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Seven days of questions and answers

New Year Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 11 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

Play today's quiz

Daily round

  1. What name is given to a party horn that unrolls when blown?

    Answer: Noisemaker

    A party noisemaker may produce sound and extend a rolled paper tube when blown.

  2. Which song did bandleader Guy Lombardo famously perform on New Year's broadcasts?

    Answer: Auld Lang Syne

    Guy Lombardo's New Year's broadcasts helped establish Auld Lang Syne as a North American midnight standard.

  3. Which country celebrates Seollal as a major traditional holiday?

    Answer: South Korea

    Seollal is the Korean lunar New Year and a major holiday in South Korea.

  4. What are red envelopes containing gift money commonly called in Mandarin?

    Answer: Hóngbāo

    Hóngbāo are red envelopes used to present money on holidays and special occasions.

  5. A Gregorian year divisible by 100 is a leap year only when it is also divisible by what number?

    Answer: 400

    The Gregorian rule keeps century years as leap years only when they are divisible by 400.

Daily round

  1. Apples are traditionally dipped in what food for a sweet Rosh Hashanah?

    Answer: Honey

    Apples dipped in honey express a wish for a sweet year in Jewish custom.

  2. Which object do some Colombians carry at midnight as a wish for travel in the new year?

    Answer: An empty suitcase

    Some Colombians walk with an empty suitcase at midnight as a wish for travel in the coming year.

  3. How many time zones does mainland China officially use?

    Answer: One

    Mainland China observes one official time zone, China Standard Time.

  4. Rosh Hashanah begins in which Hebrew month?

    Answer: Tishrei

    Rosh Hashanah starts on the first day of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar.

  5. Enkutatash is the New Year holiday of which country?

    Answer: Ethiopia

    Enkutatash marks the new year in Ethiopia's calendar tradition.

Daily round

  1. Which imaginary line largely determines where one calendar date changes to the next?

    Answer: International Date Line

    Crossing the International Date Line changes the civil date by one day.

  2. Which festival traditionally closes the Chinese New Year celebration period?

    Answer: Lantern Festival

    The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and concludes the traditional festivities.

  3. What does the Latin phrase “anno Domini” literally mean?

    Answer: In the year of the Lord

    Anno Domini literally means “in the year of the Lord” and underlies the abbreviation AD.

  4. Which sweet rice balls are commonly served at the Lantern Festival?

    Answer: Tangyuan

    Tangyuan are round glutinous-rice dumplings whose shape symbolizes family unity.

  5. The title “Auld Lang Syne” comes from which language?

    Answer: Scots

    Auld Lang Syne is a Scots phrase referring roughly to times long past.

Daily round

  1. Matariki marks the Māori New Year through the appearance of what?

    Answer: A star cluster

    Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades, whose rising signals the new year in many Māori traditions.

  2. What is the Sinhala and Tamil New Year commonly associated with in Sri Lanka?

    Answer: The Sun's transition into Aries

    Sri Lanka's April New Year is traditionally timed through an astrological transition of the Sun into Aries.

  3. What is the thirteenth-day outdoor observance that concludes Nowruz festivities in Iran?

    Answer: Sizdah Bedar

    Sizdah Bedar is traditionally spent outdoors on the thirteenth day of Nowruz.

  4. The Islamic New Year begins with the first day of which month?

    Answer: Muharram

    Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

  5. In Denmark, what household item may people jump from at midnight?

    Answer: A chair

    A Danish custom has celebrants jump from a chair to symbolically leap into the new year.

Daily round

  1. What is the first shrine or temple visit of the year called in Japan?

    Answer: Hatsumōde

    Hatsumōde is the customary first visit to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple after New Year begins.

  2. Which country recognizes Matariki as a public holiday?

    Answer: New Zealand

    New Zealand established a national public holiday celebrating Matariki.

  3. Confetti was named after small sweets from which country?

    Answer: Italy

    The word confetti comes from Italian sweets once thrown during festive occasions.

  4. Which citrus fruit often tops the Japanese New Year decoration kagami mochi?

    Answer: Daidai

    A daidai bitter orange traditionally sits atop the stacked rice cakes of kagami mochi.

  5. What is the name for a period of ten consecutive years?

    Answer: Decade

    A decade is a span of ten years.

Daily round

  1. At which Madrid square do crowds gather for Spain's televised midnight grape tradition?

    Answer: Puerta del Sol

    The clock at Puerta del Sol is the focal point of Spain's nationally broadcast New Year countdown.

  2. Thingyan is the traditional New Year water festival of which country?

    Answer: Myanmar

    Thingyan is Myanmar's April New Year celebration and is widely known for water festivities.

  3. How many animals form the traditional Chinese zodiac cycle?

    Answer: Twelve

    The Chinese zodiac repeats a sequence of twelve animal signs.

  4. Which activity is famously associated with Songkran?

    Answer: Water splashing

    Public water splashing grew from Songkran practices of respectful cleansing and blessing.

  5. Which calendar did the Gregorian calendar replace in countries that adopted the reform?

    Answer: Julian calendar

    The Gregorian reform corrected drift that had accumulated under the Julian calendar.

Daily round

  1. Which ancient Roman ruler gave his name to the Julian calendar?

    Answer: Julius Caesar

    Julius Caesar sponsored the reform that produced the Julian calendar.

  2. What is osechi ryōri?

    Answer: Japanese New Year dishes

    Osechi ryōri is the assortment of symbolic foods prepared for Japanese New Year.

  3. Which item is commonly raised for a toast at midnight?

    Answer: A drinking glass

    Participants commonly lift drinking glasses when making a New Year's toast.

  4. What does a countdown measure before midnight?

    Answer: Time remaining

    A countdown announces the shrinking number of seconds until the new year begins.

  5. Chol Chnam Thmey is the traditional New Year festival of which country?

    Answer: Cambodia

    Chol Chnam Thmey is the Khmer New Year celebrated in Cambodia.