Dunn’s momentum continued through the opening rounds. He solved “Listening To My Walkman” to boost his total to $9,500 before taking advantage of a dramatic swing during the “Before & After” category. Both Spallina and Metcalf landed on Bankrupt, clearing the way for Dunn to confidently solve “Barbeque Pit Stop” after uncovering only two letters. His aggressive play pushed him past $10,000 and made him appear to be the contestant to beat. At that stage, it looked as though Dunn might run away with the game while his opponents struggled to recover from costly mistakes.

Everything changed during the Prize Puzzle. Spallina believed he had figured out the answer and confidently guessed “Bring Out Your Itinerary,” but the solve was incorrect. That mistake opened the door for Metcalf, who carefully uncovered a few more letters before correctly solving “Print Out Your Itinerary.” The victory earned her a trip to Puerto Rico and vaulted her into first place with $15,200. She continued her strong finish by solving two of the three Triple Toss-Up puzzles, while Spallina finally got on the scoreboard by claiming the third. Although the returning champion later solved “Bite-Size Candy” to finish with $7,700 for the day and a two-day total of $21,500, it wasn’t enough to catch Metcalf. Dunn left with $10,000, while Metcalf secured the win with $19,200 and advanced to the Bonus Round.

Choosing the category “People,” Metcalf was joined on stage by her husband, Ryan, as she prepared for the biggest moment of the night. After receiving the standard letters R, S, T, L, N, and E, she selected M, D, P, and A. The puzzle then appeared as “_ _ MM _ _DD_ES.” As the countdown clock began ticking, Metcalf immediately realized she faced a difficult challenge. “Oh God,” she admitted while studying the board. She tried to reason through the final word, wondering whether it could be “Paddles,” but the answer refused to come together. After the timer expired, host Ryan Seacrest sympathetically admitted, “It’s a tricky one,” before revealing the correct solution: “Chummy Buddies.” Hidden inside the Bonus Round envelope was a brand-new Ford, meaning Metcalf had narrowly missed the opportunity to drive away with one of the show’s biggest prizes.

The reveal immediately triggered a flood of criticism online. Many Wheel of Fortune fans argued that the expression “Chummy Buddies” simply wasn’t common enough to deserve a place in the Bonus Round. Reddit users questioned whether anyone actually uses the phrase in normal conversation, with one viewer bluntly asking, “What the heck was that bonus puzzle?” Others echoed the frustration, insisting they had never once heard people refer to someone as “chummy buddies.” Several commenters described the wording as outdated, while another joked that even Ryan Seacrest seemed to recognize how difficult the puzzle had been. One fan went even further, claiming the show had combined two words that technically fit together but rarely, if ever, appear together naturally in real life.

Although Metcalf still returned for another opportunity under the show’s returning champion format, the Bonus Round once again became the biggest talking point of the night. Rather than celebrating an exciting victory or an unforgettable jackpot, viewers were left debating whether Wheel of Fortune has begun relying too heavily on obscure phrases that even loyal fans struggle to recognize. For many watching at home, the disappointment wasn’t simply that Metcalf failed to solve the puzzle—it was the lingering feeling that the final challenge may have been unfairly difficult. As debates over Bonus Round difficulty continue to grow online, one question keeps resurfacing after episodes like this: are contestants losing because the puzzles are truly challenging, or because the answers are phrases that hardly anyone actually says anymore?