“I SAW A LITTLE ‘D’!” CORNING WOMAN WINS $30,000

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Shirley Valles Wins Top Prize in Popular Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa - An Adams County woman recently claimed a $30,000 lottery prize.

Shirley Valles, 71, of Corning won the top prize playing the “Crossword” (purple newsprint) instant-scratch game. She purchased the winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 300 10th St. in Corning and claimed her prize at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines.

“First I thought I had $3,000 and I was happy, happy,” she said. “And then I saw a little ‘D’ up there that I forgot to scratch off and I thought, ‘Oh my [gosh], I won $30,000! I've got 10 words!’”

Valles said she's going to buy running boards for her truck with some of her prize money. She's not sure what she'll do with the rest.

Crossword (purple newsprint) is a $3 scratch game. Players win by uncovering at least three complete words in the ticket's puzzle. If a player uncovers 10 words, he/she wins $30,000. The overall odds of winning in the game are about 1 in 4.

Forty-six prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in the game, as well as approximately 70 prizes of $3,000, more than 1,000 prizes of $300 and approximately 5,000 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, more than $2.1 billion has been awarded in prizes and more than $1.1 billion has been raised for state programs.