Lottery player thought she came up empty — until she finds a box she hadn’t scratched

Four decades into her job, a 65-year-old Iowa woman now has an extra nest egg for her upcoming retirement.

But Terry Stillings, who won a jackpot prize playing an Iowa Lottery game, almost didn’t realize she was among the game’s big winners.

Stillings, of Forest City, became the eighth person this year to win the top prize in the lottery’s $50,000 Super Crossword game, officials said in a news release.

“I scratched it and didn’t think I won anything because I missed a letter, didn’t scratch it off,” Stillings told lottery officials when she claimed her winnings March 14. “So I scratched it off and it was an ‘S’ and almost every word I had, had an ‘S’ in it. I couldn’t believe it!”

Odds of winning the jackpot prize in the $5 game are 1 in 119,660.57.

Stillings has worked at Winnebago Industries for 41 years, making “window treatments for the company’s motor homes” lottery officials said.

With her retirement coming up in January, she said she plans to save her winnings for when she leaves her job.

Forest City is about a 120-mile drive north from Des Moines.

This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Lottery player thought she came up empty — until she finds a box she hadn’t scratched."