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The 2024 Country Life Editor’s Christmas quiz

Victoria Marston Victoria Marston

It's Christmas day. You've probably run out of things to talk about. Why not do this quiz to pass the time? Answers will be posted at 1:30pm tomorrow.

So that was 2024

1) Which ITV television drama finally brought a national scandal to the full attention of the public?

2) A ban on owning which dog breed (without an exemption certificate) came into force in the UK?

3) Which British confectionery company celebrated its 200th anniversary?

4) Which British tennis player retired after their final professional game at the Paris Summer Olympics?

5) Who won the London mayoral election?

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6) What was banned from the National Gallery, following attacks on artworks?

7) The tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the UK opened at which theme park?

8) A woman was arrested for throwing what at Nigel Farage during his election campaign?

9) Which invasive species survived a UK winter for the first time?

10) Which Britpop band announced a 2025 reunion tour?

Nature

1) How many species of bumblebee are there in the UK: 34, 24, 14 or 4?

2) Which bird did coal miners traditionally take into the mines?

3) What percentage of its wildflower meadows has the UK lost since the 1930s: 97%, 77%, 57% or 37%?

4) There is a feral population of which Australian native mammal on the Isle of Man?

5) Which gender of mosquito bites people?

Sport

1) The Fosbury Flop is a technique used in which sport?

2) Of these two, who was the most capped footballer for England: David Beckham or Wayne Rooney?

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3) Which cricket club plays at The Oval?

4) Jessica Ennis-Hill is an Olympic and world champion in which sport?

5) In which sport is 180 deemed a perfect score?

Art

1) Who painted The Scream in 1893?

2) Which of the following is a work by Tracey Emin: My Sink, My Bed, My Sofa or My Pantry?

3) What are the names of the four Tate galleries?

4) Lucian Freud painted a naked portrait of which supermodel in 2002?

5) Which brand of soup features in Andy Warhol’s soup-can series?

Stage and screen

1) Kiss Me Kate is a musical based on which Shakespeare play?

2) What is the name of the fish voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo?

3) A cabriole is a movement in what type of dance?

4) Who wrote the play Under Milk Wood?

5) In Four Weddings and a Funeral, what is the nickname of Anna Chancellor’s character Henrietta?

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

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Can you identify these Christmas songs from a snippet of the lyrics?

1) ‘I don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree’

2) ‘Sinatra was swinging/All the drunks they were singing’

3) ‘But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be/On your own front door’

4) ‘May your days be merry and bright’

5) ‘Once bitten and twice shy/I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye’

Literature

1) Who is the current Poet Laureate?

2) What is the title of the second novel by Harper Lee, published in 2015?

3) How old was Adrian Mole in the first book in Sue Townsend’s series?

4) What are the names of the three villainous farmers in Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox?

5) Oscar Wilde wrote a ballad to which gaol after being incarcerated there in 1895?

Science

1) How many sides or points does a snowflake have?

2) What is the hardest natural substance on Earth?

3) Does sound travel faster in the air or in water?

4) What is the oath historically taken by physicians?

5) How many bones does a shark have in its body?

Music

1) Seventeen-year-old David Jones, interviewed by the BBC as the founder of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men, would go on to become which rock legend?

2) Which classical composer was completely deaf by the time he was in his mid forties?

3) Who wrote the ballad I Will Always Love You?

4) The 2024 film Back to Black portrayed the rise to fame of which English singer-songwriter?

5) Abba hit Mamma Mia ended Queen’s nine-week stint at number one with which song, a six-minute ‘mock opera’?

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Food and drink

1) Are Jaffa Cakes legally a cake or a biscuit?

2) How many standard-sized bottles of Champagne are in a magnum?

3) Which nuts are used in marzipan?

4) Which is the most expensive spice in the world by weight?

5) A Snowball cocktail is made with which liqueur, topped up with lemonade?

Dearly departed

Can you identify these people who died in 2024?

1) Oscar-winner who played a Dowager Countess with a magical touch (aged 89)

2) Chef and Hairy Biker (66)

3) Trailblazing DJ and first female presenter on BBC Radio One (83)

4) Private forever to be known as a stupid boy (77)

5) Elite Rugby League player and champion for those with motor neurone disease (41)

6) Father to both Luke Skywalker and Simba (93)

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History

1) Which two wives did Henry VIII divorce?

2) The Charge of the Light Brigade took place during which 19th-century battle?

3) A plaster cast of which part of Prince Albert’s body is on display in Queen Victoria’s bedroom at Osborne House?

4) Which Celtic queen led a rebellion against the Romans in AD60?

5) In which year were women granted equal voting rights with men in the UK?

We wish you a merry Christmas

1) St Stephen’s Day is more commonly known by what name?

2) Which fruit is traditionally placed in a Christmas stocking?

3) According to the Church of England, on which date does Twelfth Night fall?

4) The people of which country send a Christmas tree to London, where it is erected in Trafalgar Square (above), each year?

5) What is prepared on Stir-Up Sunday?

Thanks for playing along. The answers will be published on countrylife.co.uk on December 26

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