Christmas Conundrums 2004

Question of the Day : 5 January 2005

Over the twelve days of Christmas 2004, our guest-quiz questions have been set by John Annable from Melbourne

Today's clue : Cut not thy hair, if thou wantest to remain ...

Just make a note of the song and album that John's clue above relates to (complete list of Procol titles here), and then read the simple, extra instructions below, which will enable you to find the one-word answer to send to 'Beyond the Pale', and claim your choice of our fab prizes : good luck!

How to win: what you're looking for, in each song title, is the 'mystery letter'. Here's how to calculate it:

·        Work out which album the song in question originally came from (we're not counting live albums here)

·        Find out the track number  (if you are using vinyl, just keep counting; don't start again at 1 on the second side)

·        Use this track number to find the corresponding letter – your 'mystery letter' – in each title, like this: if your title is the fifth song on the album, for instance, the 'mystery letter' for that track will be the fifth letter of the album's name. [Example: if the song title is Fresh Fruit, check the album it appears on (Exotic Birds and Fruit) to see what track-number it is (Number seven). Count seven letters into that album title ... Exotic Birds and Fruit ... and lo!, your 'mystery letter' is B – the seventh letter in the title]. NB: if you're in any doubt as to the track-order on an album ... maybe you live in a territory where, you suspect, there might have been a variant issue ... just go by the order specified on BtP's album pages)

NB the clue for 30 December, we've just been informed, has a mistake in it, so we've quickly put in a different one and hope nobody will mind. Incidentally many right answers have come in despite the error; and all the wrong answers we've received nonetheless relate to the correct song ... they just come from people who haven't read the what-to-do instructions properly!

Now you've got your twelve 'mystery letters' ... just re-arrange them until they spell a Procol Harum song title ... and send us the first word of that song! Could scarcely be simpler, we hope you agree (Procol song-words are here in case you need to check).

Click here, when you're ready, to send us your answer

Remember: you merely need to mail a one-word answer to 'Beyond the Pale': the first three prizes will go to the senders of the first three correct answers we receive; the names of all subsequent correct answerers will go into the BtP Homburg, whence seven further winners will be plucked by a suitably Glamorous Assistant after 24 hours have passed. In the unlikely event of there being fewer winners than prizes this year, early claimants will get more than their fair share!

Prizes will of course be awarded at the absolute discretion of Roland and Jens, who run 'Beyond the Pale', and whose decision will be final; their families are not eligible to enter – nor is John Annable's! Thanks once more to Jane for verifying the puzzle in advance.

Over the past years we've had one or two non-winners who claimed, 'You guys tricked me ...' so here's fair warning ... just read the above instruction carefully!

The solution is here; winners are here: see also conundrums from 1997 and 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003

Back to the main page about the 2004 'Beyond the Pale' Christmas puzzles

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