Information about North American Award Center puzzle contests
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NORTH AMERICAN
AWARD CENTER
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The Contest Center
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Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
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THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CONTEST CENTER
AND NORTH AMERICAN AWARD CENTER



       North American Award Center or NAAC is a subsidiary of Contest America Publishers, along with Opportunities Unlimited Publications. North American Awards Center specializes in word search puzzle contests, also called word find or word finder puzzles.

       Each contest starts with a very simple word search puzzle. They may use a grid as small as 4x4 (four rows by four columns). The player must find a single given word in the grid, reading in a straight line, as in any word find puzzle. For example, you might be asked to find the word CASH in the following grid. 
 
D G I L
P R W T
C A S H
O L K F
       The initial fee to enter these contests is usually very low. For example, there may be a single game with a $10,000 first prize, and an entry fee of $10, or there may be 3 games with $7,000 first prizes and an entry fee of $5 each. Each game will have a series of 4 or more puzzles.

       After the first puzzle, there will be a tiebreaker puzzle that is slightly harder than the initial puzzle. For example, it may have a 5x5 grid with two different hidden words, or it may have a 6x6 grid with one hidden word that appears 3 or 4 times in the grid. The player is asked to circle the hidden words.

       At this point, there will be an offer of bonus prizes. The bonus prize will increase the amount of the first prize, but not any of the other prizes, if any. Typically, the maximum bonus will be about $3,000 for an additional entry fee of $25. In contests with 3 separate games, this amounts to an additional $75 beyond the original $15.

       The second tiebreaker puzzle will be a little harder than the first tiebreaker. Now the grid may be as large as 8x8, and there will be one hidden word that might appear 6 to 10 times in the grid.

       This puzzle will have another offer of bonus prizes. The new bonus prize will be smaller than the first bonus prize, but will have a larger entry fee. For example, the maximum second bonus prize might be about $2,500 for an additional entry fee of $30. In contests with 3 separate games, this amounts to an additional $90 beyond the original $15.

       A three-game contest, that initially cost only $15 to enter, might end up costing $180 to play for all bonus prizes.

       Once all of the entry and bonus fees are collected, the main tiebreaker puzzle will be issued. This will typically be a 25x25 grid with 50 to 100 hidden words, each of which may occur several times. The player must find and all occurrences of the hidden words to win. Unlike the preliminary puzzles, the word list is not provided. Instead, the player is told to find words in a certain category, such as names of colors, animals, movies, race horses, inventors, book titles, dog breeds, or the like.

       It typically takes 2 years or longer from the first mailing of the initial puzzle until prizes are actually paid. Winners of any prize are required to submit notarized affidavits confirming their identities.



       A report about a consent decree against Contest America Publishers obtained by Christine Gregoire, then the Attorney General of Washington, can be found HERE.

       A report about Contest America Publishers and its subsidiaries, North American Award Center and Opportunities Unlimited Publications, can be found at the website of the Australian Department of Commerce.

       Another report about Contest America Publishers and similar contest companies can be found at the website of MDI Lists.

       A web search turned up 24 reports about Contest America Publishers and its subsidiaries, North American Award Center and Opportunities Unlimited Publications, posted at RipOffReport.com. Here are links to the reports that were found

RipOff Report 367020
RipOff Report 341328
RipOff Report 318513
RipOff Report 241116
RipOff Report 239577
RipOff Report 208131
RipOff Report 196297
RipOff Report 186906
RipOff Report 162590
RipOff Report 139494
RipOff Report 109680
RipOff Report 106812
RipOff Report 088621
RipOff Report 088622
RipOff Report 037358
RipOff Report 030426
RipOff Report 019152
RipOff Report 015786
RipOff Report 007300
RipOff Report 005947
RipOff Report 005887
RipOff Report 004114

The claims and opinions expressed in these reports are solely the opinions of their respective authors. The Contest Center does not vouch for the accuracy of any of these reports. The authors of these reports have no connection to the Contest Center. These links are provided so that readers can see a range of opinions concerning these companies.


       By contrast, in Contest Center puzzle contests the fee that you pay when you enter the contest is usually the only fee. We do not have bonus prizes that require much higher additional fees. We tell you all of the prizes and all of the fees right from the start.
       Most Contest Center puzzle contests do not have any tiebreaker puzzles. Most of our contests take less than 6 months from first mailing to prize payment.

       Below are some links you may use to reach the Contest Center's puzzle contests.

 
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