PG County Woman Wins $50,000 Playing Crossword Game

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD -- They call her the Queen of Crosswords, and for good reason: she just won $50,000 playing the Maryland Lottery's Deluxe Crossword game, and it's not the first time she's won cash playing games like it.

The Capitol Heights mother of two, who chose to remain anonymous, has also won prizes of $500 (twice) and $6,000 playing the $5 scratch-off, according to a statement from the Maryland Lottery.

The woman has been playing the Maryland Lottery since 2013 and now plays a variety of games: Pick 4, Pick 3, Powerball, Mega Millions, and Gold Bar Bingo.

“I have a ritual: As soon as I get off work, I go to my local gas station, go home, pull up a recording of Dateline and scratch my tickets while I eat a snack,” said the 49-year-old, according to the statement. “I do it almost every day. I just keep scratching.”

She woke her daughter up when she found out that she had won the top prize.

“After I signed it, I didn’t know when I would be able to cash the ticket in so the closet was a good place to hide it,” she said.

She plans to use the cash to pay her taxes, finish home improvement projects, and take a trip to Jamaica.

She purchased the ticket at the Seat Pleasant BP gas station at 5818 Martin Luther King Jr. Highway.