The Royal Statistical Society has published a wickedly difficult Christmas quiz to entertain puzzle fans over the festive break for the past 24 years, and this year’s challenge, set by Dr Tim Paulden, may well be one of the toughest yet. Cracking the 13 problems below will require a blend of general knowledge, logic, and lateral thinking, but as usual no specialist mathematical knowledge is needed.
Two helpful tips for budding solvers:
· You may make use of any tools or resources you wish to help solve the problems, including books, internet search engines, computer programs and so on.
· You may find some of the question titles helpful. For full credit, these titles should be briefly explained within your answers.
The entrant, or team of entrants, with the most marks wins a one-year subscription to the society’s magazine, Significance. Explanations of answers are required for full marks.
Answers should be sent by email with Christmas Quiz 2017 in the subject line to RSSQuiz@rss.org.uk by 1800 GMT on 7 January 2018.