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Created September 14, 2026 18:28
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Reverse engineering the BuzzFeed 'What Percent Whimsy Are You?' scoring algorithm

Reverse engineering "What Percent Whimsy Are You?"

Quiz: https://www.buzzfeed.com/laughingbunny255/what-percent-whimsy-are-you

The scoring is fully recoverable — the quiz data is embedded as JSON in the page (data.type = "personality", 9 questions, 4 result buckets).

The algorithm

Each question has exactly 4 answers, and each answer is worth points: 1 toward exactly one result bucket (result_ids). Your score is a simple tally across the 9 questions; the bucket with the most points wins. BuzzFeed's tie-break is the result's declared order, which here runs 100% → 75% → 25% → 0%, so ties resolve in favour of the whimsier outcome.

There is no partial credit and no actual percentage arithmetic — "100% whimsy" is just a label on bucket 1.

Answer → bucket map

(1 = 100%, 2 = 75%, 3 = 25%, 4 = 0%)

Question 100% 75% 25% 0%
Breakfast Donut w/ sprinkles Pancakes with a face Avocado toast Latte
Daytime activity Dancing to music Reading a book Going for a walk Social media
Nature scene Rainbow Deer Mountains/ocean Foggy forest
Afternoon snack MANY fruits Yogurt bowl Cookies Toast
Cute animal Dog Deer Duck Baby raccoon
Flower Rose Daisy Dandelion Lily
Sweet treat Cupcake Ice cream Cinnamon roll Mousse
Wind down Playing outside Drawing/painting Yoga Comfort movie
Would rather be Unicorn Fairy Royal Merperson

Two oddities

  • The "rose = maximally whimsical, dandelion = 25%" and "dog = 100%, baby raccoon = 0%" assignments look somewhat arbitrary relative to the quiz's own aesthetic.
  • Because there are 9 questions and 4 buckets, you can win with as few as 3 points — i.e. a 3/3/2/1 split lands you at 100% whimsy on only a third of your answers.
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