Reference books as prizes for crossword puzzles

[Robert G]

Happy New Year to all!
Why do many newspapers persist in offering dictionaries and other reference books as prizes for crossword puzzles?
Can anyone link other regular prizes with publications?
Full marks to the Sunday Times for still offering Cross pens - I won won years ago! - and to others who offer cash prizes.

[Fubsy]

I suppose they feel reference books are appropriate prizes for crossword solvers - although most of us already have good dictionaries and reference books anyway. And there are good online sources too nowadays.

I've won a few prizes. I won a Franklin electronic dictionary/thesaurus/puzzle solver from Lovatt's which I find really useful.

I won the Saturday Times Cryptic prize a few years ago. The prize was usually a set of reference books but as the puzzle was set over Christmas, a �100 cash prize was offered instead. I preferred to get the cash!

Last year I won a Whitakers Almanack from the Saturday Telegraph General Knowledge crossword. A friend of mine had recently told me they had got a new partner who had a title. When I saw that Whitakers listed all peers etc. I looked them up. So it was useful for proving the partner had been 'economical with the truth' as it turned out the title had been bought. But I didn't really find the book useful for solving crossword clues and it was later consigned to the charity shop.

[Minoru]

I agree about putting up prizes of reference books for crosswords. Regular crossworders will have the books already - book tokens are much better.

Nor do I rate fountain pens very highly as prizes. Who uses them these days? If pens have to be given make them good quality roller ball pens.

[Dustybun]

top award for the least imaginative prize must go to the Mail on Sunday Super Sudoku. It offers a Sudoku and Sudoku X puzzle book. Wow!!