'Wheel of Fortune' fans slam tough puzzle after contestant loses $50,000 in bonus round
The contestant, Melissa Mosel got a raw deal with her category choice and letter picks.
Nov. 24 2025, Published 8:34 a.m. ET
"Wheel of Fortune" fans continue to face disappointments from contestants who lose their winning momentum in the bonus round. They were once again let down when a player lost out on $50,000. The contestant, Melissa Mosel, got a raw deal with her choice of letters, as she was left with few clues for the final puzzle. While her performance in the initial rounds earned her nearly $18,000 and an exotic trip, fans complained that she could have won more if it weren't for the impossible puzzle in the Bonus Round.
Mosel started off well after solving the very first puzzle in the Toss Up round, putting $2,000 in the bank. She stretched her lead further in the Mystery round, adding more money to her purse. Furthermore, a major blunder from Brown in the Express Round gave Mosel a chance to swoop in and solve the puzzle to win a trip to the Thermae Sylla Spa Wellness Hotel in Loutra Edipsou, Greece, worth $7,134, as per Andy Nguyen's blog. Going into the Triple Toss Up and the Speed Up round, Mosel solved another puzzle to emerge as the big winner of the night with prizes worth $17,784.
Advancing to the Bonus Round, Mosel chose the "What Are You Doing" category and joined host Ryan Seacrest at the wheel. Seacrest talked about her family, her dog, and her twins, joking he knew "everything about her". She brought along her oldest daughter, Cora, and her parents, Rosa and Steve, to the stage for support. After picking out her Golden Envelope, Mosel faced a short, one-word puzzle on the board.
With the show's standard letters, "R, S, T, L, N, E," in place, Mosel chose "D, Y, M, and I" as her additional letters. The picks turned out to be disastrous, and only the "I" showed up at one spot in the puzzle, which read, "_ L E _ I N _." After Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, the contestant scrambled for answers. "Blessing," "Blanking," "Gleebing", "Glessing", she said, but none of them worked. In the end, co-host Vanna White uncovered the answer, "Flexing." "You needed the F, and another letter to get it. Maybe," Seacrest said before revealing that she lost out on taking home an extra $50,000.
While Mosel shrugged off the big loss, fans were quick to call out the tough puzzle. "There was no way she was going to get that," wrote @SavannahGA35 in the comments on YouTube. "Another tough puzzle tonight, but she did her best and that's all that matters," added another fan @nathanieljourat6723.
"ING was a given. If she had no idea, the only plausible letter that could help is F. Obviously, no one would call an X. Hard puzzle," explained @neverever7835.
You can watch the build-up and the disappointment here.
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