CLIVE, Iowa – The first of 13 top prizes of $50,000 available in the lottery’s new “Winter White Super Crossword” holiday scratch game was claimed Friday by a North Iowa man.
Larry Bill of Riceville said he purchased his winning ticket Oct. 29 at Andy’s Mini Mart, 203 E. Main St. in Riceville.
Bill said that he stopped for ice cream and a soda that day and decided to buy a scratch ticket as well.
“I hadn’t bought a (lottery) ticket for probably five months and I thought, ‘Well, it’s time to buy some more so I bought one,’” Bill told lottery employees Friday as he claimed his prize at the lottery’s regional office in Mason City.
The 69-year-old retiree said he scratched off his ticket and thought he’d won $5,000 because he only counted nine complete words on his ticket, but a return trip to Andy’s Mini Mart confirmed that he’d missed the 10th word and with it the game’s $50,000 top prize.
“When I got back from Andy’s I think everybody in town knew (I’d won),” Bill said.
Bill said he’s still finalizing a plan for his lottery winnings.
