'Wheel of Fortune' fans sympathize with player who lost $40,000 over terrible choice of letters
While the player, Kristin Cook was happy to take home over $26,000, fans were disappointed.
Sept. 4 2025, Published 12:45 p.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" fans have often blamed the show's producers for creating impossible puzzles that players fail to solve during the bonus round, even after playing well in previous rounds. But they were yet again disappointed when a player lost $40,000 over her disastrous choice of letters, while the puzzle was easy. The contestant, Kristin Cook, made it to the finale after making a great comeback. However, she couldn't keep the momentum going as she was stumped by an ordinary-looking puzzle with the answer, "Office Buildings" in the Bonus Round. While Cook went home with over $26,000, the fans sympathized with her because of the loss.
Cook had a bumpy start as her rival Daigre took the early lead. By the PR Round, Cook racked up $3,950, while Daigre led with $5,750. However, Cook made a strong comeback in the Mystery Round as she solved the prize puzzle for $4,800 and won a Collette tour of Italy worth $9,600, according to Andy Nguyen's blog. She capitalized on her momentum and emerged as the big winner of the night, with $26,750 in cash and the trip.
After advancing to the Bonus Round, Cook chose the tricky category "Places" for her final puzzle. As she joined Seacrest at the wheel, the host was still after her, trying to find out the secret ingredient of her restaurant's white sauce. However, Cook kept her employer's secret and introduced her mother, Darla, who was on stage to support her. After spinning the wheel, she faced a short two-word puzzle on the board. With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, l, N, E," filled in, she chose "C, D, P, and A" as her additional letters. With this, the puzzle read, "_ _ _ _ C E _ _ _ L D _ N _ S."
As Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, Cook looked visibly clueless. She yelled out a few guesses like "BRACE, GOLDENS, and FLOWERS", but none of them were close to the correct answer, which was "OFFICE BUILDINGS". To add to the heartbreak, Seacrest revealed that she lost out on a chance to add $40,000 to her prize money.
While the puzzle looked easy from the outside, fans explained that Cook's letter picks made it tougher. "Surprisingly, I figured out the puzzle with Office Buildings. If Kristin had added an "O" & a "B," then she would've got it," @jacobwilson6192 wrote in the comments on YouTube.
"I had buildings but no office. I remember Pat always saying the words that start with a vowel are tricky," @Matthew6418 added. "This was hard. I apparently didn't get this one. First time in the Bonus Round we had a true generic list," suggested another fan, @richardhernandez4490.
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