NO Christmas dinner is complete without a naff joke from a Christmas cracker, but which ones give you the best bang for your buck?
In a bid to be more sustainable this year, most shops are offering a cheaper, environmentally-friendly option that contain games such as charades on paper instead of plastic surprises.
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But if you like winning a trinket instead, they still don’t have to cost a packet.
Julia Etherington tested some of this year’s offerings from supermarkets and budget shops to find out which has the most pulling power.
She marks them out of five.
Tesco luxury 6 crackers
£10 (£1.66 each)
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TOTALLY recyclable and they look the part on the dinner table with golden writing and they all have a golden crown.
Prizes include a paper tape measure, bottle opener, mini magic playing cards, tweezers and a metal clip book marker.
As a bonus the joke also includes a riddle, charades suggestion and a word riddle.
Score: 4/5
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Marks & Spencer 8 luxury crackers
£20 (£2.50 each)
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THE most expensive tested, so I was pleased to find better quality goods inside these pretty silver crackers, as well as a cardboard crown.
There is a full pack of cards, a karabiner (not sure I’d trust it for rock climbing) and the hugely useful mini grater and shopping trolley token.
If you wanted to splash out these are a good option for special guests.
Score: 4/5
Morrisons 8 crackers
£6 (75p each)
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CHEAP, but not so cheerful.
Some of the trinkets are on disappointing, especially the bookmark which looked made from a piece of a cut-up cereal packet.
One of the cracker prizes is just two charade suggestions – not a patch on some other brands.
More of a whimper than a bang.
Score: 2/5
Asda George 8 premium crackers
£5 (63p each)
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GOOD budget option with an impressive bang and look.
The crown is a bit rubbish but the prizes make up for it, giving the posher crackers a run for their money.
They included a tape measure, cookie cutter, pencils, marbles, nail clippers and the obligatory metal puzzle, (which I’m not sure anybody actually does).
Score: 4/5
Sainsbury’s ‘Home’ 6 crackers
£8 (£1.33 each)
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THE bang sounds like brittle plastic snapping, but it contains colourful paper crowns and trinkets include a mini-notebook, three magic playing cards, a bottle opener, a yo-yo and two metal riddle games.
Joke and a charades suggestion are also included, but cracker is on the small side.
Score: 2/5
Iceland 10 crackers
£5 (50p each)
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THE cheapest we tested, which is reflected in the prizes – all of which are paper and cardboard but still a little more imaginative than most.
A Sudoku book, wordsearch, bookmark and paper snowman and Father Christmas to stick your fingers through as their legs are among the gifts.
Jokes were decent too.
Score: 3/5
Waitrose 12 crackers
£16 (£1.33 each)
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PULLING this cracker was a real tug-of-war but gave a really good bang.
But the gifts inside were disappointing.
A 45mm tiny sticky notebook, paper tape-measure, three ‘magic cards’, a springy key-ring thingy and golden crown with a joke and a charade suggestion left me feeling a little let down.
Score: 4/5
B&M Bargains 6 Scandi Snow crackers
£8 (£1.33 each)
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HIGH-END in appearance with pretty designs and fabric bows, but a budget price.
The game-changer is the prizes inside are really nice.
They include a wooden tree decoration, a full pack of cards and a decent bottle opener.
The jokes are laugh-out-loud funny and include a ‘did you know?’ fact.
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These are cracking for Christmas dinner and the best of the bunch.
Score: 5/5
