50 festive teasers to help you have a merry quiz-mas

What could promote peace and harmony more than a family quiz? Well we’re going to have one anyway. Answers are at the end. No cheating, mind.
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Music 1

1) Who sang the ‘Whooaa ooo’ part on the original 1984 version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?

2) Who had the original 1958 hit with Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree?

This is the most Christmassy quiz you can get. To prove it we've put holly on our logo.This is the most Christmassy quiz you can get. To prove it we've put holly on our logo.
This is the most Christmassy quiz you can get. To prove it we've put holly on our logo.
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3) Which Christmas song was co-written by a banjo player, born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1955, called Jem Finer?

4) Which singer-songwriter was born in Aberdeen on Christmas Day 1954?

5) Who composed the 1934 piece Lieutenant Kijé, well known as part of Greg Lake’s 1975 hit I Believe In Father Christmas?

6) The third verse of which Christmas carol begins: ‘And through all His wondrous childhood; He would honour and obey.’

'The greatest gift they'll get this year is life. Whooaa ooo'. See question 1. PA picture.'The greatest gift they'll get this year is life. Whooaa ooo'. See question 1. PA picture.
'The greatest gift they'll get this year is life. Whooaa ooo'. See question 1. PA picture.
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7) What is the festive connection between James Brown, George Michael, Dean Martin and Eartha Kitt?

8) What is the main contribution to Christmas of the singer Peter Auty, born in Yorkshire in 1969?

9) The second verse of which Christmas carol begins with ‘Hither, page, and stand by me, if you know it, telling’?

10) Which band had a 2003 UK top 10 hit with Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)?

Beautiful snow at Penshaw Monument. See question 19. Picture by Stu Norton.Beautiful snow at Penshaw Monument. See question 19. Picture by Stu Norton.
Beautiful snow at Penshaw Monument. See question 19. Picture by Stu Norton.

Pot luck

11) Which country does Christmas Island belong to?

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12) Which television series included the line ‘We’ve been sitting here since Christmas 1914, during which time millions of men have died and we’ve moved no further than an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping’?

13) Which deposed dictator was executed along with his wife on Christmas Day 1989?

Superstar frog Kermit (centre, playing the banjo). See question 28. PA.Superstar frog Kermit (centre, playing the banjo). See question 28. PA.
Superstar frog Kermit (centre, playing the banjo). See question 28. PA.

14) Which saint’s feast day is celebrated on Boxing Day?

15) Which Tchaikovsky ballet is set during Christmas?

16) Who resigned as President of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991?

17) Who was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day in 1066?

18) Which two resins are most associated with Christmas?

19) What is the chemical formula for snow?

Bethlehem, as authentically recreated by St Joseph's Junior School in 1975. See question 32.Bethlehem, as authentically recreated by St Joseph's Junior School in 1975. See question 32.
Bethlehem, as authentically recreated by St Joseph's Junior School in 1975. See question 32.
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20) Which England cricket captain was born on Christmas Day 1984?

Films & television

21) In which Christmas film is George Bailey the central character?

22) In which 1944 film did Judy Garland perform Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?

23) Who played the title role in the 2000 film The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?

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24) What was the UK’s most watched television programme on Christmas Day 2019 with 17.1million viewers?

25) The actor Henry Travers who played the angel Clarence in the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life, was born in which Northumberland town in 1874?

26) What is the best known song of the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn?

27) Which 1979 film begins with the three wise men going to the wrong stable?

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28) Who does Kermit the Frog play in The Muppet Christmas Carol?

29) In which 1994 comedy does Jim Carrey play a character called Lloyd Christmas?

30) Who played the Prime Minister in Love Actually?

More pot luck

31) Name either of the most performed pantomimes in the UK over Christmas 2019, with 141 performances each (according to TicketSource).

32) Which major British city was twinned with Bethlehem in 2007?

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33) Which of Santa’s reindeer shares his name with a Roman god?

34) Who created the 1978 book The Snowman?

35) Which legendary Sunderland striker’s career was ended by an injury at Roker Park against Bury on Boxing Day 1962?

36) Which festive foodstuff was first cultivated in northern Europe in the 13th century in what is now modern-day Belgium?

37) In which country is Lapland?

38) Which ‘fun’ item was invented by Tom Smith in London in 1847?

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39) Which scientist was born in Lincolnshire on Christmas Day 1642?

40) Which of these was a riot that took place in New York over Christmas 1826? A. The Pudding Riot B. The Eggnog Riot C. The Quiet Riot D. The Peace on Earth Riot?

Music 2

41) What was Cliff Richard’s second Christmas number one? It was in 1990.

42) Which 1985 song includes the lyrics: ‘Oh I wish that every day was Christmas; What a nice way to spend the year’?

43) What was the UK’s 2019 number one single?

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44) Which Christmas carol has a third verse which begins: ‘Frankincense to offer have I; Incense owns a deity nigh’?

45) Which solo singer had a UK top 10 hit in 1985 with Santa Claus Is Coming to Town?

46) Which 1982 song by The Waitresses was later covered by The Spice Girls?

47) On the eleventh day of Christmas what did my true love give to me?

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48) Which band had a 1983 hit with the Christmas song 2000 Years?

49) What was the UK’s 2020 number one single?

50)Which character in a song finally wins the respect of his peers, with bravery and a particular physical attribute, during a bout of notably inclement weather?

1) Boy George (‘The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life. Whooaa ooo’) 2)Brenda Lee 3)Fairytale of New York 4)Annie Lennox 5)Prokofiev 6)Once In Royal David’s City 7) They all died on Christmas Day 8)He performed Walking in the Air on the 1982 film The Snowman (Note it was not Aled Jones) 9)Good King Wenceslas 10)The Darkness 11)Australia 12) Blackadder Goes Forth 13)Nicolae Ceauşescu (of Romania) 14) St Stephen 15)The Nutcracker 16)Mikhail Gorbachev 17) William the Conqueror 18)Frankincense and myrrh 19) H2O 20)Alastair Cook 21)It’s a Wonderful Life 22)Meet Me In St Louis 23)Jim Carrey 24) Gavin & Stacey 25)Prudhoe 26)White Christmas 27)The Life of Brian 28)Bob Cratchit 29)Dumb and Dumber 30)Hugh Grant 31)Aladdin or Cinderella 32)Glasgow 33) Cupid 34) Raymond Briggs 35) Brian Clough 36)Brussels sprouts 37)Finland 38)The Christmas cracker 39)Isaac Newton 40)B. The Eggnog Riot 41) Saviour’s Day 42) Merry Christmas Everyone (by Shakin’ Stevens) 43) I Love Sausage Rolls by LadBaby 44)We Three Kings of Orient Are 45) Bruce Springsteen 46) Christmas Wrapping 47)Pipers piping 48)The Pretenders 49) Don’t Stop Me Eatin’ by LadBaby 50) Rudolph (who was a red-nosed reindeer)

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