A Christmas TV Quiz to Hide Inside a Jumper Gift

Wrap the jumper first. Then slip a little envelope under the ribbon with three clues to the television programme on the front of the sweatshirt. The recipient opens the envelope, takes a guess and unwraps the answer. It takes about a minute at the Christmas table, and the person who always guesses a present by squeezing the parcel finally has some competition.

Here are two ready-to-copy Christmas TV quiz cards, plus a way to write one for a different design. Pick the show your recipient would happily watch again on Boxing Day. Knowing their favourite is half the fun of giving this present.

Set up the parcel

You’ll need three scraps of paper, a pen, an envelope and the wrapped gift. Number the slips on the back and stack them with the first clue on top. On the envelope write, “Which TV programme is hiding in here? Open one clue at a time.” Keep the answer on a separate slip inside the wrapping, or let the picture on the jumper do the reveal.

Read the clues to yourself in order before you seal the envelope. A broad opener gives everyone a chance to think. The middle clue should narrow the field, and the last one should be generous enough that the recipient gets to shout the answer. If you’re doing this round the table, give the person holding the parcel first guess before the rest of the family join in.

Clue card one for the classic sitcom fan

Clue 1. My leading man could turn a conversation over Christmas lunch into a sales pitch before you’d passed the roast potatoes.

Clue 2. Look for a flat cap and a coat. The name you want is the one his younger brother Rodney knows very well.

Clue 3. Del Boy has had a look at your Christmas present. His verdict? Cushty. Name the sitcom.

The answer is Only Fools and Horses. The flat cap is a clue they can spot as soon as the paper comes off. The illustrated Del Boy-style character wears it among falling snow and holly on the Have a Cushty Christmas jumper.

Clue card two for the football comedy fan

Clue 1. If Christmas dinner went badly wrong, this coach could probably find something encouraging to say about the sprouts.

Clue 2. The moustache is familiar. The Santa hat is a seasonal addition. You’re looking for the man who gives the team talk.

Clue 3. Picture a yellow sign with one word on it. It says BELIEVE. Which comedy shares its name with the coach?

The answer is Ted Lasso. For a bonus point before they unwrap it, ask which festive detail they expect to see on the coach’s head. Both the yellow sign and the coach in his Santa hat feature on the Ted Lasso Believe Christmas jumper.

Write a version only your family could solve

For another design, work backwards. Pick one recognisable detail from the picture for clue three. For clue two, describe a character without using their name. For clue one, use a memory the two of you share. “We watched this on the little kitchen telly while Dad rescued the gravy” might mean nothing to the rest of the room and everything to your sister. Start with a design they’d recognise in the funny Christmas jumpers collection.

If several people are opening presents together, write each person’s name on both their envelope and their parcel before you attach the ribbon. For a posted present, tuck the clue envelope just inside the outer box where they’ll see it first. Add “Text me your guess before you open it” if you’d like to be in on the moment from home.