Crosswords

[lissadell]

Does anyone know exactly how crossword prize winners are drawn? Has there ever been any investigation into these competitions, such as there have been into TV phone-in competitions? I sometimes wonder if our envelopes are even opened, since I never seem to hear of anyone winning.

[Tichfield]

I have no idea how they do it, but I assumed it was just "the luck of the draw".

Unless they are also gathering marketing information maybe once they have got the winners they just throw the rest of the envelopes away without even oening them.

I have won a few prizes over the years.

[whitehill]

Well, they only need to open one envelope, don't they, and if that has the correct answers then the rest can be dumped. And we have to accept that nowadays, with sites like this, there must be many more entries than there used to be so it's not a question of whether anyone is bright enough to complete a crossword and have a good chance, it is purely and simply a prize draw. That's why it's often better to go for local paper comps, for example, as your chances of winning the (smaller) prize may be better. But for most, probably all, competitions they do print the name of the winner or you can send for a complete list - I don't think it would be worth their while cheating and making them up. Incidentally, my sister won the �100 first prize for the MOS You crossword a couple of years ago and about a month after that I won one of the �25 runner ups so we know that's above board! And I have received runners up prize for the Saga crossword three times in the last three years so I still have faith enough to send in my entries, although my postage costs must by now far outweigh my winnings! Incidentally with Take a Break and Chat (the only two mags I buy) you can now enter all the comps online, which makes me feel quite virtuous as I am saving two lots of postage and the cost of envelopes!

[DSJ]

I was a runner-up in the Daily Telegraph Prize Crossword Competition a few years back.

[novalis]

Have been lucky enough to win on several occasions but assume it is just "luck of the draw". What concerns me slightly is whether newspapers which have a Crossword Society show a bias towards the members.

[peeanut]

I have won You crossword twice and runner-up three times on Sunday express skeleton and Sunday times cryptic once
and a Daily telegraph monday cryptic once, so keep on hoping
you turn will come.