How can I pick a single post from the latest 3?

Question

I'm looking to display a single featured post from my latest 3 posts at random. I've managed to get it up and running picking any post at random just fine, but I want to filter it down to only the latest 3.

<?php

$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'post',
    'orderby' => 'rand',
    'posts_per_page' => 1,
    'post_status'   => 'publish'
    );

$rand_query = new WP_Query( $args );

if ( $rand_query->have_posts() ) :
    while ( $rand_query->have_posts() ) : $rand_query->the_post();
?> 

// DIV FOR SINGLE FEATURED POST HERE // etc... 

Obviously, if I change the posts_per_page to 3 I then get 3 divs containing featured post previews. I only want the one post that is picked at random from those last 3. A date query won't work as the posts aren't regular.

Answer 1

Here's my approach...

First you have to select 3 latest posts, then you have to pick random one of them...

But it's easier to shuffle selected posts than picking only one of them - that way you can still use normal loop:

<?php
    $args = array(
        'post_type' => 'post',
        'posts_per_page' => 3,
        'post_status'   => 'publish'
    );    
    $rand_query = new WP_Query( $args );

    shuffle( $rand_query->posts );

    if ( $rand_query->have_posts() ) :
        while ( $rand_query->have_posts() ) : $rand_query->the_post();
?>

    // HERE GOES THE DIV WITH POST

<?php
            break;  // we want only one post to be shown, so we break the loop
        endwhile;
    endif;
?>