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Seven days of questions and answers

Easter Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 6 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Fanesca is a thick, hearty soup served during Holy Week in which South American country, containing up to twelve different types of grains and beans?

    Answer: Ecuador

    Fanesca is a traditional Ecuadorian Easter soup made with salt cod, pumpkin, milk, cheese, and twelve different grains and legumes, said to represent the Twelve Apostles and the diversity of Andean ingredients.

  2. In France, what massive edible structure is traditionally constructed in town squares on Easter Monday as part of a communal celebration?

    Answer: A giant omelette

    The town of Bessières in southwestern France is famous for its Fraternity of the Giant Omelette, which cooks over 4,500 eggs in a massive pan in the town square each Easter Monday, a tradition linked to Napoleon's visit.

  3. Which Baroque composer wrote the 1708 oratorio La resurrezione?

    Answer: George Frideric Handel

    George Frideric Handel composed La resurrezione, an Italian-language oratorio first performed in Rome in 1708.

  4. Hot cross buns are spiced sweet buns marked with a cross on top. In which country did a 1592 edict temporarily restrict their sale to Good Friday, Christmas, and burials?

    Answer: England

    Elizabeth I of England issued a decree limiting the sale of spiced buns with religious symbols to specific holy days, though enforcement was inconsistent and the buns remained popular year-round in practice.

  5. Food coloring is the most common way to dye Easter eggs today. Which natural ingredient produces a blue tint on eggshells?

    Answer: Red cabbage

    Red cabbage leaves contain anthocyanins that turn eggshells blue when used as a natural dye.

Daily round

  1. Which underground plant structure stores food for a daffodil between growing seasons?

    Answer: Bulb

    A daffodil grows from a bulb that stores energy underground between its seasonal periods of growth.

  2. Which Mediterranean spring flower belongs to the genus Narcissus, named for a figure in Greek mythology?

    Answer: The daffodil

    The daffodil belongs to the genus Narcissus, named after the mythological figure, and species like Narcissus tazetta grow wild across the Mediterranean, blooming in early spring and naturally associating with Easter garden displays.

  3. Which tree is famous for producing pink or white blossoms in early spring and is often called 'Easter tree' in parts of Europe?

    Answer: Hawthorn

    The hawthorn is known as the Easter tree in some European traditions because it typically blooms around Easter time.

  4. Lamb is a traditional Easter main course in many Mediterranean and European cultures. Which of these dishes is a Greek Easter specialty made of offal, herbs, and rice wrapped in lamb intestine?

    Answer: Kokoretsi

    Kokoretsi is a festive Greek dish of seasoned organ meats wrapped in lamb intestines and slow-roasted on a spit, commonly served at Easter celebrations alongside roast lamb.

  5. Which famous Renaissance sculptor created a marble Pietà depicting Mary holding the body of the crucified Christ?

    Answer: Michelangelo

    Michelangelo carved the Pietà between 1498 and 1499; it is housed in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and is one of the most recognized sculptures of the Easter narrative.

Daily round

  1. Which egg-decorating style creates a design by scratching through a dark dyed surface?

    Answer: Drapanka

    Drapanka decoration reveals a lighter eggshell design by scratching lines through a dark layer of dye.

  2. What is the traditional name for the Sunday before Easter that commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem?

    Answer: Palm Sunday

    Palm Sunday recalls the Gospel accounts of Jesus entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey while crowds spread palm branches on the road, an event mentioned in all four canonical Gospels.

  3. Mämmi is a traditional Finnish Easter dessert made from rye flour, water, and dried malt, then baked slowly in a low oven. What is its characteristic appearance?

    Answer: A dark brown, gelatinous pudding

    Mämmi has a distinctive dark brown, almost black color and a firm, gelatinous texture; it is traditionally baked in rectangular containers made of birch bark and served cold with cream or sugar.

  4. Which jewelry house created the Imperial Easter eggs commissioned by Russia's imperial family?

    Answer: House of Fabergé

    The House of Fabergé produced the famous jeweled Imperial Easter eggs for members of Russia's imperial family.

  5. Which type of pastry, a hollow chocolate egg filled with small toys or candies, is a staple Easter treat in Italy?

    Answer: Uovo di Pasqua

    The Uovo di Pasqua is a large hollow chocolate egg, commercially produced and often containing a small surprise gift inside, given to children and loved ones throughout Italy during the Easter season.

Daily round

  1. The tradition of dyeing Easter eggs using onion skins produces which color most commonly?

    Answer: Reddish-brown

    Onion skins contain tannins and quercetin pigments that stain eggshells a warm reddish-brown or amber tone.

  2. Creating a 'cascarón' involves decorating which type of egg that is then gently broken over someone's head for good luck?

