A father and son in Phelps County spelled their way to a $50,000 prize on a Missouri Lottery “$50,000 Crossword Extra” Scratchers ticket. The winning ticket was purchased at BP, 801 N. Jefferson St., in St. James.

The pair enjoy playing their tickets while watching wrestling together. After the father stopped scratching this particularly lucky ticket, he said, “I think I’ve got 11 words!”

His wife thought he’d only uncovered 10 words, but in a game where every word uncovered translates into more prize money, every word counts. So his son decided to check the ticket using the Missouri Lottery mobile app. 

“It said ‘$50,000 winner!’ he recalled. “Dad didn’t even want to touch the ticket after that.”

They plan to use some of their winnings to take the family to Disney.

“$50,000 Crossword Extra” is a $3 game with over $11.5 million in unclaimed prizes, including seven more top prizes of $50,000.

In FY20, players in Phelps County won more than $7.6 million in Missouri Lottery prizes, retailers received more than $737,000 in commissions and bonuses, and more than $1.6 million in Lottery proceeds went to education programs in the county.