The Indisputable Santa Mathematical Advent Calendar
Day 16

Happy 16th of December!

Throughout the month, to accompany the release of our book on the Mathematics of ChristmasHannah Fry & I are tweeting out Christmathsy bits and pieces, one a day, advent calendar style. Assuming we don’t run out of ideas, that is…

Today, we’re drawing inspiration from the great Only Connect (sort of…):

day_5

To interpret the pictures, remember it’s a Christmas quiz…

Answers via the comments or on Twitter. All correct answers will be rewarded with deep respect and warm Christmas wishes. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE CALENDAR SO FAR


SOLUTION TO YESTERDAY’S PUZZLE

Click here for the puzzle.

Scroll down for the solution…

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Solution:

Your reindeer service runs every hour, on the hour, but your competitor has started a service that runs every hour, at ten minutes to the hour. So, for all the passengers who arrive between 12:00 and 12:50 (for example), the first reindeer to leave will be those of your competitor. Your reindeer will only serve passengers who arrive between 12:50 and 13:00. Hence, your competitor has five times as many passengers as you.

Congratulations to MikeJEvans, Lon Koenig, Tom W, Olaf Doschke, Decision Technology, James Broady, tsr3060, Federico, Nigel Sharp, Kristofer Karlsson, Alex Satrapa and Peter Owen (via the comments). Mulled wine all round!*


* Not on us, though. You’ll have to get your own.

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