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Poor valueActiveThe Return of the Pink Panther™ Crossword · $15 · New Mexico Lottery
The Return of the Pink Panther™ Crossword: Poor value. A $15 ticket pays back $3.80 on average.
▼ -28.5 pts vs launch#2 of 2 · $15 NM games
▼ -28.5 pts vs launch#2 of 2 · $15 NM games
The Return of the Pink Panther™ Crossword is a $15 scratch-off ticket from the New Mexico state lottery. Its current expected value is 25.3%, down 28.5 percentage points from the launch value of 53.9%. 1 of the original 4 $15000 top prizes are still unclaimed. Approximately 75% of the 0.3M printed tickets have been sold.
25.3%
expected return
1 in 2.97
odds of any win
1 of 4
$15K top prizes left
75%
claimed · 226k of 303k printed
Odds, in plain terms
If you bought 100 tickets today
Based on the 13,450 winning tickets still unclaimed.
10 win more than $15
$20 – $200, an actual profit
7 win their money back
a $15 prize, so you break even
83 win nothing
the house edge, made visible
Prizes of $500 or more hit about 1 in 25,540 tickets, so they won't show up in a batch of 100.
Value map
Where the $3.80 comes from
The average payback per ticket, split by prize size. Small wins do most of the work.
Small wins $15 – $500
$3.62 · 24.1% of price
Mid prizes $1K – $15K
$0.18 · 1.2% of price
Most of the value pays out as
$15 – $500 wins
13,448 winning tickets remain in this range: 95% of total value, and the wins you'll actually see.
Claim progress
75% of the print run claimed
Counting every ticket since launch, Aug 2025.
303k
tickets printed
226k
tickets claimed · 75%
77k
still out there
Prizes claimed over time
Claim chart needs more snapshot history
Sales are outpacing the jackpots: worse for buyers.
Jackpots left
25%
Tickets left
25%
25% of top prizes remain with 25% of tickets left to claim them.
Where to buy
New Mexico Lottery
At retailers statewide, or online through Jackpocket. Affiliate link: Scratchstats may earn a commission.
Rank vs $15 NM peers
#2 of 2
By expected return. Higher is better for the player.
1
Zoltar® Crossword
58.3%
2
The Return of the Pink Panther™ Crossword
25.3%
Figures from New Mexico Lottery published claim data.
S
Scratchstats