Why did Europe take a 'bearded lady' to its heart? Who quit her job after a nutty row? And are you clever or AYSOS? Test your knowledge in Roland White's festive challenge...
Who took 32 seconds to apologise?
Maria Miller
Kim Kardashian
Nigel Farage
Maria Miller, the former culture secretary, lost her job as culture secretary after Commons apology over her expenses
Who was criticised for visiting the Somerset floods without his wellies?
Ed Miliband
Somerset MP Ian Liddell Grainger
Owen Paterson
Owen Paterson, then environment secretary
According to Ukip councillor David Silvester, what caused those floods?
God’s anger at gay marriage
Global warming
Too many hedges
It was God’s anger at gay marriage. The Ukip councillor also chastised David Cameron for acting “arrogantly” against the Gospel by legalising same-sex unions.
Where did the Tour de France start?
London
Leeds
Leicester
The Tour de France starts in Yorkshire. Cyclists will complete a scenic route through Leeds, Scarborough and York.
Which country pluckily became the 18th member of the eurozone?
Latvia
Croatia
Bulgaria
Which country became the first to legalise euthanasia for all terminally ill children?
Kazakhstan
Belgium
Laos
Who got married shortly after midnight on March 29?
The first same sex couples
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Andrew Wale and Neil Allard became Britain’s first married gay couple at 00:00am on 29 March, tying the knot the second they were legally allowed to do so.
For how many days was David Moyes the manager of Manchester United before being sacked in April?
285
301
295
Who lost their job after taking a picture of builder Dan Ware’s house?
Emily Thornberry
A council worker from Essex
Michael Fabricant
Emily Thornberry, shadow attorney-general, tweeted the disastrous snap while campaigning in Rochester. She was accused of being snobby and promptly stepped down
Why did people get shirty with Matt Taylor?
He took his shirt off in an inappropriate location
He wore a shirt which offended some people
He tried to get a range of offensive shirts banned
The scientist, who helped land a probe on a comet, apologised for wearing a shirt that featured semi-naked women
Famous for 15 minutes
Why were these people (and animals) briefly in the news in 2014?
Conchita Wurst
Heather Cho
Thokozile Matilda Masipa
Annabel Honeybun
The Hare, the Polar Bear, and the Leopard
Judge in Oscar Pistorius trial
Gardener reportedly employed to remove leaves from parliamentary trees by hand
Korean Air chief's daughter who delayed a flight in anger because angry at how nuts were being served
Drag queen who won Eurovision song contest
Sochi Winter Olympic mascots
Round Two...
Natasha Bolter
Lewis Clarke
Dean Farley
Constance Briscoe
David Hockaday
At 16, he became youngest person ever to ski to South Pole
Judge jailed for attempting to pervert the course of justice in Vicky Pryce/Chris Huhne case
Non-league football coach who became manager of Leeds United for six games
Woman at centre of sex scandal involving Ukip general secretary Roger Bird
Jogger who bumped into David Cameron
The book bit
Which book features the following fictional characters?
Kitty Skimpole, Watt Rouncewell, Mrs Snagsby?
David Copperfield
Nicholas Nickleby
Bleak House
Spadge Hopkins, Granny Trill, Cabbage-Stump Charlie?
Cider with Rosie
My Family and Other Animals
Pigs in Heaven
Gia Matteo, Leila Williams, Dr Grace Trevelyan Grey?
Fifty Shades of Grey
Lady Chatterley's Lover
Bared to You
Grunthos the Flatulent, Lunkwill, Majikthise?
Beowulf
How to Train a Dragon
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Penny Husbands-Bosworth, Perpetua, Una Alconbury?
Us
Bridget Jones’s Diary
The Age of Innocence
Sir Jocelyn Hitchcock, Lady Trilby, Mr Wenlock Jakes?
The Great Gatsby
Scoop
The Beautiful and the Damned
Valentine Wannop, Potty Perowne, General Campion?
Parade’s End
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Birds Without Wings
Lord Stannis Baratheon, Ser Helman Tallhart, Utherydes Wayn?
The Hobbit
Game of Thrones
Wolf Hall
Jane Fairfax, Mrs Goddard, Colonel Campbell?
