Reindeer Races Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Fastest Deer: "The final letter of my name is the same as another reindeer's"

Answer: Vixen

First of all, an explanation of the solution:

Fourth Deer has to have a six-letter name as the only names available are either five, six or seven letters in length. It then follows that Fastest Deer has a five-letter name and Second Deer and Third Deer both have seven-letter names.

Since the final letter of Fastest Deer's name has to be the same as one of the other deer, Fastest Deer can't be Comet or Cupid and as a result must be Vixen. Of the four seven-letter names (Blitzen, Prancer, Quizzer and Rudolph) only Rudolph has a final letter in the first half of the alphabet and therefore it has to be Second Deer's name.

The next step is to work out which deer the names Dancer, Dasher and Donner belong to. They can't be Third Deer (a seven-letter name), Sixth Deer (which has to include an 'i' and a 'u'), Seventh Deer (which can't start with a 'D'), Ninth Deer (which can't end in an 'r') or Eighth Deer (because that has the same number of letters as Ninth Deer). So they have to be Fourth Deer (because it has a six-letter name), Fifth Deer and "Oh Dear".

Fifth Deer's name comes directly before Seventh Deer's alphabetically, so Fifth Deer has to be Donner and Seventh Deer has to be Prancer. "Oh Dear" has a unique letter that isn't in any other reindeer's name; as all the letters of 'Dancer' appear somewhere else in the list, "Oh Dear" has to be Dasher (whose 's' is unique) and by elimination Fourth Deer has to be Dancer.

Third Deer can now only be Blitzen or Quizzer. However, Eighth Deer's name comes directly after Third Deer's alphabetically, which means that Third Deer can't be Quizzer because Eighth Deer isn't Rudolph. Therefore Third Deer is Blitzen and Eighth Deer is Comet. Ninth Deer has the same number of letters as Eighth Deer, so must be Cupid. This just leaves Sixth Deer to be Quizzer - the prospective new member of Santa's herd.

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There are two main definitions of the word 'vixen' - a female fox or a vivacious but bad-tempered woman. Let's hope for the sake of Santa and the rest of the reindeer herd that Vixen the reindeer is named after the former option!

2. Second Deer: "My name ends in a letter from the first half of the alphabet"

Answer: Rudolph

Rudolph might be famed for his inflamed snout but he wasn't included in the original poem that introduced the world to the other eight reindeer owned by Santa. He first appeared in 1939 in a story book written for the former Chicago department store Montgomery Ward, but came to prominence in 1949 when the song 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer', sung by Gene Autry, went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 over the Christmas period.

3. Third Deer: "Alphabetically, my name isn't at the bottom of the list"

Answer: Blitzen

Santa's herd of eight reindeer date back to an early 19th century poem called 'Twas The Night Before Christmas', although it is sometimes known simply as 'The Night Before Christmas' or 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'. In the original text, the reindeer commonly known as Blitzen (and sometimes spelled Blixen) was actually referred to as "Blixem". The name (in any of its forms) is said to derive from the Dutch term for lightning - so it makes some sense that Blitzen would be a particularly speedy reindeer.

Blitzen wasn't the only reindeer to have his name changed - Donner was also originally known as "Donder" (the Dutch word for thunder).

4. Fourth Deer: "I have more letters in my name than Fastest Deer, but less than both Second and Third Deer"

Answer: Dancer

Dancer is the second reindeer mentioned in 'Twas The Night Before Christmas'. The identity of his or her creator is the subject of a literary dispute since the original version was published anonymously. The poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (who also claimed authorship of it) but modern academics have also suggested that the real author could have be a man named Henry Livingston Jr.

5. Fifth Deer: "Alphabetically, my name comes directly before Seventh Deer's"

Answer: Donner

In the 1964 animated TV programme 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer', Donner is identified as both Santa's chief reindeer and as the father of the famed Rudolph. During the story, Donner took the step of smearing Rudolph's red nose with mud in an effort to help his son fit in with the herd and avoid the (frankly unacceptable) bullying mentioned in the original song:

"All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games"

"Poor Rudolph" is a particularly apt description...

