advent quiz 2025
On each day in Advent, a puzzle containing two parts will be published: a seasonal audio file and a string of encoded text. The audio file provides the key needed to decode the Vigenère-style ciphertext, through the relationships it contains.
Deciphering the text will reveal the dedication of a piece of music. Across the course of the quiz, the plaintexts will appear in English, German, French, and Welsh. The ciphertext will retain the spacing of the plaintext, and only letters have been encoded (any accents have been ignored), so spacing, punctuation and numbers are as in the plaintext.
This quiz has been deliberately difficult to pitch, but the final answer to be submitted is the name of the composer and the piece to which the dedication belongs. Answers can be submitted from the day on which the puzzle is published until Christmas Day, and multiple submissions can be made, although only the last one will be scored. A correct answer will earn two points (one for the composer and one for the title). The player with the highest score (out of a possible 50) on Christmas Day will be the overall winner; if there is a tie, the overall winner will be selected at random.
The overall winner’s name will be published within the octave of Christmas, and the answers will be published on Christmas Day.
- Sunday 30 November
- Monday 01 December
- Tuesday 02 December
- Wednesday 03 December
- Thursday 04 December
- Friday 05 December
- Saturday 06 December
- Sunday 07 December
- Monday 08 December
- Tuesday 09 December
- Wednesday 10 December
- Thursday 11 December
- Friday 12 December
- Saturday 13 December
- Sunday 14 December
- Monday 15 December
- Tuesday 16 December
- Wednesday 17 December
- Thursday 18 December
- Friday 19 December
- Saturday 20 December
- Sunday 21 December
- Monday 22 December
- Tuesday 23 December
- Wednesday 24 December