WINNING $30,000 LOTTERY TICKET PURCHASED IN DUBUQUE

For media-ready jpeg image of Mamie Weddington click here.

Mamie Weddington Wins Big Playing the "Crossword" (orange newsprint) Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Chicago, Ill., woman won the top prize of $30,000 playing the "Crossword" (orange newsprint) scratch game.

Mamie Weddington claimed her prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids. She bought her winning ticket at Road Ranger, 2175 Central Ave. in Dubuque.

Crossword (orange newsprint) is a $3 scratch game. Players win a prize 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-three prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Crossword (orange newsprint) as well as 67 prizes of $3,000, more than 975 prizes of $300 as well as more than 4,680 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.2 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion for state programs.