Twenty-five is Natale, Christmas, and here the reason is not in dispute: 25 December. The Italian reference lists give the same explanation for 26 and, more shakily, for 13. Where a saint or a feast sits on the board, the number is usually the day of the month.
It is also the square that explains the whole grid's survival. Christmas is when the ninety numbers come out of the basket in Neapolitan houses, and the caller announces each one by its figure rather than its digits.
- 25
- Natale
- Christmas
- Row 21–30 of the tabellone
Where the figure comes from
The calendar, plainly. Both Naples and Trapani put Christmas on 25, and both do it for the same obvious reason.
Other things filed on 25
In Neapolitan life
Naples keeps the day densely. Eduardo De Filippo's Natale in casa Cupiello opened on Christmas Day 1931 at the Teatro Kursaal in the city, and its engine is not tombola at all but the presepe, the nativity crib Luca Cupiello builds while his family falls apart around him. The two Christmas objects, the crib and the tombola board, are constantly confused by people writing about Naples from outside. The play is about the crib.
25 in the smorfia — frequently asked
The date. Christmas falls on 25 December and the board uses the day of the month for its calendar figures.
Through the Christmas period generally, at home, with the tabellone and the cartelle out on the table after dinner.
No. That play turns on the presepe, the nativity crib. It is a common mix-up and worth correcting.