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Becoming a contestant on Wheel of Fortune is an amazing opportunity to make a lot of money, but during the appearance, there's always the chance you might do something that causes Twitter to make fun of you. In the past, contestants have made waves on social media for mispronouncing a word, forgetting what a vowel is, freaking out after losing, missing a puzzle because of a dirty mind or just adding a word. Well on one episode, a contestant named Nura had been doing great heading into the final round, but then it was like she forgot how to play and started picking very uncommon letters like "Z" and "Q," or just not picking any at all and letting her time run out. It turned out though that she actually did have a strategy, and it was incredibly heartfelt.
It took place in late 2015 but no one should ever forget what Nura did. Nura, a veteran, was appearing as part of the show's first Veteran's Week, where past and present members of the military were contestants. Early in the game, Nura played very well, winning puzzles and amassing a strong lead, but then, in that last round of play before the bonus round, she seemed to go off the rails. The category for the puzzle was, aptly, "What Are You Doing?" When it was Nura's turn, even though the only letter that had been guessed so far was "T," she picked "Z." A confused Pat Sajak asked, "Say that again for me? Did you say 'Z?'" She responded, "As in Zulu. Z." Not surprisingly, it wasn't there.
In her following turns, she let her time run out without a guess, and picked "X" and "Q," neither of which were on the board. She wound up losing the puzzle to another contestant, a fellow veteran named Steve, who started the round without any winnings but ended it with $6,400. Nura still won the game and after the round, Pat approached her and said, "May I ask you a question?" and inquired why she chose such unusual letters. A humble Nura shrugged and replied, "That's what I saw."
While some people suspected that Nura was choosing those strange letters as a devious strategy since she know the answer to the puzzle and didn't want to give her competitors any hints to what it could be, it seems very unlikely she would do that. Instead, most viewers believe that because Nura had such a commanding lead in the game, she threw the round so that her competitors would leave with some cash as well. While losing contestants on Wheel are guaranteed to walk away with at least $1,000 in prizes, because players often have to pay their way to get to the taping in Los Angeles, it's always better to leave with more, and Nura ensured Steve did just that.
While Nura didn't solve the bonus round puzzle in time, she still left the show with about $14,000 in prizes and in doing so, reminded viewers of the many different kinds of sacrifices the men and women in uniform make.