The seasonal quiz answers

TROUBLE, CONFLICT AND CONTROVERSY

1. During a presidential debate he infamously cited Commerce and Education as two of three government agencies he would cut if elected, but forgot the third – Energy.

2. He'd set fire to himself; the result was the Arab Spring.

3. Mark Duggan, whose death at the hands of the police sparked the August riots.

4. The referee's assistant was accused by the Sky presenters Andy Gray and Richard Keys of not knowing the offside law. Gray was sacked and Keys resigned in the ensuing row.

5. Wendi Deng punched Jonathan May-Bowles, or "Jonnie Marbles", after the comedian attacked her husband Rupert Murdoch with a custard pie during the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee hearing into the hacking scandal.

6. The long-form version of his birth certificate, proving that he was born in the US.

7. Carlos Tevez has not played for Manchester City since his alleged refusal to come off the bench against Bayern Munich in September.

8. Anders Breivik, perpetrator of the 22 July massacre in Norway.

9. Yulia Tymoshenko, of Ukraine.

10. By smuggling oestrogen into his food.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

1. They released albums with numbers as titles: this year's 21, by Adele, and 2008's 19, Beyoncé's 4, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Twenty in 1997, Pearl Jam's Ten in 1991 and Blur's 13 in 1999.

2. It was featured on This Morning, and was the first product to be featured on a UK programme following the lifting of the ban on product placement.

3. "The Crime" in Danish – aka the original version of The Killing.

4. She's the "mystery blonde" seen on CCTV kissing the head of the England captain Mike Tindall in a bar in Queenstown, New Zealand – an incident seen as emblematic of England's disastrous campaign.

5. She killed him during a row about what to watch on TV – she wanted to watch Harry Hill's TV Burp, he didn't.

6. The scene with a double sunset. Kepler-16B is the first recorded instance of a planet orbiting a binary star.

7. The Booker Prize – which he finally won, with The Sense of an Ending.

8. The cot death of Ronnie Mitchell's baby and her subsequent theft of Kat Slater's newborn son.

9. Rio, the tale of a macaw who is taken to Rio de Janeiro to mate.

10. The Chinese tennis player became the first Asian to win a Grand Slam event, the French Open.

PEOPLE

1. The Mexican Ambassador complained about an episode of Top Gear in which the presenters Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May made derogatory jokes about Mexican stereotypes.

2. Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni.

3. The Westminster Abbey verger ended up on YouTube after being filmed turning cartwheels down the aisle after the ceremony.

4. Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, who has been fighting extradition to Sweden.

5. Pippa Middleton, Kate's sister.

6. Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker.

7. Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor.

8. He put himself up for sale on eBay, with a reserve price of £30,000.

9. Lily Allen.

10. Charlie Gilmour, jailed for his part in the student protests. His stepfather Dave Gilmour, was in Pink Floyd, while his biological father Heathcote Williams acted in the film.

PICTURE ROUND

1. Nancy Dell'Olio, referring to her then-boyfriend, Trevor Nunn.

2. Tulisa Contostavlos, on taking over from Cheryl Cole on The X Factor.

3. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

4. Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula One, discussing taking more Grands Prix out of Europe.

5. Margaret Thatcher, quoted in The Sunday Telegraph.

6. The last words of Steve Jobs.

7. The Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.

8. The Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, after his side's 6-1 home defeat to Manchester City in October.

9. Silvio Berlusconi, when he was still Italian Prime Minister.

10. Imogen Thomas, ex-Big Brother and ex of Ryan Giggs.

THE DEPARTED

1. Osama bin Laden.

2. Colonel Gaddafi.

3. "Whispering" Ted Lowe, snooker legend.

4. Janet Brown, best known for her impression of Margaret Thatcher.

5. Gil Scott-Heron.

6. Sir Jimmy Savile.

7. Poly Styrene, of the punk band X-Ray Spex.

8. Jack Kevorkian, or "Dr Death", practitioner of assisted suicide.

9. Shelagh Delaney, writer of A Taste of Honey.

10. The golfer Seve Ballesteros, named for his sometimes wayward shots.

LUCKY DIP

1. Oliver and Olivia.

2. How to deal with the legacy of being the birthplaces of Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin respectively.

3. Both their seasons started or will start late because of an industrial dispute between players and team owners (the NBA is due to begin on Christmas Day).

4. Someone not in employment, education or training.

5. A flying car.

6. They're all neologisms included in the latest edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, published in August.

7. Slut Walks.

8. It wasn't criticised – in fact, it wasn't mentioned at all.

9. Rubber bands.

10. Danica Camacho was born, designated by the UN as the world's seven billionth person.