https://twitter.com/whoisalexjacob/status/1473479836618403844
https://twitter.com/whoisalexjacob/status/1473669472955387910
Pat Sajak explained, "You know, this one's tough, because you said all the right words, including the word 'word' but, as you know, it's gotta be more or less continuous. We'll allow for a little pause but not four or five seconds. I'm sorry. You did a good job in getting it, but we can't give you the prize, and it was the Audi."
I didn't even know this was a rule. Why does it matter how much you pause in between words, if you say them in the right order?
This really is a bunch of crap.
It's also interesting that Audi is "reviewing this situation internally". This might mean that Wheel of Fortune doesn't actually award the prizes, but instead might have a marketing partnership, where the provider of the prize gets free advertising/publicity in return. So perhaps these strict rules are in place in order to reduce the number of prizes expected to be awarded by these partners.