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‘Wheel of Fortune’ contestant wins Italy vacay and $26K — but her choice of letters lead to massive loss

Kristin Cook tried her best but could not solve the two-word Bonus Round puzzle

A contestant's choice of words in the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Bonus Round can often be the difference between winning and losing, and Kristin Cook of Athens, Georgia, found it the hard way. After staging an impressive comeback to reach the coveted round, Cook's choice of letters put her in a tricky spot, and despite the puzzle being fairly easy, she missed out on an additional $40,000. Appearing on the November 7, 2024, episode, Cook competed against Mary Daigre of Menifee, California, and Marc Rosenthal from Goshen, Indiana. 

As per Andy Nguyen's blog, Rosenthal solved the first puzzle in the 'Toss-Up: PLACE' round, winning $2,000. As the game progressed, Daigre was the one who took the lead with Cooks following closely. Cooks' comeback came during the 'Express Round' where she solved the phrase: "So Much To Do, So Little Time," taking her total earnings to $18,350 and winning a trip to Italy, worth $9,600. Continuing the momentum, Cook cruised through the next puzzles to reach the Bonus Round. 

She was accompanied by her mother-in-law, Darla, as she joined Seacrest to spin the wheel and pick up her Golden Envelope. "Is she your good luck charm?” Seacrest asked, and Cook replied, saying that she was her "fairy godmother." Cook spun the wheel, and Seacrest picked up the envelope from the letter 'W'. The 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant was now moments away from the final puzzle; she had chosen 'Places' as her category. After being presented with the standard letters, R, S, T, l, N, and E, Cook chose C, D, P, and A as her additional letters for the Bonus Round. Cook had a short two-word puzzle to solve: "_ _ _ _ CE  _ _ _ LD _ N _ S."

Wishing her “good luck,” Seacrest kicked off the ten-second timer, but Cook had very little to work with. She tried her best to come up with an answer, mumbling a few words like "Brace" and "Flowers." Before she could come up with a guess, the timer buzzed. Seacrest, who replaced Pat Sajak in the previous season of the highly acclaimed game show, revealed that the answer was "Office Buildings" and opened the envelope to show that Cook just missed out on an additional $40,000. Despite the setback, Cook celebrated her ‘Wheel of Fortune’ journey, returning home with $26,750 and a trip to Italy.  

Taking to the comments section of the YouTube video, some ‘WoF’ fans expressed how Cook might've won if she chose different letters. “Had to say if she called the B and F, that would've had some chance. Quite tricky again,” a fan commented, while another wrote, “Surprisingly, I figured out the puzzle with Office Buildings, If Kristin would've add an "O" & a "B" then she would've got it.” A third fan recalled Sajak’s advice, stating, “As Pat Sajak says, when words start with a vowel, it throws people off. Didn’t happen to me. I figured it out immediately.”