Christmas Conundrums 2014 : triumphant victors

Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Schedule of Triumphant Victors

The correct answer this year was 'Q' (explanation here)

Pat Keating (USA) was first in with the correct answer, just nine minutes after midnight. He wins his first-choice prize, and his order of preference was

h i f e c j a d b g

A classic Salty Dog tee-shirt, exactly as shown here, size XL: formerly owned and worn by Gary Brooker, and supplied with a signed photo by way of authentication (thanks, Gary)

Charlie Allison (Scotland) was second in with the correct answer, just seconds after Pat Keating. He also wins his first-choice prize, and his order of preference was

i f h b c e d a j g

Procol Harum tee-shirt [large] signed by all five members of the band (multicoloured 'wood-block' design backed with European tour dates) (thanks, Gary, Geoff, Matt, Josh, Geoff)

Marvin Chassman (USA) was third in with the correct answer, ten minutes after midnight. He also wins his first-choice prize, and his order of preference was

c f i e d h g a j b

Procol Harum at The Dominion Theatre tee-shirt: picture here – printed both sides on black cotton, limited edition, commemorating Procol Harum's triumphant concert on 24 November 2014 (thanks, John Weir and Gordon Chalmers, from the Isle of Mull)

Ian Elby (Wales) was first out of the BtP Homburg, and wins his first-choice prize; his order of preference was

d h i f c e g b j a

Southend R'n'B on CD: a signed and dedicated promo copy of the album Stonechucker by Gary Porter (general release late February 2015) recorded, mixed and mastered at Southend's Big Noise Studios and featuring guitar, bass, drums, piano and organ as well as some brass and reeds (thanks, Gary)

John Weir (Isle of Mull) was second out of the BtP Homburg, and wins his first-choice prize; his order of preference was

b a d e f j i h g c

Procol Harum 45 rpm promo single: an A&M 7-inch vinyl rpm (40+ years old, unplayed) promotional copy ('not for sale') of Simple Sister (1287 /1287-S); Mono one side, stereo the other side (thanks, Gary)

Graham Wallis (New Zealand) was third out of the BtP Homburg, and wins his third choice prize; his order of preference was

h i f e b a j d g c

Procol Harum tee-shirt [large] signed by all five members of the band (yellow-and white-on-black 'Secrets of the Hive' design backed with European tour dates) (thanks, Gary, Geoff, Matt, Josh, Geoff)

Basil Steven-Fountain (Surrey) was fourth out of the BtP Homburg, and wins his first-choice prize; his order of preference was

a j c i h b f d g e

Procol Harum LP on brand-new de luxe 140 gramme vinyl: choose one of Broken Barricades, Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Grand Hotel, Exotic Birds and Fruit, Procol's Ninth, Something Magic, The Well's on Fire, or Live at the Union Chapel (thanks, Andy). This will be released early in 2015, we understand

Gabriella Vinci (Italy) was fifth out of the BtP Homburg, and wins her second choice prize; her order of preference was

h e j i f c b a g d

A signed poster from last year's Gary Brooker and Friends' gig at Le Vigan in France (thanks, Mick, Zara, Mick and Rose)

Bernard O Connor (Lancashire) was sixth out of the BtP Homburg, and wins his seventh choice prize; his order of preference was

d c h f i e g b a j

A ladies'-style 'Sixteen Vestal Virgins' tee-shirt (full colour printing, one side, on black cotton) designed by Wuppertal artist Holger Weber, size large (details here)

Jim Stratico (USA) was last out of the BtP Homburg, and wins his fifth choice prize; his order of preference was

h f i a j e b g c d

Procol Harum LP on brand-new de luxe 140 gramme vinyl again: choose one of Broken Barricades, Live in Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Grand Hotel, Exotic Birds and Fruit, Procol's Ninth, Something Magic, The Well's on Fire, or Live at the Union Chapel (thanks, Andy) This will be released early in 2015, we understand

