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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 6 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. Which paper accessory is traditionally pulled apart at festive British dinners?

    Answer: Christmas cracker

    A Christmas cracker is pulled by two people and opens with a snap, often around the New Year holiday period.

  3. In Spain, how many grapes are traditionally eaten with the midnight clock chimes?

    Answer: Twelve

    Spain's midnight custom uses twelve grapes, one for each clock chime and month ahead.

  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. 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.

Daily round

  1. Which sparkling wine must come from its namesake French region to use that protected name?

    Answer: Champagne

    Champagne is a protected regional name for sparkling wine from France's Champagne region.

  2. How many years make a millennium?

    Answer: 1,000

    A millennium is a period of one thousand years.

  3. What is an epoch in calendar terminology?

    Answer: A reference point from which time is counted

    An epoch is the chosen starting instant used by a chronological system.

  4. 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.

  5. The Islamic calendar is based primarily on which cycle?

    Answer: Phases of the Moon

    Islamic months begin according to a lunar cycle, making the year shorter than a solar year.

Daily round

  1. 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.

  2. Which yellow flower is associated with Ethiopia's Enkutatash season?

    Answer: Adey abeba

    The yellow adey abeba flower blooms around the Ethiopian New Year and symbolizes the season.

  3. Which season begins around the civil New Year in the Southern Hemisphere?

    Answer: Summer

    January falls in summer in the Southern Hemisphere because Earth's axial tilt reverses the seasonal pattern.

  4. What material must cover most visible surfaces of Rose Parade floats?

    Answer: Natural plant material

    Rose Parade rules require exposed float surfaces to be decorated with flowers or other natural materials.

  5. 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.

Daily round

  1. Which song is traditionally sung at midnight in many English-speaking New Year celebrations?

    Answer: Auld Lang Syne

    Auld Lang Syne is widely sung as the old year gives way to the new one.

  2. 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.

  3. Which event starts the numbering of years in the Islamic calendar?

    Answer: The Hijra

    The Islamic era is counted from the Hijra, Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina.

  4. Which Roman deity's two faces made him a symbol of looking backward and forward?

    Answer: Janus

    Janus was conventionally shown with two faces and associated with beginnings and passages.

  5. Which flower is especially associated with Tết in northern Vietnam?

    Answer: Peach blossom

    Pink peach blossoms are a traditional Tết decoration in northern Vietnam.

Daily round

  1. Which activity is famously associated with Songkran?

    Answer: Water splashing

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

  2. Which Paris landmark is often illuminated during New Year celebrations?

    Answer: Eiffel Tower

    The Eiffel Tower is a prominent focus of Parisian New Year imagery and illumination.

  3. What is burned in parts of Ecuador at midnight to represent the old year?

    Answer: An effigy

    Ecuadorian año viejo traditions burn an effigy symbolizing the departing year.

  4. Which college football game is traditionally linked with Pasadena's New Year celebration?

    Answer: Rose Bowl

    The Rose Bowl game is the sporting counterpart to Pasadena's Tournament of Roses events.

  5. Which performance features a team operating a long fabric creature during Chinese New Year?

    Answer: Dragon dance

    A dragon dance uses multiple performers to animate a long, flexible dragon figure.

Daily round

  1. In Brazil, which color is commonly worn on New Year's Eve as a wish for peace?

    Answer: White

    Many Brazilian revelers wear white on New Year's Eve to symbolize peace.

  2. What causes the cycle of seasons experienced through a year?

    Answer: Earth's axial tilt

    Earth's tilted axis changes the angle and duration of sunlight as the planet orbits the Sun.

  3. The Islamic calendar is based primarily on which cycle?

    Answer: Phases of the Moon

    Islamic months begin according to a lunar cycle, making the year shorter than a solar year.

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

    Answer: Italy

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

  5. Which Pennsylvania city has marked New Year's Eve with a giant chocolate Kiss replica?

    Answer: Hershey

    Hershey, Pennsylvania, has used a large Kiss-shaped object as a local countdown symbol.

Daily round

  1. Which Chinese fruit is often displayed because its name sounds auspicious?

    Answer: Mandarin orange

    Mandarin oranges are exchanged and displayed because their names and color carry fortunate associations.

  2. Which pope introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582?

    Answer: Gregory XIII

    Pope Gregory XIII introduced the calendar reform that now bears his name.

  3. Which color is prominently associated with good fortune during Chinese New Year?

    Answer: Red

    Red decorations and envelopes signify luck and celebration during Chinese New Year.

  4. Which American state is represented by the fruit in Atlanta's Peach Drop tradition?

    Answer: Georgia

    Atlanta's Peach Drop draws on the peach's longstanding association with Georgia.

  5. In the Scottish custom of first-footing, what does the “first foot” describe?

    Answer: The first visitor after midnight

    First-footing centers on the first person to enter a home after midnight.