International Cheetah Day (Holiday Hoopla 2023)
| International Cheetah Day | |
|---|---|
| Holiday Hoopla 2023 | |
| Answer | Click to revealPLEDGES |
| Statistics | |
| No. solves | 76 |
| No. total guesses | 128 |
| Links | |
| Puzzle | Link |
International Cheetah Day is a trivia puzzle from Holiday Hoopla 2023. Its difficulty level is categorized as Medium relative to the other puzzles in the hunt.
The puzzle is presented as 7x7 grid with each row and each column labeled with a different phrase.
Solve Path[edit | edit source]
Solvers may notice that the phrases used to label the columns could all plausibly describe facts about cheetahs, while the phrases used to label the rows cannot (and do not seem to fall in any particular category).
The flavor text says "As an endangered species, cheetahs' days are numbered." The column clues all involve numbers in some way, so solvers can do some research to determine what those numbers are.
| Column | Clue | Number and Unit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acceleration Time | 3 seconds to accelerate from standstill to top speed |
| 2 | Breaths | 150 breaths/min while sprinting |
| 3 | Cubs Smuggled | 300 cubs per year |
| 4 | Former Range Countries | 30 countries where they are now extinct |
| 5 | In the wild (approx.) | 7000 cheetahs |
| 6 | Population decrease (last century) | 90 percent decrease |
| 7 | Sprint | 110 km/h or 70 mph |
Similarly, a number can be assigned to each row clue.
| Row | Clue | Number and Unit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | April, June, September, and November | 30 days in the month |
| 2 | Bald eagle feathers | 7000 feathers |
| 3 | Binary six or platinum anniversary | 1102 or 70th anniversary |
| 4 | Dunbar | 150 people (Dunbar's number) |
| 5 | Hat-trick | 3 achievements |
| 6 | Square corner | 90 degrees |
| 7 | Ten-pin bowling perfect score | 300 points |
The sets of numbers for the rows and for the columns are identical; solvers can take the intersection of each row with the column that shares its number.
| 3 | 150 | 300 | 30 | 7000 | 90 | 110 or 70 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | B | D | A | P | H | N | G |
| 7000 | A | B | I | S | L | K | U |
| 110 or 70 | L | B | P | M | I | C | E |
| 150 | A | D | T | G | R | I | S |
| 3 | G | T | N | C | S | U | I |
| 90 | C | A | H | G | N | E | T |
| 300 | N | A | S | R | H | W | E |
Reading the letters row by row, from top to bottom, reveals the answer Click to revealPLEDGES.
Puzzle Elements[edit | edit source]
Research - Quantitative data about cheetahs are needed to solve the puzzle.
Intentional Ambiguity - The units associated with each number are deliberately left out of the clues.