Emma
Dracula
Wuthering Heights
Albert Bloch, Dr Cottard, Charlie Morel
Everything is Illuminated
A la Recherche du Temps Perdu
Les Misérables
Nicknames
Which public figures were known as:
The Swedish Nightingale?
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Jenny Lind
Ingrid Bergman
Jenny Lind (1820 - 1887), the Stockholm-born soprano, became known as “the Swedish Nightingale” after her powerful but natural sounding voice.
The Little Sparrow?
Edith Piaf
Cara Delevingne
Audrey Tautou
The nightclub owner who discovered Edith Piaf nicknamed her “The Little Sparrow” after persuading the diminutive Parisian to sing despite her extreme stage fright.
Bambi?
Tony Blair
Audrey Hepburn
Cristiano Ronaldo
The adoring British media dubbed Tony Blair a political “bambi” when he was still doe-eyed and inexperienced as leader of the opposition.
The Great She-Elephant?
Boudicca
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Margaret Thatcher
Sir Julian Critchley, one of Thatcher's most vocal critics, gave her the nickname.
The Desert Fox?
Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal General Erwin Rommel
Dwight D. Eisenhower
German field marshal Erwin Rommel’s skilled leadership of German and Italian forces in North Africa during World War II earnt him the nickname “Desert Fox”.
The Flea?
Lionel Messi
Frankie Dettori
James Taylor
It was wrongly assumed that Lionel Messi would be squashed like a “Little Flea” by opposition defenders after the Argentine footballer was diagnosed with a growth-hormone disorder as a child.
The Great Bear?
Handel
Grigori Rasputin
Ludwig van Beethoven
German composer George Frideric Handel was nicknamed the ‘Great Bear’ for his enormous size and appetite, and awkward gait.
The Raging Bull?
Mike Tyson
Sugar Ray Robinson
Jake LaMotta
American-Italian boxer Jake LaMotta was called the “Raging Bull” after his famed aggression inside - and outside - of the ring.
The Big Bird?
Joel Garner
Tom Jones
Albert Einstein
Legendary West-Indian cricketer Joel Garner stood at 6 ft 8 and was known by fans as “the Big Bird” because of his towering stature.
The Welsh Goat?
John Rhys-Davies
Gavin Henson
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George was monikered “The Goat” by a parliamentary colleague because of his notorious womanising.
In the country
Which countries are being described here by the CIA World Factbook?
A province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries. Slightly smaller than Montana
Finland
Norway
Denmark
The world’s largest country that borders only one country. Slightly larger than the US
Russia
India
Canada
Settlement of free slaves from the US began here in 1822. Slightly larger than Tennessee
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Guinea
Part of the Norwegian kingdom of the Hebrides until the 13th century. Slightly more than three times the size of Washington DC
Isle of Wight
Isle of Man
Guernsey
The world’s largest island. Slightly more than three times the size of Texas
Australia
Greenland
Iceland
One of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830. Slightly more than twice the size of California
Venezuela
Columbia
Ecuador
For centuries, stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world. Slightly smaller than the US
India
Greece
China
Played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. Slightly smaller than Oregon
Italy
The UK
Denmark
The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires. Slightly smaller than Texas
Afghanistan
Pakistan
Kazakhstan
Lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of its capital city in a 1755 earthquake. Slightly smaller than Indiana
Portugal
Spain
France
In which county would you find?
Bottom Flash?
Cheshire
Gloucestershire
Merseyside
Bottom Flash is one of three freshwater lakes found in Winsford, Cheshire. Its sisters are Top Flash and the rather more conservatively named Middle Flash.
Lickey End?
West Midlands
Worcestershire
Herefordshire
Lickey End is the village tucked between the M42 and M5 in County Worcestershire.
River Piddle?
Berkshire
Kent
Dorset
The Piddle may be mentioned in the Domesday Book, but its unfortunate name never gets old. The river froths through Piddletrenthide.
Six Mile Bottom?
Cambridgeshire
Northumberland
Orkney
Six Mile Bottom is a hamlet butted up against a small church in Cambridge.
Lord Hereford’s Knob?
Powys
Londonderry
Cheshire
Lord Hereford’s Knob pokes out of the Black Mountains in Powys, Wales.
Nether Wallop?
Belfast
Hampshire
Middlesex
Nether Wallop is at least 1575 years old and located in west Hampshire.
