It's Christmas Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robin redbreast

Robin redbreast is an older name for the bird often simply called a robin in these modern times. Once thought to be a type of thrush, it's now classed as an Old World flycatcher along with other birds such as chats and thrushes. Despite its name, the breast and face of a robin aren't red - they are orange. Until the 16th century, there was no distinct word in English for orange when the fruit known as an orange was first seen in the UK. Oranges were considered a shade of red.

A small bird usually no longer than 14 cm (5.5 in), the robin is diurnal and insectivorous. Found throughout the UK, Europe and northern Africa, they are quite settled in their home territories and will defend it fiercely. The only robins who migrate south for the winter are the robins in the far northern reaches of Europe and Siberia who need to escape the bitter cold of an Arctic winter.

Whilst the robin has been mentioned in children's book and Norse mythology, it's the UK and northwestern France which has the biggest tradition of robin folklore. From the mid-19th century, robins have appeared on British Christmas cards and the association of robins with Christmas has grown over time.

Birds in other continents such as North America and Australia have been given the name of robin due to their colouration resembling the European robin, but they are in different Avian families. The blue tit, greenshank and yellowhammer are also British birds.

Question crafted by Tizzabelle, one of our editors in the Animals category.

Answer: Merry Christmas

Yams might not be a traditional part of the Christmas meal, but they could be! Mr C, of course must be Santa Claus himself.

Whether you say "Merry Christmas", "Happy Hanukkah", "Seasons Greetings" or "Happy Holidays" the underlying message is one of love and goodwill to others.

Your brain was teased by Spanishliz, who created this question.

Answer: Noel Coward

Sir Noel Coward was born Dec. 16, 1899 and died Mar. 26, 1973. Knighted in 1969, this bright, witty man was a well-rounded entertainer who led an amazing life. He began his acting career when only 6 years old (some sources say 11), wrote over 50 plays, acting in some of them, as well as in films. Some of his plays include "Private Lives" and "Blithe Spirit".

At the beginning of WWII he ran the Paris-based, British Propaganda Office, later using his not inconsiderable powers of persuasion on America, to secure assistance for England during the war.

After the war he tried his hand at cabaret, writing many of the songs he performed. These include "I Went to a Marvellous Party" and my personal favourite, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen".

Noel Gallagher is a guitarist, formerly of the band Oasis.
Noel Clarke is an English actor, writer and filmmaker.
Noel Blanc, son of the late, great Mel Blanc, is a voice actor.

This question was written by celebrated editor skunkee.

Answer: Charles Dickens

Both movies are adaptations of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", a ghost story about a humbug of an old man named Ebenezer Scrooge who, on Christmas Eve night, is visited by four spectres who show him the true meaning of Christmas and humanity. "Scrooged" starred Bill Murray in a modern-day take of the story while "The Muppets Christmas Carol" starred...well...The Muppets. Ebenezer Scrooge was played by Michael Caine in that one. Many other remakes of this tale have shown up in the media. In 2009, Jim Carrey played the roles of Scrooge and the three ghosts of Christmas; "Blackadder" aired a TV special in 1988; "Doctor Who" made a take on the story in 2010.

The always entertaining kyleisalive donned his Christmas hat on behalf of the Entertainment editors to bring you this question.

Answer: Holly

Holly branches are often draped around houses (inside and outside) to decorate them for Christmas. Some well-known Christmas carols that mention holly include "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Deck the Halls". Holly berries look pretty, but they are poisonous, so if you have some in your house, don't eat any!

The editor from the For Children category who created this for you is NatalieW.

Answer: a Christmas stocking

Christmas stockings seem to have been around since the mid-nineteenth century when children left out shoes to be filled with gifts. Simple socks were later used, and then Christmas stockings made especially for the occasion evolved. According to an etymological dictionary, the phrase "stocking stuffer" was first recorded in 1945 and is now commonly used to denote small gifts perfect in size for Christmas stockings. The American name is a "stuffer" while the UK version is a "stocking filler".

Editor Trident could have provided a question in either World or General, but chose the harder option of finding something both general and Christmassy to ask about.

Answer: Bethlehem

Given that this quiz was released for Christmas, 2015, it's hardly surprising that the answer is Bethlehem. Found a mere ten kms (six miles) south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is known not only as the birthplace of Jesus Christ but it's also where King David of Israel was crowned.

