Bonus Question: Christmas (Pub) Quiz Guide

Easy to forget.

Christmas is just around the corner (no really, it actually is now), and it's a great time to get down to the pub. I'm not just talking about escaping the family, though, I'm talking quizzing. No quizmaster can resist a Christmas-themed quiz, and with certain festive factoids coming up year after year, a little preparation can turn into a nice Christmas bonus.

As your friendly neighbourhood quiz nerd, I've put together a short guide to the essential Christmas knowledge that quizmasters love to test. Below you'll find specific facts, tips and tricks, and a few practice questions covering the most commonly encountered holiday favourites. Some of it will seem obvious, some of it won't, but everything could mean an extra point and a better chance at taking home the money. Similar preparation last year saw us pocket over £150 in cash, booze and other goodies in one week of quizzing, and as we're stuck in Canada this time around I thought I'd share some of those secrets.

Part 1: Christmas Controversy

I'll kick things off with a few topics that can cause Christmas quiz consternation. These are the questions where you don't just need to know the correct answer, you need to work out which correct answer the quizmaster thinks is right.

The question: What gift is given on the (e.g.) tenth day of Christmas?
The problem: It depends - there's no definitive Twelve Days of Christmas, with different gifts on different days, including some really weird ones such as badgers and "part of a June apple tree".
The answer: Step one is to learn a specific set of gifts, for which I'd go with the first one listed on Wikipedia (from a 1909 publication by Austin). The first eight days are fairly universal and should be easy to remember. Days 9-12 are trickier, and more likely to vary across versions. I memorize this version by starting at the twelfth day and working down with "The Dr Picked the Lords and Ladies" for Drummers-Pipers-Lords-Ladies. This isn't the best mnemonic, but it works for me, and if you take a minute to come up with your own it'll probably stick for years.

The other thing you may want to do is explain to the quizmaster what you've done. If you say something like "You know there are different variations of this, right? We've gone with the one that comes first on Wikipedia, is that OK?" they'll probably be surprised to hear their question is ambiguous, and thus be happy for you to offer them an easy way out. (If you're truly serious you can learn a few variations by name, but that's more than a little tedious.)

North LOL more like.

The question: Where does Santa Claus live?
The problem: It depends who you're asking. North America tends to think he lives at the North Pole (which doesn't belong to any particular country), while each Nordic country claims him for their own. Even if the question is as specific as "Where is Lapland?" you're still not safe. They probably want Finland, but it's also the name of a province of Sweden as well as a general region stretching across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
The answer: Check with the quizmaster. If the question is simply "where does Santa Claus live?" then say "Americans think he lives at the North Pole, Norwegians think he lives in Norway, Danes think he lives in Denmark..." until they get bored and tell you what they want you to put. If they just ask for which country Lapland is in, you're almost certainly safe with Finland, but if you want to be extra sure then ask for further clarification (assuming you haven't got on their nerves by now...).

The question: What date is the twelfth day of Christmas/Epiphany?
The problem: It could be January 5th or January 6th.
The answer: If they ask for Epiphany, you're fine - as that's unambiguously January 6th. If they ask for the twelfth day of Christmas (or twelfth night) you're going to want to ask for clarification. Wikipedia lists Twelfth Night as falling on the 6th as well, so that's your best bet, but if you work it out with Christmas Day being the first day of Christmas, you'll come to a different conclusion: by that logic January 5th is the twelfth day. Indeed, Wikipedia mentions that Twelfth Night is defined by the Shorter OED as being on the evening of the 5th, so if you mention that to the quizmaster as well they'll hopefully admit you probably know best and let you have the point.

The question: What gender are Santa's reindeer?
The problem: The Internet loves arguing about it.
The answer: If someone has asked this there are two possible reasons. One is that they've read that male reindeer lose their antlers in winter, so the answer is female, and thus it's a 'fun' sort-of-trick question. The other is that they've heard this fact, then gone onto the Internet and discovered that not all male reindeer lose their antlers in winter (and what's more they're fictional reindeer anyway) and are trying to catch people out in a QI-esque manner. In the vast majority of cases I would wager on female, but be ready to fight your corner.

Part 2: Easy mistakes

Next up I've selected a few tidbits that aren't particularly difficult questions, but are easy to get wrong.

1) If you add up all the presents received during the Twelve Days of Christmas you'd get 364 gifts in total - one for every day of the year except Christmas! Obviously you could work this out for yourself, but it's easy to make a mistake, plus just knowing it will save time, stress, and maybe impress someone.

Mistletoe and whuh?

