Lucky lady takes home $100,000 on $100,000 Crossword game
A 63-year-old grandmother of eight is celebrating a huge Maryland Lottery scratch-off win, thanks to the $100,000 Crossword game. The owner of a dog kennel that boards and grooms dogs, “Winning Grandma” also volunteers at the Double Dog Dare Rescue and was driving home from a rescue when Lottery luck appeared.
The Taneytown woman and her granddaughter stopped at High’s #031 in Woodsboro and bought two $10 $100,000 Crossword games from a Lottery vending machine. The first instant ticket was not a winner, she said, but the second scratch-off was doggone lucky.
“I didn’t scratch it right away, scanning it first,” said “Winning Grandma.” “The message saying to go to Lottery headquarters was a bit confusing, so I asked the cashier to take a look.”
Unfortunately, the cashier couldn’t help so they hit the road. They began scratching off the instant ticket, trying to figure out the prize, until they came to another Lottery retailer. “I still didn’t know how much the win was for, just that I had nine or 10 words,” said the happy player. “That could be $10,000 or $100,000.”
The two women stopped at the retailer, scanned the scratch-off and heard a “strange sound” from the machine. “Winning Grandma” held a $100,000 winner! She immediately left the store to go home and share the news with her family.
“I’m helping raise my grandchildren, so I told them and then woke my husband up,” she said. “I told him to look at the ticket, but he thought it was only $10,000. I told him to look again!”
The fortunate player then made an appointment to visit Lottery headquarters to claim her $100,000 top prize. She told Lottery officials that she plans to use some of the winnings toward her retirement, a new truck, some home improvements and to pay off debt. “This win is really life changing,” she said.
High’s #31 located at 304 North Main Street in Woodsboro earns its own prize. For selling the top-prize winning $100,000 Crossword instant ticket, the Frederick County retailer will earn a $1,000 bonus from the Lottery. The $100,000 Crossword game (4th edition) still has seven $100,000 top prizes remaining along with more than 500,000 other prizes ranging from $10 to $10,000.