1. What was the first film to feature the song White Christmas?
2. Who wrote The Canterbury Tales?
3. Which actors play the two burglars in the 1990 Christmas film Home Alone?
4. The start of the grouse shooting season, the Glorious Twelfth, is in which month?
5. Born on 25 December 1876, Mohammed Ali Jinnah was the founder of which Asian country?
6. Which member of the Monty Python team plays the shopkeeper in the “Dead Parrot” sketch?
7. Candy Cane Day (US) and the Day of Goodwill (South Africa) are alternative names for which day of the festive season?
8. What four-letter word can go before “knife”, “fruit” and “rabbit” to form another word?
9. A snowflake has how many tips?
10. The Battle of Balaclava was fought during the Crimean War, but in which country is Balaclava (Balaklava)?
11. The name of which of Santa’s reindeer means “thunder”?
12. Which spirit is the main ingredient in a Moscow mule cocktail
13. Which Hans Christian Andersen fairytale inspired the film Frozen?
14. Sutras are religious texts in which three religions?
15. What type of Christmas did Elvis Presley sing about in a 1957 recording?
16. Ed Moses won two Olympic gold medals in which athletics event?
17. Aside from the Nativity scene, which tradition did St Francis of Assisi introduce to churches in the 13th century?
18. Which animal features on the flag of Sri Lanka?
19. Which fictional Christmas character was so mean because his heart was two sizes too small?
20. Which concept can be defined as the basic economic problem that arises because people have unlimited wants but resources are limited?
21. Which former Yugoslav republic celebrates Independence and Unity Day on 26 December?
22. Where in the human body would you find the trapezium?
23. Which of Santa’s reindeer is not mentioned in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem The Night Before Christmas?
24. The headquarters of the World Health Organization are in which Swiss city?
25. Which cricket team is scheduled to play Australia in the traditional 2020 Boxing Day Test match?
26. Which Swedish band had a 1992 hit with All That She Wants?
27. Rudyard Kipling wrote the first royal Christmas speech for which British monarch?
28. Which rugby league club are known as the Wolfpack?
29. What bird, often found on Christmas cards, was the nickname given to Victorian postmen because of the colour of their outfits?
30. What is the meat ingredient in the German stew hasenpfeffer?
31. The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia hosts an annual yacht race that begins every year on Boxing Day, starting in Sydney and ending in which other Australian city, approximately 630 nautical miles away?
32. The artist Diego Rivera was the husband of which Mexican painter?
33. The narrator is one of several characters voiced by Tom Hanks in which animated 2004 Christmas film?
34. What does “c” stand for in the equation E=mc2?
35. Which river did George Washington cross on 25-26 December 1776?
36. “Hepatic” is a term relating to which organ of the body?
37. Who originally recorded Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree in 1958, aged just 13?
38. Which religion regards Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie as the Second Coming of Jesus and Jah incarnate?
39. Which 2005 picture book, written by Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell, tells a story in rhyme that explains how Santa Claus knows who is naughty and who is nice?
40. What colourful day of the week did The Rolling Stones sing about in 1967?
41. Which Muppet character was the narrator in The Muppet Christmas Carol?
42. The Limpopo river, which rises in South Africa and travels east to Mozambique, empties into which ocean?
43. In the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, how many pipers are there piping?
44. Valentino Rossi, Marc Márquez and Mick Doohan have all been world champions in which sport?
45. What period begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas?

46. What drink do you get by combining the symbols for the elements scandium, oxygen, technetium and hydrogen?

47. What is the name given to the snowman in the song Winter Wonderland?

48. The Hungarian districts of Buda and Pest are separated by which river?

49. What is the name of Bruce Willis’ character in the 1988 movie Die Hard?

50. Uttered by Tiny Tim, what five words form the last line of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol?

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. Holiday Inn 2. Geoffrey Chaucer 3. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern 4. August 5. Pakistan 6. Michael Palin 7. Boxing Day 8. Jack 9. Six 10. Ukraine 11. Donner (and Blitzen means “lightning”) 12. Vodka 13. The Snow Queen 14. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism 15. Blue 16. 400m hurdles 17. Carol singing 18. Lion 19. The Grinch 20. Scarcity 21. Slovenia 22. Wrist - it’s a bone below the base of your thumb 23. Rudolph 24. Geneva 25. India 26. Ace of Base 27. King George V 28. Toronto 29. Robin 30. Rabbit 31. Hobart 32. Frida Kahlo 33. The Polar Express 34. The speed of light 35. Delaware 36. Liver 37. Brenda Lee 38. Rastafari (also known as Rastafarianism) 39. The Elf on the Shelf 40. Ruby Tuesday 41. The Great Gonzo 42. Indian Ocean 43. Eleven 44. MotoGP/500cc motorcycling. 45. Advent 46. Scotch 47. Parson Brown 48. Danube 49. John McClane 50. “God bless us, every one!”

Questions set by John Cunnane