CEDAR RAPIDS WOMAN WINS $30,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Brenda Cronin Wins Top Prize Playing the "Crossword" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Cedar Rapids woman won the top prize of $30,000 playing the lottery's "Crossword" scratch game.

Brenda Cronin claimed her prize Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids. She bought her winning ticket at Casey's, 130 41st Ave. S.W. in Cedar Rapids.

Crossword 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.

Eighty-nine prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Crossword as well as 135 prizes of $3,000, more than 1,950 prizes of $300 and 9,400 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.