Standard flooded with contestants, but no one captures $25,000 prize

The chance at $25,000 has come and gone. The Standard is unhappy to report no one was able to crack our prize vault after exactly 1,000 attempts.

But there sure was some trying.

The Standard had announced any remaining prize vault tries – all the way up to 1,000 attempts – would be given away beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. The extra tries came from people who did not bother to claim their attempts during the week. By 2:25 p.m., a line was already forming in the newspaper lobby.

By 2:45 p.m., the Standard was forced to start giving away free picks early because our lobby was so full people were spilling into the parking lot.

Just over 200 picks were awarded in about an hour and a half. The crowd got so thick, the Standard had to move the original prize vault location further back in the lobby so everyone could squeeze in.

“We thought there would be a few people here, but I don’t think any of us believed it would be like this,” said Standard circulation director and contest promoter Steve Warner. “The only way it could have been better is if someone left with $25,000.”

The winning six-digit code turned out to be 143269. Local guessers were on the right track because a majority of contestants had the No. 1 as their first pick.