Our traditional Christmas Quiz for 2024 was a smash hit, with more entrants than ever into the RSS Quizmasters’ puzzle competition.
Last year’s edition of the
RSS Christmas Quiz, published with Significance, featured a warm up round alongside the fiendish puzzles of years gone by. We’re now very pleased to share the answers and solutions to both with you.
How closely were you paying attention to the biggest statistics of 2024?
Section A: 1) c) 27. 2) c) Vinyl records. 3) a) Latvia. 4) b) Madonna. 5) a) 122.8 kilometres. 6) a) 38.8%. 7) b) 50%. 8) d) 37%. 9) a) Niger. 10) a) The total distance travelled is two kilometres. The total time taken is 3 minutes + 2 minutes = 5 minutes. Average speed is 24 km/hr. 24 is the harmonic mean of 20 and 30. b) The geometric mean of 9 and 16 is the square root of 9x16. c) The most common shoe size is 8½. The average being used is the mode. d) 50% of the population receive at least £24500. The average being used is the median. e) It is the total weight in the lift that is important. The average being used is the arithmetic mean. 11) The numbers on the dice are 1335 and 1223. 12) Probability not born under the same star sign = 11/12 x 10/12 x 9/12 x 8/12 x 7/12 = 0.223. Hence, probability at least two are born under the same star sign = 0.777.
For those of you who got through those head scratchers and took on Tim’s 12 tricky teasers, we’ve released
the answers in PDF. Congratulations to all 44 competition entrants and teams, who did amazingly well.
The winners’ chosen charities have all been sent their prize donations, as well as smaller donations for runners up.
But who managed to answer the most puzzles correctly?
Find out from the Quizmaster himself.