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 2 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. What are New Year's resolutions?

    Answer: Promises of personal change

    New Year's resolutions are personal commitments to begin or maintain desired changes.

  3. 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.

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

    Answer: Decade

    A decade is a span of ten years.

  5. What leafy vegetable often represents paper money in southern U.S. New Year meals?

    Answer: Collard greens

    Collard greens are linked symbolically with money because of their green, folded leaves.

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 April festival marks the traditional New Year in Laos?

    Answer: Pi Mai

    Pi Mai is the Lao New Year festival, celebrated with cleansing and water customs.

  3. Losar is a New Year festival in which cultural tradition?

    Answer: Tibetan

    Losar is the Tibetan New Year and is observed across Tibetan Buddhist communities.

  4. During which New Zealand season does the predawn rising of Matariki occur?

    Answer: Winter

    Matariki rises in New Zealand's predawn sky during winter and marks a new seasonal cycle.

  5. What does a countdown measure before midnight?

    Answer: Time remaining

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

Daily round

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

    Answer: Muharram

    Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

  2. Chinese New Year begins on what kind of calendar date?

    Answer: A lunisolar date

    Chinese New Year follows a traditional lunisolar calendar rather than one fixed Gregorian date.

  3. What color underwear is traditionally associated with New Year luck in parts of Latin America?

    Answer: Yellow

    Yellow clothing, including underwear, is used in several Latin American New Year customs as a symbol of luck or prosperity.

  4. Which calendar has thirteen months, including a short final month called Pagumen?

    Answer: Ethiopian calendar

    The Ethiopian calendar uses twelve 30-day months plus the short month Pagumen.

  5. Which ring-shaped cake is a New Year specialty in Denmark and Norway?

    Answer: Kransekake

    Kransekake is built from stacked rings of almond-based cake for celebrations including New Year.

Daily round

  1. Which country is the historical center of the Nowruz tradition?

    Answer: Iran

    Nowruz has deep roots in ancient Persia, corresponding largely to modern Iran.

  2. Who wrote the version of “Auld Lang Syne” that made the song famous?

    Answer: Robert Burns

    Scottish poet Robert Burns recorded and adapted the words associated with Auld Lang Syne.

  3. 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.

  4. Which noodle dish is commonly eaten on New Year's Eve in Japan?

    Answer: Toshikoshi soba

    Toshikoshi soba, meaning year-crossing noodles, is a Japanese New Year's Eve tradition.

  5. What is the final month of the Gregorian calendar year?

    Answer: December

    December is the twelfth and final month of the Gregorian year.

Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. What time of day does 00:00 mark at the start of January 1?

    Answer: Midnight

    The 24-hour notation 00:00 marks midnight, the civil boundary between December 31 and January 1.

  3. Which musical instrument is strongly associated with Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland?

    Answer: Bagpipes

    Bagpipes are a familiar musical feature of Scottish Hogmanay events.

  4. Which city stages a major New Year's Eve fireworks display around its harbour bridge and opera house?

    Answer: Sydney

    Sydney's harbour landmarks form the setting for its internationally recognized fireworks display.

  5. Which Pacific island nation is among the first countries to enter a new year by civil time?

    Answer: Kiribati

    Kiribati's Line Islands use UTC+14, placing them among the earliest inhabited places to begin a new civil year.

Daily round

  1. At which longitude is the Prime Meridian defined?

    Answer: 0 degrees

    The Prime Meridian is the reference line at zero degrees longitude.

  2. Which calendar term means a continuous system of numbered years beginning from a reference event?

    Answer: Era

    A calendar era numbers years from a designated epoch or reference point.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. How many years make a millennium?

    Answer: 1,000

    A millennium is a period of one thousand years.

Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. Which sprouted greens are commonly placed on a Nowruz haft-sin table?

    Answer: Sabzeh

    Sabzeh consists of sprouted wheat, barley, or lentils and symbolizes renewal.

  3. The abbreviation BCE is commonly expanded as what?

    Answer: Before Common Era

    BCE means Before Common Era and labels years preceding the Common Era.

  4. What is the Nowruz table of seven symbolic items called?

    Answer: Haft-sin

    Haft-sin is a display of seven items whose Persian names begin with the letter sin.

  5. Approximately how long does Earth take to orbit the Sun once?

    Answer: 365.24 days

    Earth's tropical year is about 365.24 days, which is why leap-day adjustments are needed.