The Twelve Days of Christmas Trivia Quiz

Answer: Noel

Clue 2 tells us that one of the men has picked out the gold rings (ruling out Carol and Holly) and that the gold rings are part of the same present as the eleven pipers piping. From clue 3 we know that Rudolph has not chosen the pipers, which means Noel must be the new owner of the five gold rings.

Each year an American bank, PNC Financial Services, produces a price index detailing the costs of the gifts sung about in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' and how these have changed since the index began in 1984. According to the 2014 index, Noel would have had to shell out $750 for the five gold rings - and that's assuming they were only 14 carat!

Answer: Three French hens

From clue 2 and question 1 we know that the eleven pipers piping were chosen by Noel. Clue 1 tells us that Holly chose the four calling birds, so these can be ruled out. Clue 4 implies that the partridge must have been paired with either the geese or swans from group 2 (to avoid having less than two birds in the overall present); as we already know from clue 2 that the pipers are matched with the gold rings from group 2, we can rule out the partridge being the third gift. Clue 5 explicitly rules out the turtle doves, so the eleven pipers piping must have been matched with the three French hens.

The PNC price index indicates that a set of three French hens would have cost $181.50 in 2014 - whether French hens such as Faverolles or Marans are more expensive than, for example, a Rhode Island Red appears to be irrelevant. However, the hens were a relative bargain compared to the $2,635.20 price tag attached to the services of eleven pipers piping (for an indeterminate but hopefully short period of time).

Answer: Eight maids-a-milking

From question 1 we know that Noel picked the five gold rings, and from clue 6 we know that Carol couldn't have taken either the six geese-a-laying or the seven swans-a-swimming (as the single species of bird in her present must be the gift from group one), so she must have got the maids-a-milking.

The eight maids-a-milking are only paid the US federal minimum wage, so are a relatively cheap gift ($58). However, PNC's index doesn't include the cost of the cow (and I'm presuming you would really need eight of them) or the milking equipment. We'll have to presume that the recipient of Carol's gift lives on a dairy farm and simply needs some extra help around the place.

Answer: False

Carol took the eight maids-a-milking (question 3) and Noel took the five gold rings (question 1), leaving either the geese-a-laying or swans-a-swimming from the second group of gifts for Holly. Therefore the statement is false as we know that Holly also chose the four calling birds from group one (clue 1).

What exactly is a calling bird? PNC have decided that it is a canary and obtained a quotation of $599.96 for four of them! Back in 1984, four canaries were priced at just $280 and they remained at that level for the next 16 years - perhaps canaries have suddenly become an endangered (and therefore expensive) species in the new millennium?

Answer: Carol

We know that the turtle doves must have been picked by either Carol or Rudolph as Noel has the three French hens (question 1, clue 2 and question 2) and Holly has the four calling birds (clue 1). From clue 6 we know that Carol's only birds must come from group one - they must be the two turtle doves otherwise clue 4 would not hold.

The price of two turtle doves in PNC's index was set at $125 in 2014 by the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. The National Aviary is a non-profit making zoo with a collection of over 100 species of bird, many of which are endangered in the wild. Oddly enough, turtle doves are native to Africa, Asia and Europe and are therefore pretty unlikely to turn up anywhere near Pittsburgh.

Answer: Ten lords-a-leaping

From the answer to question 3 we know that the eight maids-a-milking were selected by Carol and from the answer to question 5 we know that Carol's selection also included the two turtle doves. From clue 3 we know that the nine ladies dancing were selected by Rudolph and from clue 5 that Carol's selection cannot have included the pipers or the drummers alongside the turtle doves. That just leaves the ten lords-a-leaping.

PNC estimated the cost of hiring ten lords to leap in 2014 at $5,348.24, or $13,373.35 if ordered over the internet! Clearly, in this case shopping online would have been a distinctly bad idea. In general, most of the twelve gifts cost more on the internet - a fact put down to high shipping and packaging charges. (Judging by the extra costs, the lords presumably got first class travel thrown in.)

Answer: Holly

Rudolph selected the nine ladies dancing (clue 3); Noel chose the eleven pipers piping (question 1 and clue 2); and Carol had the ten lords-a-leaping (questions 3 and 6). Therefore the twelve drummers drumming headed off to Holly's house to make a racket.

Although the twelve drummers drumming were the largest and noisiest of the gifts, they weren't the most expensive - in fact they came in at just over a third of the cost of the nine ladies dancing. It is assumed that the drummers supplied their own drums.

Answer: Nine ladies dancing

The ten lords-a-leaping go with the eight maids-a-milking and two turtle doves (questions 6, 3 and 5). The eleven pipers piping were matched with three French hens and five gold rings (clue 2 and question 2). The twelve drummers drumming were chosen by Holly (question 7) who also picked the four calling birds (clue 1) - making it impossible for there to be a total of eight birds in that present (the only additional bird options being six geese or seven swans for a total of either 10 or 11 birds). Therefore it must be the nine ladies dancing that are included in the gift with a total of eight birds.

In PNC's index, the gifts involving birds tend to be considerably cheaper (no pun intended) than those involving the services of dancers or musicians. However, the exception to the rule is the seven swans-a-swimming, which cost $1,000 a bird - or an eye-watering $7,000 for the whole present!

Answer: Holly

The six geese-a-laying are in group two. We already know that, from that group, the five gold rings went to Noel (question 1) and the eight maids-a-milking went to Carol (question 3) - leaving Holly or Rudolph as the only possible options. From clue 7 we know that one gift has to include a total of eight birds (which can only be made up by combining the six geese-a-laying with the two turtle doves or the seven swans-a-swimming with the partridge) and from question 8 we know that these eight birds go with the nine ladies dancing and were therefore picked by Rudolph (clue 3). However, from question 5 we know that Carol took the two turtle doves, which means Rudolph can't have taken the six geese-a-laying. That just leaves Holly as the new owner of the geese.

PNC priced the six geese-a-laying at $360 in 2014 - an increase of 71% in a single year. However, it does fail to account for the value of the eggs produced. The geese only account for about 1.3% of the $27,673.21 total cost ascribed to the twelve gifts, so Holly gets a relatively cheap deal. The massive cost of this set of Christmas gifts probably explains why the four friends needed to club together in the first place!

Answer: Rudolph

We know that Noel has the three French hens (question 1, clue 2 and question 2), Holly has the four calling birds (clue 1), and Carol has the two turtle doves (question 5). Therefore Rudolph (or at least Rudolph's girlfriend) is now the proud owner of a partridge in a pear tree.

The partridge in a pear tree is the defining gift of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' and the majority of the cost of it is the pear tree ($187.68) rather than the partridge ($20). This isn't terribly surprising given that there are dozens of partridge species living around the world and, as they are a popular game bird, they may well be more likely to make an appearance on a Christmas dinner table than in anybody's pear orchard.

A final note on the cost of Christmas - if the four friends had stuck to the letter of the song and bought the full total of 364 gifts (12 x partridges in pear trees, 11 x two turtle doves, etc) then the estimated cost in 2014 would have been a staggering $116,273.06!

The full solution is as follows:
Carol - two turtle doves - eight maids-a-milking - ten lords-a-leaping
Holly - four calling birds - six geese-a-laying - twelve drummers drumming
Noel - three French hens - five gold rings - eleven pipers piping
Rudolph - a partridge in a pear tree - seven swans-a-swimming - nine ladies dancing