Raredle No. 12: the answers

Friday, October 23, 2026 · Played it? Here's how rare each one really was.

What are the odds of you getting a song stuck in your head at least once a week?

Survey of 12,519 internet users in Finland, 2012 study.

1 in 1.1 people 89.2%

89.2% of participants said they get an earworm at least once a week.

Fun fact: In a room of 25 people, only about 3 would get through a whole week without a song stuck on repeat.

Source: Liikkanen, Psychology of Music (2012)

What are the odds of your dropped toast landing butter-side down?

Toast sliding off a plate or table. UK schools experiment, 2001: 21,000 drops.

1 in 1.5 drops 66.7%

Physicist Robert Matthews reports the experiment found toast lands butter-side down almost two-thirds of the time.

Fun fact: Over 1,000 schoolchildren dropped toast 21,000 times to test it. Toast starts to spin as it tips off the edge, but too slowly to turn butter-up again before it lands.

Source: BBC Science Focus, Robert Matthews (2001 UK schools experiment)

What are the odds of you being able to fold your arms either way with no preference?

Left arm on top or right arm on top feels the same to you. Pooled studies.

1 in 25 people 4.00%

Reiss and Reiss (1998) found about 4% of people have no preference. In most populations slightly more than half put the left arm on top.

Fun fact: In a class of 30, expect about 1. Try it now: fold your arms the other way and see how strange it feels.

Source: John McDonald, University of Delaware, Myths of Human Genetics (citing Reiss & Reiss 1998)

What are the odds of a known meteorite being a piece of Mars?

All meteorites found worldwide, Natural History Museum count (undated, accessed Oct 2026).

1 in 200 meteorites 0.5%

The NHM says there are almost 80,000 known meteorites and just under 400 from Mars: about 80,000 ÷ 400.

Fun fact: A drawer of 1,000 meteorites would hold about 5 from Mars. One Martian meteorite, SaU 008, flew back to Mars on NASA's Perseverance mission in 2020.

Source: Natural History Museum, London: Martian meteorites (accessed Oct 2026)

What are the odds of you being born on September 26, the most common birthday?

England and Wales births, 1995 to 2014.

1 in 329 people 0.3%

ONS found about 2,000 births on an average September 26, against 1,800 on an average day. That makes the share about 2,000 ÷ (1,800 × 365.25).

Fun fact: It's about 11% busier than an average day. And 6 of the 10 least popular birthdays fall over Christmas and New Year.

Source: ONS, How popular is your birthday? (Dec 2015). Math: 1,800 × 365.25 ÷ 2,000