOCOLATE & VELVETY NOUGAT | Things puzzle with a follow-up trivia question of "what candy bar is described this way?" and accepted answer of 3 Musketeers; however, no one can find any evidence of 3 Musketeers using this phrase in their advertising |
| October 2, 1998 | COCOON | Was used as a Puzzler after the puzzle A CATERPILLAR BECOMES A BUTTERFLY; a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis, not a cocoon |
| February 1, 1999 | BLUE ELVES | Was used as a Puzzler after the puzzle THE SMURFS; the Smurfs are not elves |
Incorrect categorization[]
| Date | Puzzle | Erratum |
|---|---|---|
| February 21, 1986 (daytime) | RIO GRANDE RIVER | Categorized as Thing instead of Place |
| April 27, 1989 | FOREIGN INTRIGUE | Categorized as Phrase instead of Title |
| December 26, 1989 | INTELLECTUAL THINK TANK | Categorized as Place instead of Thing |
| March 23, 1990 | DOCTOR FEELGOOD | Categorized as Fictional Character instead of Title |
| October 22, 1997 | PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE | Categorized as Thing instead of Proper Name |
| November 3, 2000 | BIGFOOT | Categorized as Thing instead of Fictional Character |
| January 3, 2001 | IS THAT YOUR FINAL ANSWER? | Categorized as Phrase instead of Quotation |
| February 6, 2001 | PULL A PRANK | Categorized as Event instead of Phrase |
| March 12, 2001 | YOU'VE GOT MAIL | Categorized as Phrase instead of Quotation or Title |
| March 28, 2001 | SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME | Categorized as Phrase instead of Title |
| February 13, 2003 | SHRUBS | Categorized as Things instead of Living Things |
| May 20, 2003 | MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU | Categorized as Phrase instead of Quotation |
| May 29, 2003 | CAUGHT RED-HANDED | Categorized as Event instead of Phrase |
| January 28, 2004 | PURPLE LILACS | Categorized as Things instead of Living Things |
| October 25, 2005 | BIG GULP | Categorized as On the Menu instead of Thing |
| October 6, 2008 and March 19, 2012 | TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM | Categorized as Quotation instead of Song Lyrics |
| February 6, 2009 | ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM | |
| October 12, 2009 | BUDAPEST HUNGARY | Categorized as Place instead of On the Map |
| December 28, 2012 | LET'S GO ON A MOONLIGHT SWIM | Categorized as Phrase instead of Song Lyrics |
| March 11, 2014 | ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT | Categorized as Quotation instead of Song Lyrics |
| March 3, 2019 | SALAD FORKS AND SOUPSPOONS | Categorized as Around the House instead of In the Kitchen |
Redundancies[]
| Date | Puzzle |
|---|---|
| First week of September 1984 (Bob/Ali/Debbie) | MENTAL TELEPATHY |
| February 21, 1986 (daytime) | RIO GRANDE RIVER |
| May 9, 1989 | MEXICAN CHIHUAHUA |
| December 26, 1989 | INTELLECTUAL THINK TANK |
| October 23, 1997 | BABY CRIB |
| June 1, 2001 | |
| March 6, 2003 | CHURCH HYMN |
| January 6, 2004 | STAR CONSTELLATION |
| January 28, 2004 | PURPLE LILACS |
| May 5, 2009 | SPOTTED LEOPARD |
| November 2, 2009 | BABY DUCKLINGS |