Lottery ticket having connected symbol set feature

A physical lottery ticket comprising:

• a base comprising a substrate;
• a board on the substrate, the board comprising a plurality of borders that define a plurality of adjacent spaces on the board, the plurality of adjacent spaces arranged in a continuous pattern;
• multiple words printed on the substrate in the plurality of adjacent spaces on the board defined by the borders, wherein each of the words are different, wherein each of the words comprises a plurality of letters comprising at least one shared letter and at least one un-shared letter, wherein each of a plurality of the words comprises two shared letters, and wherein each adjacent pair of the words are connected by the shared letter of that adjacent pair of words, and wherein the shared letter of that adjacent pair of words is a last letter of a first word of the adjacent pair and a first letter of a second word of the adjacent pair;
• a plurality of different shading indicators on the substrate, each different shading indicator indicating the plurality of letters of a different one of the words for a potential completion award associated with that word, wherein for each shared letter, two of the different shading indicators indicate that shared letter, an end boundary of the first word of the adjacent pair connected by that shared letter, and a beginning boundary of the second word of the adjacent pair connected by that shared letter;
• multiple player letters printed on the substrate;
• a removable covering formed on the substrate and covering the player letters;
• and
• a paytable printed on the substrate, the paytable indicating a first award associated with a first quantity of the words that are completed based on the player letters, and the paytable indicating a second award associated with a second quantity of the connected words that are completed based on the player letters, wherein the words, the player letters, and the paytable co-act to determine a value of the physical lottery ticket.

A lottery gaming system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to cause a physical lottery ticket to be created, the physical lottery ticket comprising:
• a base comprising a substrate;
• a board on the substrate, the board comprising a plurality of borders that define a plurality of adjacent spaces on the board, the plurality of adjacent spaces arranged in a continuous pattern;
• multiple symbol sets printed on the substrate in the plurality of adjacent spaces, wherein a plurality of the symbol sets are different, wherein each of the symbol sets comprises a plurality of symbols comprising a shared symbol and an un-shared symbol, and wherein a plurality of pairs of the symbol sets are each connected by the shared symbol of that pair of symbol sets;
• a plurality of different color-coded indicators on the substrate, each different color-coded indicator indicating the plurality of symbols of a different one of the plurality of the symbol sets for a potential completion award associated with that symbol set, wherein for each shared symbol, two of the different color-coded indicators indicate that shared symbol as a last symbol of a first symbol set of a pair of the symbol sets connected by that shared symbol and a first letter of a second symbol set of the pair of the symbol sets connected by that shared symbol;
• multiple player symbols printed on the substrate;
• a removable covering formed on the substrate and covering the player symbols;
• and
• a paytable printed on the substrate, the paytable indicating a first award associated with a first quantity of the symbol sets that are completed based on the player symbols, and the paytable indicating a second award associated with a second quantity of the connected symbol sets that are completed based on the player symbols, wherein the symbol sets, the color-coded indicators, the player symbols, and the paytable co-act to determine a value of the physical lottery ticket.