How many $250,000 prizes are left in $250,000 Crossword?

5 of 6 as of October 25, 2026. The chance that a ticket bought today is a top-prize winner is about 1 in 459,836.

What are the odds of winning anything on $250,000 Crossword?

1 in 4.02 as of October 25, 2026, compared with 1 in 3.94 printed at launch. Cash-only odds are 1 in 6.69, and the odds of winning more than the $10 ticket price are 1 in 6.68.

Is $250,000 Crossword worth buying?

Its current payout is 71.5% ($7.15 back per $10 ticket), rank #17 of 57 in New Jersey. The best $10 alternative as of October 25, 2026 is Disco Dollarfest (#01951, $10) at 75.4%. No scratcher has a positive expected value; this is about losing less over time.

How many $250,000 Crossword tickets are left?

We estimate 2,299,182 of roughly 3,668,190 printed tickets are unsold (37.3% sold), derived from the prizes claimed at each tier and their published odds.

When did $250,000 Crossword launch and is it still on sale?

It launched on August 4, 2026. It is still on sale.

$250,000 Crossword — $10 New Jersey Scratch-Off #01996

Data captured October 25, 2026, 04:10 UTC · launched August 4, 2026

$250,000 Crossword New Jersey scratch-off ticket

Official New Jersey Lottery page →

$250,000 Crossword (#01996) is a $10 New Jersey scratch-off launched on August 4, 2026. As of October 25, 2026 it ranks #17 of 57 active games on current payout (71.5%, $7.15 expected back per ticket) and #4 of 13 $10 games, #23 on any-prize odds (1 in 4.02) and #8 on top-prize odds (1 in 459,836). Since launch the payout has fallen 0.5 points (72.0% at launch) and your chance of winning something has fallen 2.0% (1 in 3.94 at launch). 5 of 6 top prizes of $250,000 remain, and we estimate 2,299,182 tickets are still unsold (37.3% sold). That is a middle-of-the-pack game: fine to play, but the ranking lists show better value at the same price.

Current payout

71.5%

72.0% at launch

Expected value

$7.15

per $10 ticket

Any-prize odds

1 in 4.02

1 in 3.94 at launch

Cash odds

1 in 6.69

excludes free tickets

Profit odds

1 in 6.68

win more than $10

$600+ odds

1 in 85,155

claim-at-lottery prizes

Top prizes left

5 of 6

$250,000 each

Tickets remaining

62.7%

≈ 2,299,182 tickets

Lots sold, few top prizes claimed. 37% sold, only 1 of 6 top prizes claimed: better jackpot odds than on launch day (1 in 459,836, was 1 in 611,365). More New Jersey games like this. Last top prize claimed: September 14, 2026, 41 days ago.

Prizes remaining

Every prize level in $250,000 Crossword, with the odds printed at launch, the odds today given what is left, and how much of each tier is still unclaimed. To set its odds of $1,000 or more (or any other prize size) against every other New Jersey game, see odds by prize size. Across all tiers, 572,178 of 931,553 prizes (61.4%) are still out there.

Prize	Odds at launch	Odds now	Total	Claimed	Remaining	% left
$250,000	1 in 611,365	1 in 459,836	6	1	5	83.3%
$20,000	1 in 366,819	1 in 383,197	10	4	6	60.0%
$1,000	1 in 152,841	1 in 143,699	24	8	16	66.7%
$525	1 in 3,059	1 in 3,229	1,199	487	712	59.4%
$500	1 in 3,044	1 in 3,180	1,205	482	723	60.0%
$225	1 in 2,495	1 in 2,637	1,470	598	872	59.3%
$150	1 in 1,535	1 in 1,564	2,389	919	1,470	61.5%
$130	1 in 1,332	1 in 1,380	2,754	1,088	1,666	60.5%
$100	1 in 136.4	1 in 140.5	26,898	10,533	16,365	60.8%
$50	1 in 25.9	1 in 26.7	141,784	55,700	86,084	60.7%
$30	1 in 36.8	1 in 37.9	99,685	39,100	60,585	60.8%
$25	1 in 85.7	1 in 87.8	42,780	16,604	26,176	61.2%
$20	1 in 15.0	1 in 15.4	244,562	95,310	149,252	61.0%
FREE TICKETfree ticket	1 in 10.0	1 in 10.1	366,787	138,541	228,246	62.2%
All prizes	1 in 3.94	1 in 4.02	931,553	359,375	572,178	61.4%

How $250,000 Crossword has moved

Current payout (solid) and any-prize odds (dashed, inverted so up is better) since we began tracking $250,000 Crossword. 49 daily readings.

Recent claims of $1,000 and up

October 20, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 16 remain.
October 18, 2026: one $20,000 prize was claimed; 6 remain.
October 15, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 17 remain.
October 10, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 18 remain.
October 6, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 19 remain.
September 29, 2026: one $20,000 prize was claimed; 7 remain.
September 24, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 20 remain.
September 14, 2026: one $250,000 prize was claimed; 5 remain.
September 10, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 21 remain.
September 10, 2026: one $1,000 prize was claimed; 22 remain.

Derived from day-to-day changes in the official remaining-prize counts, so the date is when the lottery published the change.

$250,000 Crossword: common questions

How many $250,000 prizes are left in $250,000 Crossword?: 5 of 6 as of October 25, 2026. The chance that a ticket bought today is a top-prize winner is about 1 in 459,836.
What are the odds of winning anything on $250,000 Crossword?: 1 in 4.02 as of October 25, 2026, compared with 1 in 3.94 printed at launch. Cash-only odds are 1 in 6.69, and the odds of winning more than the $10 ticket price are 1 in 6.68.
Is $250,000 Crossword worth buying?: Its current payout is 71.5% ($7.15 back per $10 ticket), rank #17 of 57 in New Jersey. The best $10 alternative as of October 25, 2026 is Disco Dollarfest (#01951, $10) at 75.4%. No scratcher has a positive expected value; this is about losing less over time.
How many $250,000 Crossword tickets are left?: We estimate 2,299,182 of roughly 3,668,190 printed tickets are unsold (37.3% sold), derived from the prizes claimed at each tier and their published odds.
When did $250,000 Crossword launch and is it still on sale?: It launched on August 4, 2026. It is still on sale.

Other $10 New Jersey scratch-offs

Disco Dollarfest — 75.4% payout, 1 in 3.52 any prize
$250,000 Crossword — 73.8% payout, 1 in 3.60 any prize
$1,000,000 Spectacular — 73.2% payout, 1 in 3.79 any prize
50X Cash Blitz — 71.0% payout, 1 in 3.70 any prize
Cash Fever — 70.9% payout, 1 in 4.01 any prize

New Jersey hub All $10 games #8 on Current Top Prize Odds Odds by prize size Methodology