Each year since 2006 I’ve sent out a Christmas Quiz in my Christmas cards. Each year’s quiz has a theme and the style typically alternates between cryptic clues and more number based clues. Each year sees a fierce contest for the honour and glory that goes to the winning team.
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Christmas Quiz XVIII is now available!
This year it is a ‘letters and numbers’ quiz. Clues take the form of the first letter and number of letters in each word in the answer; Three Blind Mice would be T5 B5 M4. Spaces may indicate commas, clauses or other break points.
Download the quiz here. Rounds include Christmas Carols and Songs, Quotations from Films, Chess Openings, Think tanks, Poems (First Lines), Quotations from Monty Python, Books (Last Lines), Scientific and other laws, Slogans and Quotations from people of renown.
More quizzing
A friend, Chris Bush, has made an App with a number of the quizzes in – complete with hints and achievements.
Download the QuizTime! Cryptic Challenge App free.
I’ve also published the first twelve quizzes in a book, The Twelve Quizzes of Christmas. Buy the book here.
Quiz Archive
| Year | Topic | Winner |
| 2023 | Letters and Numbers | |
| 2022 | Science (Cryptic) | Alex Morris, Alex Craven and Friends |
| 2021 | History | Friends of Julia; (seperately) Tom Booth and Friends |
| 2020 | People (Cryptic) | Alex Morris, Alex Craven and Friends |
| 2019 | Sequences | Alex Morris, Alex Craven and Friends |
| 2018 | Countries and Regions (cryptic) | Julia and Friends; (separately) Alex Morris, Alex Craven and Friends |
| 2017 | Letters and numbers | Julia, Iain G and Gareth |
| 2016 | Animals (cryptic) | Alex Morris, Alex Craven and Friends |
| 2015 | Dates | Martin and Ruth |
| 2014 | Geographical Features (cryptic) | Julia and her 6 more geographical friends Owen, Nick, Blaise, Rosie, Graham and Janet |
| 2013 | Pairs | O4 & J6 |
| 2012 | Surnames of MPs (cryptic) | Owen Jones and Janice Chan |
| 2011 | Sequences | Ben and Jo Pellereau |
| 2010 | Book Titles (cryptic) | Graham Stratton and Laura Hill |
| 2009 | First letters and numbers | Steve Burgess and Poppy Stagg |
| 2008 | Cities (cryptic) | Owen Jones and (separately) Julia Goedecke and the Emmanuelite Mathematicians |
| 2007 | 7 (D in a W) | Ed Hutchinson |
| 2006 | Tube Stations (cryptic) | Owen Jones |