Triple Toss-Up Leaves Blackwell Behind

In the Triple Toss-Up round, Hawkins and Holland claimed all three puzzles. Blackwell looked out of the running.

A Speed Round Comeback

Then came the final Speed Up round—and a game-changing twist. Each correct letter earned $6,000. Blackwell capitalized, solving multiple parts of the puzzle.

He surged past his competitors, finishing with $27,000, just ahead of Hawkins’ $23,894 and Holland’s $19,050.

Bonus Round: Another Tough Loss

With the win secured, Blackwell moved into the Bonus Round. He selected the category “What Are You Doing?” and chose extra letters: G, M, C, A.

The puzzle read: “G _ _ _ _ N G / _ _ _.”

Blackwell guessed, “Getting… here?”, then laughed, “Not getting this prize.”

Host Ryan Seacrest chuckled and replied, “Yeah, I don’t know how you’re gonna get there,” as the timer ran out.

Vanna White revealed the correct answer: “Goofing Off.”

Blackwell missed out on a $70,000 prize.

Fans React Online

The tough Bonus Round sparked a flurry of online reactions:

• “Nearly impossible under that pressure.”

• “Very tricky tough puzzle. He picked the bad category.”

Others focused on the episode’s strong performances:

• “WHOA — you couldn’t get a better 50th anniversary episode than this, sans the BR loss.”

• “Spectacular $10K+ match by all three contestants today!”

A Fitting Celebration

Despite the Bonus Round loss, the episode delivered everything fans love: high scores, comebacks, and drama.

It was a memorable way to celebrate five decades of “Wheel of Fortune.”