Mentioned in early writings dating back to the mid-1300s BC, Bethlehem has seen its share of trouble including the destruction of the city on the orders of Emperor Hadrian. The Bethlehem economy of the early 21st century relies on the production of artisan products such as handicrafts, foodstuffs and furniture, while tourism plays an important role in the economy year-round, with a peak around Christmas time.

This question was brought to you by Tizzabelle, waving a flag for the Geography editing team.

Answer: Yes

After the Battle of Hastings, which started and ended on the same day (with the death of King Harold II), William marched to London where the city surrendered without a major battle (there were isolated minor skirmishes). He was crowned king on 25th December 1066 at Westminster Abbey; the first Norman king of England. King Harold II was the last Anglo-Saxon king.

This question was provided by gtho4, one of the History editors.

Answer: Santa's Castle and Santa's Reindeer Runway

The "Rudolph" edition of Monopoly is based on the CBS TV special and manufactured by USAopoly, a company specializing in making themed versions of many popular games including Risk, Munchkin, Clue, Trivial Pursuit, Yahtzee and, of course, Monopoly, under the original manufacturer's license. Like every licensed Monopoly game, the board features the original designs and names for the four corner squares. The railroads are the Misfit Toys, the community chest and chance squared show trimmed Christmas trees simply named "silver" and "gold" and the regular properties are all locations around the North Pole. The edition was released in 2005.

Anyone who thinks perpetual motion doesn't exist hasn't met WesleyCrusher, who is both an editor and administrator on the site. He took time from his busy schedule to create this question for the Hobbies category.

Answer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write a ballet based on Alexandre Dumas père's 'The Tale of the Nutcracker', an adaptation of ETA Hoffmann's 'The Nutcracker and the Mouse King'. The original ballet was choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and was performed as a double bill with Tchaikovsky's opera 'Iolante'. Given how popular the ballet has become since the middle of the 20th century, it may be surprising to hear that its first performance was less than successful. Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky's score was acclaimed, especially the Suite which became an orchestral set piece, and a number of new versions of the ballet have been choreographed over the years. They all make modifications to the details of the story, but the main story is consistent: young girl gets a humanoid nutcracker; it is broken; at night it comes to life and leads other toys in a fight against invading mice; nutcracker turns into prince and they go to his kingdom in fairyland, where the second act takes place with a lot of joyful dances, including the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. One of the criticisms of the original production was that this glorious dance, giving the prima ballerina has showcase, did not occur until the ballet was nearly over - since the ballet was the second part of the double bill, she danced well after midnight!

Question supplied by looney_tunes, on behalf of the Humanities editors.

Answer: A sleigh bell

After traveling to the North Pole in a train called the Polar Express, filled with children who believe in Santa, the boy is selected to receive the first Christmas gift of the year. Given the option of anything in the world, he asks for one of the bells from the reindeer harnesses, and pockets it as the children and elves send Santa on his way. After returning home, he finds he has lost the bell, but it is discovered behind the tree on Christmas morning. He happily jingles it, as an auditory reminder of his wonderful trip, and is surprised to find that only he and his sister can hear it - his parents hear nothing. The book ends with the sad statement that, over the years, fewer and fewer of his friends could hear the bell, but he still believes, and it rings sweetly for him.

Question written by looney_tunes, this time wearing her Literature editor's hat.

Answer: Meet Me in St Louis

"Meet Me in St Louis" (1944) tells the story of a year in the life of the Smith family who are coming to terms with having to move to New York for their father's job, just before the World's Fair comes to St Louis. At Christmas, little Tootie (O'Brien) is worried that Santa won't find her next year, and big sister Esther (Judy) sings this song to her.

Spanishliz rushed over from Brain Teasers, another of the three categories she edits in, to bring you this seasonal Movies question.

Answer: Canada

"The Huron Carol" as it is also known, was written by Father Jean de Brebeuf. It was an attempt to tell the Christmas story in terms that made cultural sense to the Huron/Wendat people. The English lyrics familiar to most Canadians were written in the twenties by Jesse Edgar Middleton, and while they seem quite romanticized now, are still quite popular, even among many First Nations people.

"Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp'd His beauty round"

and

"The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt."

Tom Jackson, a First Nations singer and actor, led a touring Christmas show for many years called "Huron Carole", which raised money for Food Banks. The song was always featured on the show.

Agony took on the responsibility of writing this Music question for the quiz.

Answer: Jesus Christ

The date of 25 December was arbitrarily chosen for the celebration, possibly in order to replace pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice, but even this is conjecture. The earliest surviving records of the celebration of the birth of Christ date from around the middle of the fourth century. (To cap it all, when the year AD 1 was fixed c. AD 500 it was out by a few years).

Isaac Newton was born on 25 December 1642 by the Julian calendar then in use, and the date corresponds to 4 January 1643 in the Gregorian calendar now in use. There are minor complications with the other two people listed. Alannah Myles was born Byles, but changed her name and there has been some disagreement as to the year of her birth, as often happens with celebrities; and the gay Quentin Crisp was born Denis Charles Pratt.

People editor bloomsby brought you this question.

Answer: St Francis of Assisi

The first Nativities were "live", with human actors and real animals - St Francis is of course closely associated with animals. He is said to have staged the first one around 1220, and the idea apparently took off like wildfire. Within a few hundred years (a short time in those days, when news traveled at footpace) there were Nativities all over Europe.

Many families have traditions around the family Nativity - in our house the manger stays empty until Christmas Eve, when the youngest child places the baby Jesus in it before going to bed.

St Nicholas is associated with Christmas in his persona as Santa Claus, while St Lucia's Day is a festival of light on December 13, especially important in Scandinavia. St Isadore the Labourer is the patron saint of farmers.

The multi-talented editor Agony rushed over from Music, humming a carol en route, to provide this Religious question in another of her categories.

Answer: Haemophilia

The disease is specifically haemophilia B, which is the second most common form after haemophilia A, which is caused by a factor VIII deficiency. It was first identified as a separate illness in 1952. It has nothing to do with the season nor, as you might have expected, is it named for the doctor who discovered it. The name comes from the first patient to be identified, named Stephen Christmas, who had been thought to be suffering from the more common version of haemophilia. Research carried out in 2009 has established that it was the B strain which caused so many problems for the male descendants of Queen Victoria.

This question was written by rossian, on behalf of the Sci/Tech editing team.

Answer: A-League Soccer

Australian Rules Football and both codes of rugby are winter sports ruling them out. The Melbourne cricket test and Sydney to Hobart yacht race always start on Boxing Day (December 26th). A-League soccer switched from a winter sport to a summer sport so it would not complete with the other three football codes. It will schedule games on both Christmas Eve and Boxing day but never Christmas Day.

Question crafted by 1nn1, part time Sports editor and full time Aussie.

Answer: It snowed

The First Evil began haunting Angel, a vampire, in his dreams, leading him to believe he'd turn evil again and hurt those he loved. He decided to allow the sunrise to kill him, and it wasn't until it began to snow that he changed his mind. Snowfall in a southern coastal town in California is practically nonexistent. All of the answer choices do apply to either "Buffy" or "Angel", though not in this episode.

Television editor Gamemaster1967 dreamed up this 'White Christmas' question to test you.

Answer: Banjo-Kazooie

"Banjo-Kazooie", released by Rare in 1998, became a quick bestseller and platformer fan favourite when its charming visuals and charismatic bird/bear lead duo hit the scene. In the game, the player needed to collect golden puzzle pieces, known as Jiggies, and eventually make their way to the top of evil witch Gruntilda's Lair. The fifth stage of the game, Freezeezy Peak, was winter-themed and had several Christmas fixtures including a tree, gifts, and heavy snow. Boggy the Bear and his soon-to-be-overweight children reappeared in Hailfire Peaks in the game's sequel, "Banjo-Tooie", a few years later.

The ever present kyleisalive brought you this question from the Video Games editing team.

Answer: Two o'clock in the morning

In December, Washington D.C is five hours behind UK time. So, unless they know that their aunt has stayed up late especially to receive the call, it is probably not a good idea to ring her now, in case they get a less than Christmassy response! Much better to wait for another five hours (twelve o'clock UK time), when she and her children are probably getting up to open their presents.

World editor stedman took the quiz title literally to create this timely Christmas question.