Sitting in front of her television, Chris Arace has always been good at solving the puzzles on the "Wheel of Fortune." When she finally appeared as a contestant on March 28, she won $49,000.

"I've always been good at it. I yell at the screen. I've always been good at solving puzzles with limited letters," said Arace.

When the Wheel of Fortune mobile van came to Seattle earlier this year, Arace auditioned. "It was a cattle call. We were all standing in line, filling out paper work about ourselves," she said.

Show producers tested her nervousness, enthusiasm and ability to think quickly. They took Polaroid pictures of her and put her through a written test.

Arace played a simulated version of the game, complete with the spinning wheel. In front of a video camera, she spun the wheel to show producers how she looked on television.

A few weeks later Arace received an e-mail telling her she made the program, but would have to pay for her own transportation and lodging in Los Angeles.

"It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. You can only be on the show once," said Arace.

At the television studio, participants were put through hours of orientation, explaining the rules and regulations. They were sequestered and monitored for cheating. Assistants even followed people to the restroom to keep an eye on them.

Assistants then applied make-up on each contestant with air brushes.

Contestants took practice turns spinning the wheel. For Arace, standing 5 feet, one inch tall, it was more difficult than she thought it would be. The wheel weighed 1,000 pounds. Assistants pumped people up, urging them to clap and smile. The week's five shows are taped all in one day.

When her turn came, Arace was placed next to host Pat Sajak. Since she was short, an automatic riser made her taller.

Arace won four out of the five spinning games. On the first win she solved the puzzle "Making snow angels." The prize was a trip to Whistler Resort in British Columbia, a stone's throw from Seattle.

She also solved "I saw her standing there," the name of a Beatles tune, "Like comparing apples and oranges," and "Rapid City, South Dakota."

When the 30-minute show ended, Arace had beaten her two competitors and earned $49,000 in cash along with a $5,000 trip to Whistler. She would have preferred another prize trip a little further away in Australia, rather than a resort in the Northwest.

"I screamed, I was hysterical," said Arace when she won.

She plans on using the money for a trip to Europe in the summer to attend a friend's wedding. She'll go with her boyfriend Matt Lewis, the lead singer for the band Whitetrash Whiplash billed as "Seattle's only hardcore honkytonk band."

They will visit Paris and Spain, renting a car to see explore the countryside. After that Arace will use the winnings to put a down payment on a house.

Arace, a project manager at Microsoft, is playing the role of Lucy in the production of Three Penny Opera, put on by the Microsoft Theatre Troupe.