In the episode, Nanney from Memphis, Tennessee, competed against Ursula Dystiie, from Agoura Hills, California, and Andrew Smith, from Parsippany, New Jersey. She managed to crack both the Toss Ups, adding $3,000 to her bank account. Soon after, Smith, an eighth-grade History teacher, bagged the lead with $5,550 after solving “Reading, Rhyming, and Recess.” Nanney nearly caught up to Smith when she worked out the puzzle, “Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing” for $4,200. Following that, Dystiie, a kindergarten teacher, cracked the Prize Puzzle “Souvenir Collector” in the Express Round, winning a trip to Portugal and taking over the lead with $11,410.
Shortly afterward, Nanney got the lead back by solving all three of the Triple Toss Ups with $14,200. Smith solved the final puzzle, “Floppy Disc,” and walked away with $11,100; meanwhile, Dystiie left with $11,410. In the end, Nanney emerged as the big winner of the night. When Seacrest asked Hall Nanney to pick a category for her Bonus Round puzzle, she chose “Phrase.” The Memphis teacher was joined on stage by her daughter, Allison, who said she was “killing it.” After ‘Wheel of Fortune’ gave Nanney the standard letters R, S, T, L, N, and E, she selected F, H, M, and A as her additional letters.
Sadly, none of the letters picked by Hall Nanney were in the puzzle, which read: “_ _R_S T_ L_ _E _ _.” But Hall Nanney didn’t give up, and as soon as Seacest kicked off the ten-second timer, she said, “It just popped in my head. Words To Live By.” Both Seacrest and his fellow co-host Vanna White were stunned by Hall Nanney’s quick guess. “You got it! What just happened?!” Seacrest exclaimed. In her response, Hall Nanney went on to say, “I don’t know. It literally just popped in my head.” She won an additional $45,000 prize, going home with a total of $59,200.
As soon as Nanney’s Bonus Round win made its way to YouTube, ‘Wheel of Fortune’ fans flooded the comments section with praises. One social media user wrote, “Absolutely amazing solve!!! So glad it popped into this lovely lady’s head.” A second user penned, “Unbelievable!! Wow!! That’s impressive, way to go Donna!!” A third netizen commented, “My jaw hit the floor when I witnessed Donna’s epic solve in person at the taping back in April. Was still working out the puzzle in my head!”