Comps come in all manner of varieties. And if you're the sort of person who likes putting your brain to use on puzzles, you'll find that your hobby and skills could come in handy in letting you enter a whole raft of them!
From crosswords to wordsearches, classic puzzles can be a great way to potentially win prizes. And one great source of puzzle comps is… Well, Compers News itself!
Each issue devotes space to some brain-teasing goodness, meaning puzzlers can try their luck.
March's edition, for example, features an anagram-tastic crossword puzzle which could win you a £25 book token, should you be able to complete it and solve one final puzzle. The prize could be great for anyone who loves their reading!
Then there's the chance to get your hands on a Marks & Spencer bouquet. This comp is extra special, as it's one of the puzzles that has been set by one of our brilliant readers!
Gwen Carter managed to grab herself a prize, not by solving a puzzle, but by setting one, getting herself a shopping voucher worth £20 in the process.
If you think you have what has it takes to create a puzzle worthy of our pages, why not follow in her footsteps and send one in?
You can get your work to us on the website, and should include all the instructions as well as the solution when you send it.
The puzzle will be fully designed later on, so presentation isn't too important at the submission stage. Find full details in compers News, page 39.
This month there are also £5 shopping vouchers to be won in another word-based puzzle, and a second reader-set brain-tester has a prize of 100 second class stamps - great for compers who like to enter by post!
Don't forget our back-page puzzle, with a great £50 cash prize for whoever is brainy enough to complete it, and lucky enough to be picked as the winner.
If you want to look at puzzles from past issues, why not check out the back issues section of our site, which gives members the chance to take a look at Compers News editions from months and years gone by?
Of course, other than for the March issue's puzzle comps (closing date March 31st), the time has past for you to try and win with these puzzlers - but they could still offer you a spot of fun!
And don't forget that puzzle comps are available all over the internet and in print, too.
One of the advantages of puzzle comps is that you may get an even greater sense of achievement from entering - because you have actually had to put extra effort in and show a skill.
They also help kill two birds with one stone, keeping you entertained at the same time as helping you get another comp entry in! Even a hardened comper would probably say that a crossword is more entertaining than filling in a postcard with your name and address.
On top of this, it can be the case that comps where you have to put in effort to enter, all other things being equal, attract fewer entries - so in some cases you might be boosting your chance of a win by entering a puzzle comp over an equivalent online entry form comp, for example.
On the other hand, you may be able to get entries in for more comps in a single time-frame, say an hour, if you go for those that are very quick to complete entries for - which in many cases may not mean puzzle comps.
At the end of the day the mix of comp types you favour is likely to come down to what you enjoy!