6. Sixth Deer: "I'd be a real team reindeer - there's an 'i' and a 'u' in my name!"

Answer: Quizzer

From "Twas The Night Before Christmas":

"Now Dasher!, now Dancer!, now Prancer and Vixen!
On Comet!, on Cupid!, on Donner and Blitzen!"

There are no prizes here for noticing that the poem makes no mention of a reindeer named Quizzer - he is the potential recruit that was tested against the current reindeer and came out somewhere in the mid-herd. It shouldn't be surprising that Santa is testing out new reindeer - after all, Dasher and Dancer et al. are apparently somewhere around 200 years old!

7. Seventh Deer: "I don't have a 'RED' nose - my name doesn't start with a 'R', 'E' or 'D'.

Answer: Prancer

Presumably Prancer the reindeer is particularly light on his feet. The poem 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' specifically references the characteristics of Santa's reindeer and their suitability for landing on rooftops as:

"And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof"

The reason the poem mentions Prancer and his friends as having small hooves is that it also describes them as "tiny reindeer". Presumably, their diminutive stature in relation to normal members of the Rangifer tarandus species has some bearing on their mysterious ability to fly.

8. Eighth Deer: "My name comes directly after Third Deer's alphabetically"

Answer: Comet

In both the 1964 animated series 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' and the 2001 musical film 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfits', Comet makes an appearance as the coach of the reindeer taking part in the "Reindeer Games". Comet was responsible for disqualifying Rudolph from the competition on the basis that his red nose gave him an unfair advantage. Perhaps being the coach suggests that Comet is a bit older than the other reindeer and therefore not the fastest reindeer in the herd anymore?

9. Ninth Deer: "My name doesn't end in an 'r' and has the same number of letters as Eighth Deer's"

Answer: Cupid

In the 1998 film 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie', Rudolph's parentage is altered from the 1964 TV animation and he is instead said to be the son of Blitzen rather than Donner. The film follows Rudolph's struggles growing up and increasing rivalry with his mean cousin Arrow - the son of Cupid. Cupid's Arrow was not just his rival in the "Reindeer Games" but also for the heart of a beautiful reindeer named Zoey.

10. "Oh Dear": "I have a letter in my name that doesn't appear in any other reindeer's"

Answer: Dasher

To 'dash' means to run or move in a sudden or hasty manner. With a name derived from such a speedy sounding word, you'd have expected Dasher to have performed somewhat better in Santa's reindeer speed test. I can only imagine that Santa must have uttered the words "Oh dear" in a particularly disappointed tone when Dasher (the first reindeer to be mentioned in the famous poem) came in last out of the entire herd...

Source: Author Fifiona81

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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Questions		Choices
1. Fastest Deer: "The final letter of my name is the same as another reindeer's"		Quizzer
2. Second Deer: "My name ends in a letter from the first half of the alphabet"		Cupid
3. Third Deer: "Alphabetically, my name isn't at the bottom of the list"		Vixen
4. Fourth Deer: "I have more letters in my name than Fastest Deer, but less than both Second and Third Deer"		Donner
5. Fifth Deer: "Alphabetically, my name comes directly before Seventh Deer's"		Rudolph
6. Sixth Deer: "I'd be a real team reindeer - there's an 'i' and a 'u' in my name!"		Prancer
7. Seventh Deer: "I don't have a 'RED' nose - my name doesn't start with a 'R', 'E' or 'D'.		Dancer
8. Eighth Deer: "My name comes directly after Third Deer's alphabetically"		Comet
9. Ninth Deer: "My name doesn't end in an 'r' and has the same number of letters as Eighth Deer's"		Blitzen
10. "Oh Dear": "I have a letter in my name that doesn't appear in any other reindeer's"		Dasher

Opening your Christmas stocking, you find a book of Christmas puzzles, turn to the first page and immerse yourself in a logic problem. It's about the results of Santa's reindeers' latest speed test, which included a potential new recruit to the herd...