Puzzler

The Puzzler was one of the gameplay elements on Wheel of Fortune.

History

The original "spark" graphic.

The first "banner" graphic.

The Puzzler was introduced on June 12, 1998 in a "test run" similar to what would later be done with the ½ Car tags and Crossword Round. It became permanent on September 21, 1998, the third week of Season 16, and continuing until the end of Season 17.

The Puzzler was an "extra" puzzle done most often after Round 1 or 2, but it occurred in Round 3 three times early in its existence. It was a short puzzle thematically connected to the puzzle before it, with the category and a few of the letters revealed (roughly one-quarter of the puzzle in Season 16, usually closer to half in Season 17). The contestant who solved the corresponding round then had five seconds to solve the Puzzler for a $3,000 bonus, during which the Bonus Round timer beeps played (although a few episodes in October 1998 did not use the beeps).

As with the Speed-Up or Bonus Round, the contestant could make as many guesses as necessary, so long as the correct response was given on or before the buzzer. This created confusion between Pat and the judges twice:

• On October 20, 1998, Pat had to ask the judges whether a contestant who gave a wrong answer was not allowed more than one guess (a moment probably exacerbated by the timer beeps not being used). In the confusion, the contestant appeared to get at least two extra seconds, but still did not give the right answer.
• On February 12, 1999, a contestant gave the right answer on the buzzer after giving a wrong answer. While this was initially ruled as a loss, this was overturned later in the game. Incidentally, this is one of only two times a contestant gave more than one guess on a Puzzler (the other being April 28, 1999, where a contestant offered a wrong answer and then the correct one without incident).

If the Puzzler was in Round 1, this often meant that Round 1's answer would be very short (usually under ten letters), sometimes resulting in the Puzzler being longer than the answer it preceded. Puzzler answers ranged from five to fifteen letters in length, and typically used only one row of the puzzle board even if they would normally display on two; THE SUNSHINE BOYS on March 17, 2000 is the only one that ever used three.

With only five exceptions, Puzzlers were in a different category than the puzzle they preceded. They never followed Before & After or Same Name. With two exceptions, they almost never followed "bonus" categories. These two exceptions were both Slogan puzzles which did not offer the "bonus" typically associated with that category due to the product name already being in the answer: HEY CULLIGAN MAN on February 3, 2000 and DON'T GET MAD GET GLAD on April 3, 2000.

As with the above-mentioned Preview Puzzle, the Puzzler was not used during the WheelOfFortune.com sweepstakes weeks of May 1 and 8, 2000.

Despite its short life, the reveal of the Puzzler changed several times:

• The June 12, 1998 "test run" used the High Rollers chimes and the puzzle reveal chimes; the category strip (still using its "rolling Wheel" wipe) read "Puzzler" before rotating to reveal the category.
• When it came into permanent use two weeks into Season 16, a unique series of bells was used to indicate the round, and the category wipe became an orange spark with "Puzzler" written in Comic Sans.
• On November 2, 1998, the bells were removed and no other sound effect replaced them. In turn, Pat would then announce the Puzzler's existence at the start of its corresponding round.
• On October 4, 1999, the graphic became a purple banner with "$3,000" on one side and "PUZZLER" on another (both in light purple) that wiped diagonally across the screen from bottom-right to top-left to reveal the puzzle and category (itself no longer having a wipe).
• On November 22, 1999, the banner became pink with gold text.

It is likely that the Puzzler was removed due to it being anticlimactic, as most contestants either solved it before the timer could start, or not at all. Only one week in the Puzzler's existence (May 24, 1999) managed to have all five solved. Another factor is that, like the Preview Puzzle, it also took away time from overall gameplay. Finally, it also caused obvious strain on the puzzle writing, with multiple answers being duplicated nearly or exactly; most notably, NORTH POLE was a Puzzler on both December 15, 1998 and December 17, 1999, while OPINION was a Puzzler on November 10, 1999 and a Bonus Round only two months later on January 31, 2000.