20 people, 2.4 quintillion possibilities: the baffling statistics of Secret Santa

By Stephen Woodcock, Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney

Christmas, we’re told, is the most wonderful time of the year. For many of us, however, it is preceded by one of the least wonderful times: the awkward social spectacle of the office Secret Santa or Kris Kringle, where employees agree to purchase a gift for a randomly allocated colleague.

As you watch your co-workers unwrap their often wildly inappropriate gifts, each chosen by a office mate they barely know, cast your mind to…

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