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Showing posts from November, 2018

Quidditch: is it all about the Snitch?

An updated version of this post can be found here>> Much has been said about how the game of Quidditch is ruined by the scoring system - specifically how it makes no sense that the snitch is worth 150 points  and  that catching it ends the game [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Most of these arguments seem to revolve around the claim that it is nearly impossible to win a match of Quidditch without catching the snitch. Is this true? Let's try and answer this question formally using statistics and R simulations: What is the probability of winning a Quidditch match without catching the snitch? Victor Krum caught the snitch for Bulgaria, but Ireland still won (1994 World cup)