3QUESTION 3 OF 3
Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
884,647
words
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Start with one play. How long does it run on stage? Call it two and a half hours, with actors talking at maybe 150 words a minute. Times 38 plays, and the poems are a small extra.
- Stage time per play
- ~150 min
- Words a minute
- × 150
- Words per play
- ≈ 22,500
- 22,500 × 38 plays
- ≈ 855,000
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- Plays (Open Source Shakespeare, 37 plays)
- 835,997
- Sonnets and other poems (same count)
- + 48,424
- Open Source Shakespeare total, 43 works
- 884,421
- Spevack's Harvard Concordance (Folger)
- 884,647
Reference cited by Fermi: Marvin Spevack's Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare, via the Folger Shakespeare Library
How close was your guess?
Your comparison will appear here.
Compare by ratio: divide the larger number by the smaller one. The closer to 1×, the better.