Robert Santoli Solves ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ Puzzle With Just One Letter

Wheel of Fortune contestant Robert Santoli cleaned up during his night on the game show, even managing to solve a puzzle with only one letter.

Robert Santoli Crushes ‘Wheel Of Fortune’

Santoli’s competitors didn’t have a chance of winning Wheel of Fortune Tuesday night, and they, as well as host Pat Sajak were quick to realize that the 23-year-old was running away with the game. In the end, Sajak walked away with $76,000 in winnings and a pair of free cruises.

Santoli, a native of Yorktown, N.Y., had been trying to get on Wheel of Fortune since he was 19, and has been an enthusiastic viewer of the show since even further back. Once Santoli knew that he had the chance to have a go at the wheel and learned what the theme of he show would be, he set to work.

“The instant I got my theme, I immediately came up with an ever-growing list of puzzles themed toward cruises, sailing, fish, boats — anything on or in the water,” Santoli told Tap Into. His research and devotion to watching the show particularly helped when it came to a board that only had one letter that Santoli managed to solve.

With only a “D” turned over, Santoli solved the puzzle for “port and starboard,” which, according to the Wheel of Fortune phenom, had been used “at least twice before.”

“I know I look like a bit of a dork on the show with my high-pitched ‘Yeahs!’ and my childish jumping up and down after winning the Bonus Round,” Santoli told Tap Into. “But I was really, to quote the Round 4 puzzle, ‘Living in the Moment.’ ”