At some point in elementary school, you probably had that one kid in your class who answered every question. As soon as the teacher was halfway through her sentence, that know-it-all kid had their hand stretched towards the sky, practically bursting at the seams to prove that they know the answer. It’s not that you were dumb, it’s just that this kid had read the assigned reading at least three times, while you did a quick skim while you shoveled cereal into your mouth that morning. Something tells me that Robert Santoli was always the kid with the answers.
Santoli is the latest contestant making waves on Wheel of Fortune, who managed to be literally the best player possible: he solved a puzzle with only a single letter and an ampersand. Would you have gotten “Port & Starboard” with only the “D”? Well, that’s why Robert’s on Fortune and not you. According to an interview with TapInto.net, Santoli did his homework before he appeared on the show.
“I spent the days before our trip compiling a list of possible puzzles and key words themed toward sailing, cruising, water and even fishing. There are websites that keep track of past “Wheel of Fortune” puzzles, so I did some research on previous weeks themed toward these things and wrote them down. The show does sometimes repeat puzzles, especially themed ones. “Port & Starboard” had been used at least twice before my show, both times as a Toss-Up puzzle.
I got really lucky because that was the only puzzle that week that appeared verbatim on my list. As soon as I saw that “Places” was the category, I had a hunch and then I saw four blanks, an ampersand and nine blanks, and my face just lit up.”
That wasn’t just a lucky guess, either. During Robert’s time on the show, you can almost hear the resignation in host Pat Sajak’s voice as he answered question after question. Santoli won $76,000 in cash and prizes, and even apologized to his fellow contestants for dominating so completely. Whatever, Robert. Don’t let the haters take away from your victory. Have fun on your two cruises.
(Via BroBible)
