New Jersey· Launched Dec 2025· 320 days on shelf· scanned today
EV / Dollar
0.50
USA percentile
3th
of 2,159 games
Top prizes left
1
$20,000 tier
% sold-through
91%
2026-10-26
Forecast sellout
~692d
P10–P90: 484–969d
18+ only. For entertainment purposes — not financial advice. Scratch-offs have a negative expected return on average. 1-800-GAMBLER if you need help.
Crossword is a $3 scratch-off game from the New Jersey lottery (game #1953). It launched in December 2025. As of the most recent daily scan, 1 top prize of $20,000 remains unclaimed, with roughly 91% of tickets sold, as published by the New Jersey lottery. Our models put its expected value at 0.50 per dollar, returning about $0.50 per dollar on average at current prize levels, number 6 of 7 $3 games on sale in New Jersey.
THE THESIS
At 0.50 EV/$, this game ranks 6 of 7 same-price games on sale in New Jersey (median 0.61).
Total unclaimed prize value: $1.95M — weighted to top-tier prizes as of latest data feed.
Where this game ranks versus all active US scratch-offs (USA) and all active NJ games (state). Better means more unclaimed prize value relative to remaining tickets.
Daily drainage
~1.33% / day
Days left (P50)
692 days
P10 / P90 range
484–969 d
EV at P50 sellout
0.50
Trailing 7-day claim rate 19% below the 30-day mean — activity slowing.
No other active NJ games currently clear break-even.
Top-prize claim history is not published for this state.
States that report individual claim events (TX, NY, PA, FL, NC) will show a full timeline here. This game's state does not currently publish that data.
ABOUT THIS GAME
As of October 26, 2026, 1 of the 20 $20,000 top prizes is still unclaimed; across the 8 prize levels the lottery reports, 263,856 of 2,858,730 prizes (9%) remain; the thinnest level is $5,000, with 5% of its prizes left.
At current prize levels a $3 ticket returns about $1.51 on average (0.50 per dollar), which ranks 6 of 7 $3 games on sale in New Jersey, below the $3 median of 0.61. Among every New Jersey game with a computable value it is 140 of 142; nationally it sits in the 3th percentile. Like nearly every scratch-off, it pays back less than it costs on average.
Over the last 30 days, 17,518 prizes were claimed across the reported levels, none of them a top prize; at the current pace the remaining tickets would sell out in about 692 days (likely range 484–969).
New Jersey also sells 2 other issues of Crossword: game #1980 and game #1918. Each issue has its own print run and prize pool, so their odds and remaining prizes differ.
Figures come from the prize data the New Jersey lottery publishes (official game page), which Tirage checks daily; this page reflects the October 26, 2026 update. See how we calculate value.
SIMILAR PLAYS IN NJ
Same state · same price tier · similar EV signal
We alert you the day a NJ game crosses break-even, and send a weekly digest of what moved.