    Answer: A hollowed-out chicken egg

    Cascarones are confetti-filled hollowed eggshells, a tradition with roots in both Spain and Latin American cultures.

  3. Which Russian composer wrote the orchestral Russian Easter Festival Overture, subtitled Bright Holiday?

    Answer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    Rimsky-Korsakov composed the "Russian Easter Festival Overture" in 1888, weaving together liturgical melodies and depicting the Easter celebration as described in the Orthodox tradition.

  4. Simnel cake, a fruit cake topped with a layer of marzipan and eleven marzipan balls, is traditionally associated with which holiday period in the UK?

    Answer: Mothering Sunday and Easter

    Simnel cake is eaten during Lent and Easter, with strong associations to Mothering Sunday; its eleven marzipan balls are said to represent the faithful apostles, excluding Judas.

  5. Which spice commonly provides the warm, sweet aroma in hot cross buns?

    Answer: Cinnamon

    Cinnamon is a common spice in hot cross buns, often paired with nutmeg or mixed spice.

Daily round

  1. In Germany, the "Osterbaum" (Easter tree) is a custom involving what activity?

    Answer: Decorating tree branches with hung eggs

    Families in Germany and parts of Austria hang blown and decorated eggs from the branches of cut trees or outdoor bushes to create an Osterbaum, a colorful Easter display that has been documented since at least the 16th century.

  2. Which amphibian typically lays long strings of eggs rather than floating clumps of spawn?

    Answer: Common toad

    Common toads lay their eggs in long gelatinous strings, while many frogs lay eggs in clumps.

  3. Which mineral compound makes up most of a chicken eggshell?

    Answer: Calcium carbonate

    Calcium carbonate forms most of a chicken eggshell and gives the shell its rigid structure.

  4. Which Gospel describes Mary Magdalene mistaking the risen Jesus for a gardener near the tomb?

    Answer: The Gospel of John

    The Gospel of John recounts Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Jesus and initially thinking he is the gardener.

  5. The word 'maundy,' as in Maundy Thursday, is thought to derive from the Latin word for what?

    Answer: Command

    Maundy likely comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning commandment, referring to Jesus' new commandment to love one another as recorded in the Gospel of John.

Daily round

  1. The word 'vernal' is commonly paired with 'equinox' around Easter. What does 'vernal' mean?

    Answer: Spring

    Vernal derives from the Latin word vernus, meaning of or related to spring.

  2. Wax-resist dyeing on eggs, central to the pysanky tradition, works because wax repels the dye. What is the correct order of operations?

    Answer: Apply wax, dye, then remove wax

    In wax-resist dyeing, wax is applied first to preserve the design, the egg is dyed, and then the wax is melted off to reveal the pattern.

  3. On what day of the week does Holy Week begin?

    Answer: Sunday

    Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, which commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and falls one week before Easter Sunday.

  4. Which English composer wrote the oratorio "Messiah," which includes the famous "Hallelujah" chorus commonly performed during the Easter season?

    Answer: George Frideric Handel

    Handel composed "Messiah" in 1741; while it is often associated with Christmas, the work's second and third parts focus on the Passion, resurrection, and redemption, making it a fixture of Easter programming.

  5. In Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, what distinctive feature characterizes the depiction of the resurrected Christ?

    Answer: He radiates light against a dark landscape, contrasting with the suffering crucifixion panel

    Grünewald's altarpiece contrasts the gruesome crucifixion with a luminous resurrection panel where Christ glows with golden light against a deep landscape, symbolizing the victory over death.

Daily round

  1. The word 'equinox' comes from Latin. What does it literally translate to?

    Answer: Equal night

    Equinox combines aequus, meaning equal, with nox, meaning night, referring to roughly equal day and night lengths.

  2. Which plant process allows many spring bulbs to pause growth during unfavorable winter conditions?

    Answer: Dormancy

    Dormancy lets many bulbs suspend visible growth through winter before resuming when conditions improve.

  3. Which herb, often called "pasque flower" from the Old French for Easter, is a spring-blooming purple wildflower found across European meadows?

    Answer: Pulsatilla vulgaris

    Pulsatilla vulgaris, the pasque flower, takes its common name from "Pâques," the French word for Easter, because it typically blooms around the holiday in its native European and central Asian grasslands.

  4. In Lebanon and Syria, Christian communities mark Easter with maamoul, a shortbread cookie filled with which ingredient?

    Answer: Dates or walnuts

    Maamoul are buttery semolina cookies molded into ornate shapes with a wooden press and filled with either date paste or a walnut-sugar-rose-water mixture, traditionally baked and shared among family at Easter and other Christian feast days.

  5. Which bird is a traditional Christian symbol of peace and sometimes appears in Easter artwork?

    Answer: Dove

    A dove is a longstanding Christian symbol of peace and the Holy Spirit and can appear in Easter-season art.