Rotate the thing and just get them snug to make sure nothing is jammed up. It should pull up and seat on the flex plate easily. I rotate the thing around a few times just tightening as I go to the desired tightness. One of the few places I don't use a torque wrench.

25 is not real tight. Just a few little ooga-doogas with a long wrench.

If the results don't match the theory, change the theory.