A few selected comments from competitors: 'mental stretching exercises ... I can almost smell their perfume'
Thanks for putting together a progressive Xmas quiz – I had lots of fun doing it! | Congratulations and sympathies to the tortured mind that created some of those questions! | I really have enjoyed solving them | Quite a task to make up (no doubt) and quite a task to solve | Thank you for a lot of fun. | Thanks for the puzzle: it is always fun! | Thanks for a very challenging contest: you must have spent many hours devising the clues! | Thanks again for such a lot of fun, some of which seemed overly complicated but that made it even more enjoyable in the end. | I just marvel at your ideas for the puzzles; as always, it was great fun to solve them! | Thanks for all your efforts compiling the competition | I’ve enjoyed the challenge of the daily questions, mischievous though they were at times. | We were visiting with relatives and we talked about this with more and more excitement until we just had to leave to get home and hit the computer | Surely, once more your ... our … Christmas Conundrums helped me to have an happier Christmas time. I can almost smell their perfume ... it's like a good hot Xmas scented tea ... orange ... mandarin ... cinnamon ... ginger ... cloves ... cardamom ...| Now, with my brain sufficiently oxygenated, through the mental stretching exercises required to solve this year's puzzles, I am ready to take on the New Year.

Congratulations once again to Marvin, who lives close by the Falls at Wappinger, whose deeply improbable run of skill and luck continues ... he's been a winner every year since we started running Yuletide puzzles in 1997 ... and here he again gets his first choice of prize ...

This is how individuals have fared since this puzzlefest started: One prize Alan Semok, Alick Leslie, Aongus Collins, Arne Grue Jensen, Avihay Abudy, Barrie Deatcher, Basil Steven-Fountain, Bent Aronsen, Bernard O Connor, Bruce Donley, Christina Hermansson, Claes-Peter Haväng, Claire Margerison, Dietmar Schloetel, Dominik Halas, Erik Mouridsen, Ernst Schuiki, Gabriella Vinci, Giancarlo Buletti, Giorgio Marcanato, Graham Wallis, Heidi Moen, Ian Berry, Ian Elby, James Kline, James Waters, Jan Pederson, Jim Krapf, Jim Stratico, John Weir, Kurt Harding, Lourens Visser, Mark Mott, Michael Haag, Mike McGill, Nancy Zohner, Peter Christian, Pierre Godbout, Richard Mosely, Russell Maddox, Stefano Ciccioriccio, Toshiya Hyakuma. Two prizes Carlo 'Jack' Ponissi, Dave Knight, Evan Wagshul, Greg Panfile, Ian Hockley, Kerry Canfield, Maurice Atkinson, Mick Norman, Mogens Vinther, Pamela Miller Chwedyk, Peter Cohen, Phil George, Sam Behrend. Three prizes Beverly Peyton, Bob Young, Charlie Allison, Gordon Chalmers, Heidi Widmer, John Cammalleri, John Commons, Jonas Söderström, Marcelo Pereira, Mark Allister, Tarvo Niine. Four prizes Axel Leonhardt, Barbara Black, Dave Pettit, Richard Beck, Stefano Carbone. Six prizes Bert (and Carina sometimes) Saraco, Bob Jaccino. Seven prizes Jeremy Gilien, Kerry Holloway, Pat Keating, Piotr Wlaz. Eight prizes Tormod Ringvold. A mere eighteen prizes Marvin Chassman.

This was the rank order of popularity of the prizes, incidentally: the Brooker Salty Dog tee-shirt was far and away the most coveted item, followed by the two signed band tee-shirts; then came the three vinyl items; then the poster, the Dominion tee-shirt, the Gary Porter album and the ladies' tee-shirt.

Thanks to this year's winning contestants, who have already sent us their 'real world' addresses: the prizes are on their way to everyone except Basil and Jim, whose Procol vinyl LPs won't be released for a few months yet.

Thanks to everybody who took part, and commiserations to the many whose correct answers did not earn them a prize on this occasion, because of the vagaries of the BtP Homburg. Thanks also, of course, to the donors whose generosity allows us to present such delectable prizes.

And finally, many thanks to this year's Glamorous Assistant, shown (above) on the job. You'll recognise him from the Palers' Band 2001

Procol Harum

Beyond the Pale

Christmas Conundrums 2014–15

Schedule of Triumphant Victors

Beyond
the Pale