The Christmas Quiz

Three seasonal offerings:

Home News

1 Who became a pupil at St Olave's school in Bromley?

2 How did the actor Scott Woods get into the headlines (albeit upside down)?

3 In January, Arthur Scargill launched a new political party. Was it (a) the Independent Labour Party; (b) the Socialist Labour Party; or (c) the Socialist Equality Party?

4 Exports of what British products were permitted to resume in June?

5 Who was publicly branded "a cheat and a liar"?

6 Remarkably, the year produced only two "bonking MP" scandals. Can you name the MPs involved?

7 Who was described as looking like "an old-age pensioner about to lose her bungalow"?

8 Why did di-(2ethylhexyl) phthalate hit the headlines in May?

9 In March, what finally sank in Cardiff Bay?

10 What did a Daubenton's bat do in June that Whisky and Soda aren't allowed to? FOREIGN NEWS

1 In the US presidential election, what happened for the first time (a) since 1944? and (b) since 1924?

2 In elections this year, where was a former president forbidden to take part because his parents were foreigners?

3 In elections this year, where did a former tennis star stand for president, and who was he?

4 Which country gained, and which lost, a Bibi?

5 Aside from all being Russian generals, what do Alexander Lebed, Alexander Korzhakov and Vladimir Semyonov have in common?

6 What has happened to Drazen Erdemovic and Dusan Tadic that hasn't happened to Ratko Mladic or Radovan Karadzic?

7 Which elder statesman's funeral was attended by his mistress, his illegitimate daughter and his black labrador?

8 Who or which or why or what is Sulaimaniya, and why was it in the news this autumn?

9 The Taliban militia took power in Afghanistan this year. Are they Sunni or Shia Muslims? And where does this leave them in relation to Iran?

10 With whom has Nelson Mandela been romantically linked?

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND GOSSIP

1 Who gave birth to (a) Heavenly Hiraani Tiger-Lily (b) Sulaiman Isa (c) Lourdes (d) Regan?

2 Who was reportedly paid pounds 150,000 by Hello! for his wedding photographs?

3 Where was the Sun's bogus video, which purported to show the Princess of Wales with James Hewitt, alleged to have been shot? And where was it actually shot?

4 Which royal got dressed up for an appearance at the theatre - and was widely mocked for doing so?

5 By which royal did Baywatch actress Gena Lee Nolin claim to have been asked on a date?

6 Which of the following wasn't charged with drink-driving this year? (a) James Hewitt; (b) Frances Shand-Kydd; (c) Sir Nicholas Scott.

7 Whose house-buying problems wrecked a multi-million-pound trip to America?

8 Roderick Wright went missing, then confessed to an affair, sold his story to the News of the World, and turned out to have several illegitimate children. What was his job title?

9 Which 37-year-old's financial problems turned out to be attributable to a injection she was given when she was 16?

10 Which disc jockey drew attention to himself with a nude radio broadcast?

SPORT

1 Which two Englishmen made front-page news with unexpected performances in SW19?

2 Who made $40m on Day One of his professional career?

3 Who won an Olympic silver medal for Great Britain at the age of 18?

4 "---- BELTS THREE BEAUTIES", crowed the Daily Mirror headline. Who was ----? And what was the joke supposed to be?

5 Who was the schoolboy England called up to train with the squad for the Five Nations match against Wales in January?

6 Which sport links the Galleria Shopping Centre in Hatfield with Egypt's pyramids?

7 Who managed to be paid pounds 5m for not fighting Mike Tyson?

8 Fujiyama Crest - why did this horse make history at Ascot in September?

9 Michael Johnson's 200m in the Olympics at Atlanta was described as the greatest race in history. Who came second?

10 "I just want to give you a hug." Who said this to whom and where?

FILM & TV

1 Which film set a classic play in an imaginary version of the 1930s, when Britain was run by fascists?

2 Which amateur reviewer summed up which film in the words: "I like it. We won, the end. Leadership. America. Good over evil"?

3 What put the wind up Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt?

4 Which of these films did not get re-released this year: Rebecca, North by Northwest, Touch of Evil, La Regle du Jeu and The Nutty Professor.

5 Half of Jane Austen's oeuvre was adapted for the big screen this year. Which of her six completed novels weren't?

6 Most of the Jane Austen adaptations on show featured at least one member of the Thompson family; which offered two?

7 Maths test: add together Brad Pitt as a detective hunting a moralising serial killer; Brad Pitt as a madman apparently out to end the world; Glenn Close as a fur fetishist; and Theresa Randle as a phone fetishist.

8 Which film introduced a character known as "the Virgin Surgeon"?

9 Why did the trial of Neil Avedon go into recess for two weeks?

10 How did I become Who?

PERFORMING ARTS

1 Which play took a classic drama and set it in an imaginary version of the 1950s, when Britain was run by Nazis?

2 For want of a rivet, what was lost at the Edinburgh Festival?

3 How did Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney draw a blank in the West End?

4 Where did The Lights going down signal the lights going down?

5 Which musical went through the wars but came back transformed?

6 Why did voyeurism not get much of a look in at the Whitehall Theatre?

7 Who objected to being called a philistine by the Independent on Sunday?

8 For how much are Michael Flatley's legs insured (a) pounds 5m; (b) pounds 15m; or (c) pounds 25m?

9 What part did Darcey Bussell play in Dances with Death?

10 Which French actress made her London debut playing a Scot in a German play?

MUSIC

1 Who said, of whom, "When he sings, it is with the voice of angels. When his feet move you can see God dancing"?

2 Complete the list: Mel B, Geri, Victoria, Emma...

3 Who took a lot of Flack to get to No 1?

4 Why were the CBSO rattled in February?

5 Who caused a fuss when he said: "In my opinion, Britten's music is ephemeral. It will not last."

6 How did East Cheam's most famous resident put in an appearance at the Proms?

7 How did the opera singer Richard Versalle cause a stir at the New York Met?

8 Which former Conservative minister enthusiastically endorsed Britpop in a newspaper article in March?

9 Which socialist singer admitted this year that he'd left the Labour Party?

10 Who put the star into Dogstar?

BOOKS

1 Who won this year's Aristeion Prize?

2 What kind of Englishmen were Christopher Wood, Richard Hillary and Jeremy Wolfenden?

3 Which writer was, allegedly, "Damned to Fame" and "The Last Modernist"?

4 Who were Paul Pinsent and Ivo Sponge? What happened to Pinsent?

5 Two sequels to Jane Austen's Emma were published this year: can you name them?

6 Which TV critic was panned for his first novel, a west London romp featuring sex between - among many other combinations - an Alsatian and a corpse?

7 Which former TV critic did only slightly better with a novel set in the slums of Bombay?

8 Which former restaurant critic did very much better with a novel following the career of food snob Tarquin Winot?

9 What links Making History, Time for Bed, Popcorn and The Gun-Seller?

10 Who wrote Primary Colors?