2) (European) Mistletoe berries are white, not red. A classic one that gets thrown in to annoy people. Don't be one of them! (Although thanks to a commenter below for pointing out some other varieties do fruit red, so watch out for that.)
3) There are four ghosts in A Christmas Carol. It's easy to forget Jacob Marley in addition to the more famous Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come (bonus pedantry that could save you a point: that last one is not simply 'Future').
4) Last Christmas by Wham! was not a UK Christmas number one. It was kept off the top of the charts in 1984 by Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas.
5) The three wise men are Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, giving gold, frankincense and myrrh, respectively. My mnemonic for this is "God Came From Me and My Baby" which gives the first two letters of the gifts and wise men in order. It's a bit contrived but works for me. While we're on the subject, if you're asked what the gifts actually are then it's probably safest to say that frankincense is a perfume or fragrance, while myrrh is an embalming fluid. (It's a little more nuanced than that, but those definitions should be fine.)
6) The eight reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. This is a classic one for quizmasters to ask either as a lazy way to have eight points available, or as a tough one- or two-pointer. Like the seven dwarfs it's easy to forget one, so make sure you test yourself a few times to see if there are any you regularly overlook. For me, the easiest ones to miss are Comet and Cupid as they come in the middle and don't rhyme, so they're usually the ones I write down first. Try testing your team on this before the quiz starts and see if there are any gaps - as long as you're prepared even a team of two should have no difficulty remembering eight names. Addendum: you may be wondering about Rudolph. The 'traditional' eight above are from the 1823 A Visit from St. Nicholas, and for my money that's the only really objective way to define it. If I was asked about this in a quiz I'd probably check with the quizmaster what source they're working from; it's a sloppy question if they don't have a specific one in mind.

Part 3: Question Time

To finish up I've written a few 'Classic Christmas Trivia'-inspired questions and divided them into very loosely themed rounds. Either have a go yourself or use them as a warm-up while waiting for the quiz to start. If your teammates think this is a bit weird, be sure to explain that doing a quiz before a quiz is what all the coolest of kids do.

Questions with 'Christmas' in the answer

1) Also the poem's opening words, what is the more common name of A Visit from St. Nicholas?
2) Sent on 3 December 1992, what two words formed the first SMS message?
3) First performed in the movie Holiday Inn. Which Bing Crosby song (written by Irving Berlin) is the best-selling single of all time? (His version of Silent Night, meanwhile, is the third best-selling single, with Princess Diana tribute Candle in the Wind second.)
4) Which slogan was introduced by the National Canine Defence League (now the Dogs Trust) in 1978?
5) What was first delivered by George V in 1932?
6) On what day in 1066 was William I crowned?

The answers

1) 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (or just The Night Before Christmas)
2) Merry Christmas
3) White Christmas
4) A dog is for life, not just for Christmas
5) The King's Christmas Message (or the Queen's Christmas Message, or the Queen's Speech, just make sure you know it was George V in 1932 who did it first!)
6) Christmas Day

Christmas around the world

1) While Alabama was the first In 1836, in 1907 Oklahoma was the last US state to do what?
2) In Ukraine, which creature is considered good luck at this time of year, thanks in part to a legend in which it decorated a barren Christmas tree?

One year they'll put Nelson on top.

3) London's Trafalgar Square Christmas tree has been donated every year since 1947 by which city as a token of gratitude for British support during the Second World War?
4) 'Nadolig Llawen!' means 'Merry Christmas!' in which language?
5) Christmas Island is a territory of which country?
6) Which Italian sweet bread, originally from Milan, is traditionally enjoyed at Christmas? Spelling counts!
7) Seemingly ubiquitous at this time of year, from which country does the poinsettia originate?
8) Kallikantzaros, malevolent goblins who dwell underground but come to the surface during the twelve days of Christmas, are found in the folklore of Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey, and which other country?
9) Canadian postcodes typically consist of six characters, alternating between letters and numbers, such as A1B2C3. What postcode has been designated for Santa Claus?

The answers

1) Declare Christmas an official holiday.
2) Spiders
3) Oslo
4) Welsh
5) Australia
6) Panettone
7) Mexico (Although it's also found in other places, you will almost certainly be expected to put Mexico.)
8) Greece (We've heard this asked more than once, without the clarification of Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey, but they wanted Greece.)
9) H0H0H0

Christmas Miscellany

1) What festive item was created by baker Tom Smith in London in 1847?
2) On what date is St. Stephen's Day observed in the UK?
3) On what date is St. Nicholas Day observed in the UK?
4) Which English physicist was born on Christmas Day, 1642?
5) Which song was performed by choirboy Peter Auty in a classic 1982 film?
6) Which nut is traditionally used to make marzipan?
7) Debuting in 1892, which Russian composer wrote the score of the ballet The Nutcracker?
8) Which group has the most UK Christmas Number One singles, with four?

The answers

1) The Christmas cracker
2) December 26th (although note other churches may use different dates, such as December 27th in the Eastern Church)
3) December 6th (although note other churches may use different dates, such as December 19th in the Eastern Church)
4) Isaac Newton
5) Walking in the Air (from The Snowman; Aled Jones made a notable cover version, but was not the singer of the film version)
6) Almond
7) Tchaikovsky
8) The Beatles

Part 4: Further reading

The above covers what my experience has taught me are the most common facts and tidbits that crop up in pub quizzes at this time of year. There's obviously more you could look at but at this point the returns for the effort required start to drop off considerably. Still, I have a few recommendations for further reading. The first thing to do is obvious: search online for 'Christmas quiz' or 'Christmas trivia' (and similar). You'll find a world of quizzes to have a go at, many of which will overlap with what you've read above. I've known quizmasters who have clearly done exactly the same thing and their resulting quiz has been almost entirely 'borrowed' from ones online. Beyond that, the classic things to look at are UK Christmas Number Ones (any quiz with a music round may well focus on these) and things that have happened on Christmas Day.

Here's hoping some of the above comes in handy, and that your Christmas quizzing is at least fun, if not profitable. Let me know if so, and happy quizmas!