VIDEO Wheel of Fortune contestant solves puzzle with one letter en route to record-breaking haul

Matt DeSanto is not a man you want to get into a quick-draw contest with. The fellow is making the internet rounds today after putting up an embarrassingly thorough thumping on Wheel of Fortune. DeSanto swept the game, winning every puzzle en route to the bonus round. That hasn’t happened on Wheel since 2011; DeSanto is the only contestant to have more than $70,000 in winnings before the final round of the game.

He actually bungled that last puzzle (“It’s ‘wooden gavel,’ duh,” said no one watching at home), but managed a record-breaking non-bonus total of $91,892. Not bad for a half-hour’s work.

It’s what DeSoto did with the second puzzle of the game that’s gotten the most attention, though. The three-word Person had only one letter revealed when Matty Fast Cakes buzzed in to offer “The Lone Ranger.” If the 26th of December was Matt DeSanto Day in this universe, at least we all got to see what he did.

Here’s the full record-breaking episode; click ahead to 2:10 if you’d prefer to see just the one-letter solve.

Of course–and in fairness to some other amazing contestants–it’s also not like that was the first time this has ever happened:

And, as Joe Mantegna and Kurt Loder taught us, there is no pluralizing “Lone Ranger.”

 
(Photo credits: WENN)