Claims Bonus Crossword top prize
An Anne Arundel County resident who rarely buys Lottery tickets received one as a gift from a family member last month, and walked away a $30,000 winner.
“We were visiting a sick family member back in March,” the medical professional told Lottery officials on April 7. “As we were leaving, he just handed it to me.” The relative, a longtime player, told her that he’d purchased it earlier that day, just for her. She said the $3 Bonus Crossword game was a nice surprise.
That “nice surprise” became a monumental one later that evening when the Severn woman scratched the ticket. “I knew what I was seeing couldn’t be real, so I didn’t get too excited.” She set the ticket aside knowing that she’d be seeing her generous relative later in the week. “Even though I knew it wasn’t really what it looked like, I put it in a safe place.”
Once the mini-reunion happened, it didn’t take long for her to know that she had in fact won $30,000. “I watched his face when I showed him the ticket. That told me all I needed to know.”
This is the first top-prize win for the 7th edition of Bonus Crossword, which reached retailers’ shelves in February. Seven $30,000 winning tickets remain in circulation as well as 15 $5,000 second-tier winners. This top-prize winner was purchased from the 7-Eleven at 8810 Hampton Mall Drive in Capitol Heights. The Prince George’s County retailer received a $300 bonus for selling the top-prize ticket.
