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Decent valueActiveCrossword Bonanza · $20 · New Jersey Lottery
Crossword Bonanza: Decent value. A $20 ticket pays back $15.36 on average.
▲ +4.6 pts vs launch#1 of 10 · $20 NJ games
▲ +4.6 pts vs launch#1 of 10 · $20 NJ games
Crossword Bonanza is a $20 scratch-off ticket from the New Jersey state lottery. Its current expected value is 76.8%, up 4.6 percentage points from the launch value of 72.2%. 1 of the original 3 $400,000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 92% of the 2.4M printed tickets have been sold.
76.8%
expected return
1 in 3.56
odds of any win
1 of 3
$400K top prizes left
92%
claimed · 2.2M of 2.4M printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 50,739 winning tickets still unclaimed.
16 win more than $20
$30 – $200, an actual profit
12 win their money back
a $20 prize, so you break even
72 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 328 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $15.36 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $20 – $500
$12.58 · 62.9% of price
Mid prizes $2K – $400K
$2.78 · 13.9% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$20 – $500 wins
50,719 winning tickets remain in this range: 82% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
92% claimed, and the jackpots are still out there
Counting every ticket since launch, Feb 2026.
2.4M
tickets printed
2.2M
tickets claimed · 92%
183k
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Jackpots are outlasting sales: good for buyers.
Jackpots left
33%
Tickets left
8%
33% of top prizes remain with only 8% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
New Jersey Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $20 NJ peers
#1 of 10
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
Figures from New Jersey Lottery published claim data.
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