THE winner of The Northern Echo’s Giant Christmas Champagne Crossword has been revealed.

Lyn Walton, from Westgate, County Durham, said: “I can’t get over it. It is the best news I have had all year.”

Mrs Walton, 63, was a district nursing sister in the dale for more than 20 years.

She has lived in Westgate for 42 years with her husband, Frank.

She said: “The clue that caused the most problems was 248 across – US military vehicle.

“I don’t have a computer, and couldn’t find it in my dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

“Frank said humbee, but I got my daughter to look it up on her computer and she came up with Humvee.”

Mrs Walton does the Echo and Daily Telegraph crosswords every day, and enters the giant competition “because it is such a big challenge”.

Her crossword was the first to be drawn out of a huge entry and judged to have all 404 answers correct. She won a magnum of champagne.

She said: “It was worth staying up all night.”

■ The solution is at northernecho.co.uk/giant crossword. Alternatively, send an SAE to Champagne Crossword Solution, Editorial, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF.