A wooden spoon is an award given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous events. The term is of English origin and
The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
Wooden spoon (award)
…award given. The wooden spoon was presented originally at the University of Cambridge as a booby prize awarded by students to the candidate for the Mathematical Tripos who achieved the lowest marks while still earning a third-class degree (a junior optime). The term "wooden spoon" or simply "the spoon" was also applied…
Results for parts II and III of the Mathematical Tripos are read out inside the Senate House, Cambridge, and then, tossed from the balcony.