Blog
Christmas (2023) is coming!
2023-11-22
This year, the front page of mscroggs.co.uk will once again feature an Advent calendar, just like
in each of the last eight years.
Behind each door, there will be a puzzle with a three digit solution. The solution to each day's puzzle forms part of a logic puzzle:
It's nearly Christmas and something terrible has happened: a machine in Santa's toy factory has malfunctioned, and is unable to finish building all
the presents that Santa needs.
You need to help Santa work out how to fix the broken machine so that he can build the presents and deliver them before Christmas is ruined for everyone.
Inside the broken machine, there were five toy production units (TPUs) installed at sockets labelled A to E. During the malfunction, these TPUs were
so heavily damaged that Santa is unable to identify which TPU they were when trying to fix the machine. The company that supplies TPUs builds 10 different units, numbered from 0 to 9.
You need to work out which of the 10 TPUs needs to be installed in each of the machine's sockets, so that Santa can fix the machine. It may be that two or more of the TPUs are the same.
Behind each day (except Christmas Day), there is a puzzle with a three-digit answer. Each of these answers forms part of a clue about the machine's TPUs.
You must use these clues to work out which TPU to install in each socket.
You can use this page to plug in five TPUs and test the machine. It takes a significant amount of Santa's time to test the machine, so you
can only run a very small number of tests each day.
Ten randomly selected people who solve all the puzzles, fix the machine, and fill in the entry form behind the door on the 25th will win prizes!
![](javascript:showlimage("prizes2018.jpg"))
The prizes will include an mscroggs.co.uk Advent 2023 T-shirt. If you'd like one of the T-shirts from a previous Advent, they are available to order at merch.mscroggs.co.uk.
The winners will be randomly chosen from all those who submit the entry form before the end of 2023. Each day's puzzle (and the entry form on Christmas Day) will be available from 5:00am GMT. But as the winners will be selected randomly,
there's no need to get up at 5am on Christmas Day to enter!
As you solve the puzzles, your answers will be stored. To share your stored answers between multiple devices, enter your email address below the calendar and you will be emailed a magic link to visit on your other devices.
To win a prize, you must submit your entry before the end of 2023. Only one entry will be accepted per person. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments below,
on Twitter,
or on Mastodon.
So once December is here, get solving! Good luck and have a very merry Christmas!
×14 ×1 ×1(Click on one of these icons to react to this blog post)
You might also enjoy...
Comments
Comments in green were written by me. Comments in blue were not written by me.
⭐ top comment (2023-12-26) ⭐
This year felt much more difficult than previous years. Definitely not complaining, especially with how day 23 felt completely impossible until it wasn't -- that feeling is why I love these sorts of puzzles. Cheers!Eric
×3 ×1 Thank you Matthew. 23rd was my favourite puzzle as the cuisenaire rods helped me and I worked with my son to get a final answer. Happy New Year.×1
Jenny
×1 I really like 22, and will be using it with my top set Year 10s when I do circle theorems next term :)×1
Artie Smith
×1 I love doing your puzzles, your advent ones as well as the Chalkdust Crossnumbers - thank you!×1
Merrilyn
×1 Add a Comment