Healthcare worker proclaims $500,000 Crossword game her favorite
A Baltimore healthcare worker likes to relax by playing the $500,000 Crossword instant ticket. After spending time with patients and visiting her mother in a nursing home daily, the loyal player looks forward to this daily routine.
That routine was less than relaxing one day this week when she uncovered a $500,000 top prize on the $500,000 Crossword game. Crossword-themed scratch-offs are her favorites, she said, especially the $500,000 Crossword game with its three puzzles. She also plays many other Lottery games. One of her favorite Lottery retailers is Xpress Mart located at 200 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville.
“I’ve been going to the same place for a week and bought a (crossword) ticket every day,” she said. Earlier this week, the 64-year-old stopped at Xpress Mart to buy one of the $20 $500,000 Crossword scratch-offs and took it home to play. She played each of the three puzzles in the game, carefully checking to see how many words she revealed. When the total hit 10 words, giving her a top-prize win, she was shocked.
“I was by myself,” said the anonymous winner. “I looked at the ticket 20 times to make sure it was right.”
To confirm the huge win, the player took the scratch-off to another Lottery retailer and scanned it. Sure enough, she won $500,000. Her next move was to call one of her sons from the store. “I told him, ‘Please come and get me.’ I was nervous.”
When he pulled up his vehicle, she hopped in and the son said he knew she really won a lot of money. “All he could do was bust out laughing and hug me and ask me why I wasn’t crying,” she said. “I was thankful more than anything.”
She plans to spend her windfall on dental work and finding a one-story place for her mom to live. The mother of two and grandmother of one isn’t sure that crossword-themed scratch-offs will carry any more luck for her so she already has a new Lottery relaxation routine in mind. “I’ll jump to the bingo-themed games,” she said.
The site of her lucky purchase is also a winner. Xpress Mart will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling a $500,000 top-prize winning scratch-off. This long-lived game went on sale in 2019 and still has two more $500,000 top prizes remaining along with one $50,000 prize and four $10,000 prizes.
