Mary Jo Schweda Wins Top Prize of $50,000 Playing "Super Crossword" Scratch Game
DES MOINES, Iowa - A Davenport woman ran an errand for her daughter and it led to her winning a top prize of $50,000 playing the lottery's "Super Crossword" instant-scratch game.
Mary Jo Schweda, 54, said she was visiting her daughter at work when her daughter asked Schweda to buy her a soda. Schweda decided to go across the street to QC Mart, 2843 East 53rd St. in Davenport to get one.
"I asked the girl the difference between the two Crosswords and I said, 'Oh, I'll take the five,'" Schweda said. "The next day I scratched it and I was sitting there thinking I had won $5,000."
Schweda scratched the ticket while on a break from work at the Rock Island Arsenal, so she asked some coworkers to help her check her ticket.
"I had three of my friends check the ticket and make sure I didn't do it wrong, and then we realized I had ten words!" she said. "We all just started screaming. I was thrilled with five!"
Schweda said she doesn't play scratch tickets very often, but she chose the Super Crossword ticket because she liked the idea of having three ways to win.
"I thought, 'Oh, what the heck.' Of course, my daughter takes full credit for this," Schweda said with a laugh as she claimed her prize Friday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.
Schweda said she hadn't made any plans for her winnings.
"I'm just going to calm down and then think about it," she said.
Super Crossword is a $5 scratch game. Players win a prize by scratching the "your letters" then scratching the corresponding letters found in Puzzles 1 and 2 and the "bonus word." If players have scratched at least three complete words in Puzzle 1 or 2, they win the corresponding prize shown in the prize legend for that puzzle. If players uncover all six letters in the "bonus word" by scratching the letters that match the "your letters" they win the prize shown in the prize box.
Four top prizes of $50,000 are still up for grabs in Super Crossword, as well as five prizes of $5,000, 61 prizes of $500 and more than 465 prizes of $100.
Players can enter eligible nonwinning scratch tickets online to earn "Points For Prizes®" points. The point value will be revealed to the player on the website upon successful submission of each eligible valid ticket. There is a limit of 30 ticket entries per day. To participate in Points For Prizes®, a player must register for a free account at ialottery.com. Registration is a one-time process. Merchandise that can be ordered by using points will be listed on the website in the Points For Prizes® online store. Players can choose from items in categories such as apparel, automotive, jewelry, sporting, tools and more.
Since the lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.8 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.3 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans.
Today, lottery proceeds in Iowa have three main purposes: They provide support for veterans, help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund, and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions in the state and build and repair schools.
###
