Crosswords in the press - chances of winning?

[Vimto]

As someone who has sent in crossword solutions for years and years and never had a tickle I sometimes wonder what the odds are of winning.I regularly attempt both Telegraph and Times cryptics and I suppose I complete about 75%. This has improved since I joined Q&A! There must be some equation involving number of readers; difficulty of puzzle; amount of prizes and so on. I would be happy with the occasional book token.Anyone any thoughts?

[rogerr]

I don't know what the odds are, but I do know that they disregard any entries with corrections on. I was told that by a friend who used to work on Fleet street and is an avid crossworder. I then realised why I never stood a chance of winning.

[jetski129]

i managed to win twice with the sat telegraph.i guess its just luck,but you have to be in it to win it!

[barender]

I once had a win with the Sunday Express magazine General Knowledge Crossword but only the �25 not the �1,000!

[cheaton]

My father, his next door neighbour and I have all won The Times Saturday crossword - me twice. Plus I have recently won an FT arts quiz. But I have never won a Jumbo, sudoku or any Telegraph crosswords (I guess there are many more entries for the Telegraph than Times).

Once we have won, we send them in with another family member's name & address for a while - just in case they notice that the same people are winning!

Keep going though and good luck.

[ulysses100]

Over the years I have spent a fortune in stamps but I have won the Times Jumbo x1, runner-up on DT GK x1, Spectator x4, Saturday Independent x3, EV x3, The Week x1, Saturday Guardian x4 . Not much return for over 20 years enjoyment but it's still the challenge and the kudos of seeing your name in print ! As regards the odds , who knows ? The DT has the highest readership and The Listener xword I understand has about 200 entries a week.

[geo0939]

I won my first Times Saturday crossword in 1986 and have been entering since I completed my first crossword a couple of years earlier. (This was obviously long before Answerbank) and I didn't really expect to win anything, I was just so pleased that I could complete them.

I've won a number of prizes since then, but have gone for long periods without a win. So, even after all these years, it is still very nice to get that notification. As far as entries bearing corrections, I know I've won with Tippexed answers, so don't worry about that.

As to the odds of winning, it is obviously better to enter the more obscure crosswords, but whatever they are, they are the same odds for everyone who enters. Send them in regularly without expecting to win and you may get a surprise.

Good luck.

[kayakamina]

In over 60 years I have only won 2 Guardians 1 Azed and one each Times and Telegraph. As I only enter the cryptic ones my odds are reduced but somehow feel they are more satisfying than the General Knowledge which can be googled.

[Alibobs]

I have been entering the DT crossword for years but nothing. How sad am I - I have tried sending them in on different days, in different coloured envelopes but to no avail!

[dzug]

Years ago the Guardian used to publish the number of entries received - IIRC it was usually about 2000. Higher circulation papers will get more of course.