Producing and sponsoring challenging games of skill, Contest America Publishers, Inc., pays out nearly two hundred thousand dollars in prize money to excited winners every year. The contests, which carry a small entry fee, consist of three rounds of three number puzzles, each puzzle belonging to a separate game. Entrants complete up to three puzzles and mail their entry to Contest America Publishers’ headquarters in Missouri. For each correct solution they submit, contestants automatically gain a single entry to the next round, which is more challenging. Those who return an incorrect answer are eliminated from that particular game.

Established in 1987 as part of a family of companies that sponsor a variety of different puzzle contests, Contest America Publishers sponsors only number puzzle contests. The first round typically consists of three small grids of numbers, and the challenge is to identify the row or column whose contents add up to the highest number. Rounds two and three generally include larger grids, larger numbers, and different mathematical functions, such as multiplication, subtraction, or division. The company clearly sets forth each game’s requirements and objectives, and contestants are given sufficient time to solve the puzzles.

Contest America Publishers is committed to its contests being leisure time entertainment. It takes proactive steps to ensure that contestants understand the game, that they are pitting their skills against thousands of other contestants, and that it is a game of skill. The company monitors all the submissions it receives, and when it determines that a contestant does not understand, or is incapable of playing for any reason, it refunds all fees paid and blocks the contestant from entering any more games; likewise, there are annual and lifetime caps on the fees that contestants may pay. Finally, to forestall the possibility that some players may come to dominate the games, Contest America Publishers imposes a lifetime cap of $20,000 on the amount that a contestant may win.