A cross-border road trip from New South Wales to Melbourne has yielded a happy woman $75,000 after she scratched the top prize on a $5 Crosswords Instant Scratch-Its.  

The self-confessed, $5 Crossword Instant Scratch-Its lover purchased her winning ticket at Seymour News & Lotto on her way through the town as part of her road trip ritual. 

“I bought tickets from six different outlets from Seymour to Kilsyth, then I put them in a pile and shuffled them so I had no idea where I bought it from! I had no idea!” she exclaimed. 

“It was the first place we stopped, on our way to Melbourne, but it was the last ticket I scratched! 

“I scratched it at 11pm on Friday night and there was nothing I could do! I couldn’t check it! I couldn’t do anything until Saturday morning so I think we had about two hours sleep! 

“We were checking it, writing the words out, writing the letters out, double checking it again and looking at it again – it was just mental! 

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would win! 

“Before I’d scratched this ticket, I was sitting at the table amongst the scratchie dust and my husband said to me ‘I haven’t heard too much wahooing’ and then ten minutes after he said that I said ‘I think I have a good one here!’ 

“We thought we had nine words, and it wasn’t until we had sat there and had gone through it for about half an hour more that we realised we had ten words.” 

“My hubby said ‘what does 10 mean?’ and I said ‘it means 75 grand!’ and he screamed at me ‘WHAT!’ – I swear we got no sleep.” 

The woman revealed she felt frazzled carrying the winning Instant Scratch-Its around with her. 

“I made sure I sent it off straight away. I couldn’t have it on me! What if I lost my purse?” she laughed.

The regular player confessed she enjoyed buying Instant Scratch-Its from different outlets. 

“I started playing Crosswords probably only six months or so ago and I just love them!” she explained. 

“I always buy a few from different outlets in my area and then take them all home and scratch them at once. 

“When we go away, they are bit more special, so we usually stop along the way and we stop at every little town or newsagency we come across and buy them.” 

When asked how the Crosswords fan planned to spend her $75,000 windfall, she revealed it had already been put to good use. 

“With this win the house has been paid off! Done and dusted! That’s the majority of it, and the rest is just to have a bit of extra for me and my husband,” she exclaimed. 

“We’re really happy to clear the house – the best feeling in the world to actually own your house. To not have to have any repayments is brilliant!” 

The happy woman confessed that even though she had won a top prize, she was keen to keep scratching. 

“I’ve already bought a few more from my outlets in my area. I don’t care if I never win anything again, I just enjoy scratching the Crosswords!” 

The winner purchased the winning $5 Crosswords Instant Scratch-Its at Seymour News & Lotto, 66 Station Street, Seymour. Dianna Zhang, owner of Seymour News & Lotto, said she was thrilled the outlet had sold a top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its. 

“Wow! How exciting for the customer and exciting for us!” she exclaimed. 

“Such a big prize for them! Hope they enjoy their win!” 

Last financial year, there were 144 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across the Lott jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $12 million.