Did you solve it? Dotty data and silly sentences

Earlier today, three puzzles about tricking people were presented. Here are the answers and explanations.

The first puzzle was about a school with two classes. In the first year, the middle student’s grade was a C. In the second year, after a new teaching plan, the middle student’s grade dropped to a D. The puzzle asked for a way this could happen even if every student’s grade improved.

The solution explained a scenario: imagine in year one, all students in one class got a C and all in the other got an E. If one class was slightly bigger, the middle grade would be C. Then, if all students improved (C to B, E to D), and two new students joined with D grades or lower, the overall middle grade could drop to D. This shows how statistics can be misleading if we don't have all the information.

The second puzzle involved two polling companies, Smith Surveys and Jones Polls, surveying 125 people each about a government policy. Both found the policy was more popular with men. However, when the results were combined, the policy was actually more popular with women. This is a statistical trick called Simpson’s Paradox, where trends in separate groups can change when the groups are combined.

The third part was about a fun language game called Anguish Languish. It’s a way to say English phrases using similar-sounding nonsense words. People were asked to create examples. Some funny ones were shared, like ‘Star myrrh scone’ for ‘Starmer’s gone’. The winning entry for a nursery rhyme was ‘Myriad Al tell ’em, eats fleas worse wight ass know’ for ‘Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow’.