Christmas quizzes 2002: how to play

It's all so easy if you just look ... [Rich: that is not a clue!]

In true Scandinavian fashion 'Beyond the Pale' will mark Christmas by running yet another twelve days'-worth of little Procol Harum quizzes. In 1997 it was anagrams, in 1998 it was cryptic clues about the songs, in 1999 the questions were based on the Procolesque obsession with The Truth; in 2000 it was a treasure-hunt in the pages of BtP; and in 2001 the emphasis was on 'lucky thirteen'.

But this year we've made it even simpler … with the new release imminent, we're focussing on the following Procolesque albums (only): Procol Harum 1967, Shine on Brightly, A Salty Dog, Home, Broken Barricades, Live at Edmonton, Grand Hotel, Exotic Birds and Fruit, Procol's Ninth, Something Magic, The Prodigal Stranger, The Long Goodbye (The Symphonic Music), and The Well's on Fire.

The questions will be particularly easy (we want people to win these 13 prizes, including the utterly rare promo disc of the new album) and all you'll need will be a pencil and an internet connection (and your common-sense knowledge of the Procol albums!). Several questions will have hot-linked clues to help you, so everyone can feel confident of success.

As the days of Christmas unfold, keep a note of each daily answer, and in the last dose there will be a simple, thirteenth instruction, to tell you what to do to win – then you send your entry by e-mail to BtP as fast as possible in order to be in the top three. If you're in the quickest three correct entrants (on a beat-the-clock basis) you get your own choice of the prizes. After that, all correct entries received in the next 24 hours will be placed in a hat, and the remaining 10 winners will be drawn from that.

Enjoy the quizzes daily, starting on Christmas Day – you'll find each day's puzzle-clue at our What's New page – and you could end up owning one or more of our fab Procol Harum prizes.

How to win: the last instalment, on Twelfth Night (5 January), will be accompanied by a simple instruction telling you what to do with the answers you have accumulated during the twelve days of Christmas. Follow this instruction, and you will merely need to mail a one-word answer to 'Beyond the Pale': the prizes will go to the senders on the basis outlined above.

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 instruction carefully on the final day!

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. Thanks as always to Jane for checking the puzzles in advance.

The solution will be here; winners here: see also conundrums from 1997 and 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001