Effingham?
Lincolnshire
Caerphilly
Surrey
Effingham, a rural village in Surrey, has been branded ‘dull’ by Lonely Planet.
Brokenwind?
Aberdeenshire
Glasgow
Kent
Whichever way you spell it - Brokenwind or the traditional Brokenwynd - the name of this hamlet in Aberdeenshire arguably stinks.
Weedon?
Oxfordshire
Devon
Buckinghamshire
The motto of Buckinghamshire, “No Turning Back”, may curse the residents of its civil parish, Weedon, for perpetuity.
Badgers Mount?
Somerset
Kent
Perthshire
Badgers Mount is a village in Kent.
The royals
Name that Monarch
Henry VII
Louis XVI of France
Good King Wenceslas
William II
Queen Victoria
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
James I
Richard III
Queen Anne
Catherine the Great of Russia
Architecture
Name these buildings:
Guggenheim museum, Bilbao
Elysée Palace, Paris
Ely Cathedral
Balmoral Castle
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Initial training
What do these computer-related initials stand for?
Processed Disk File
Portable Document Format
Printable Document Format
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group
Joint Picture Expansion Group
Joint Photograph Exposure Gain
ASCII
Advanced Status Code for Integrated Information
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
Application Service for Information Interchange
SMS
Short Message Service
Standardised Message Service
Serial Message Service
HTTPS
Hypertext Technology Permissions Service
Hightext Transfer Protocol Standard
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
FYI
Translate this text speak (from the TalkTalk dictionary) into standard English:
AYSOS
Act young, silly or stupid
Are you stupid or something?
Are you serious or something?
CID
Consider it done
Calm it down
Crack it down
DIKU
Did I kiss you?
Dude I killed you
Do I know you?
PIR
Picture it real
Paint it red
Parents in room
FF
Friends forever
Feeling fine
Friendly feelings
What connects?
Jarrow, Chichester and Millfield?
Tyne and Wear metro stations
London tube stations
Oxford train stations
Beverley Hills, Croydon, and Fairy Meadow?
California metro stations
Swansea train stations
Sydney metro stations
Military Museum, Temple of Heaven, Biomedical Base?
Beijing metro stations
Berlin metro stations
Madrid metro stations
Canberra, Somerset, Mayflower?
Vancouver metro stations
Singapore metro stations
Copenhagen metro stations
St Andrew, St George, St Clair?
Prague metro stations
Rome metro stations
Toronto metro stations
I don't know much about art but...
Which painting shows Jean de Dinteville, George de Selve, a globe, a sundial, and a skull?
Pitcher, Globe and State, by Ernest Harold Jones
Vanitas, Still Life with a Globe, by Petrus Schotanus
The Ambassadors, by Hans Holbein the Younger
Which painting shows Nan Wood Graham, Dr Byron McKeeby, and a pitchfork?
American Gothic, by Grant Wood
The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli
The Arnolfini Portrait, by Jan Van Eyck
What is the reverend Robert Walker doing in a portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn?
Staring
Ice skating
Farming
Who recorded Dr Tulp’s anatomy lesson?
Picasso
Leonardo da Vinci
Rembrandt
By what name is Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1 by James Whistler better known?
Whistler’s Mother
Guernica
The Night Watch
Final words
Whose reported last words were:
You must pardon me, gentlemen, for being a most unconscionable time a-dying
Christopher Marlowe
Charles II
Samuel Pepys
The words uttered by King Charles II (1630–1685) on his deathbed demonstrated the etiquette expected of any true English monarch. With fourteen illegitimate offspring, the royal, who died of kidney disease, was possibly deficient elsewhere.
My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go
J. D. Salinger
Allen Ginsberg
Oscar Wilde
Eternally witty , Oscar Wilde (1854) died of cerebral meningitis in 1900.
Monks! Monks! Monks!
Martin Luther
Henry VIII
William of Orange
No friend of the Vatican - and the Vatican no friend of his - the terrified Henry VIII (1491 – 1547) apparently suffered visions of scowling monks in the corner of his chamber shortly before dying.
This is not a good time for making enemies
Voltaire
Andy Warhol
Charlie Chaplin
Voltaire (1694 - 1778), on being asked to renounce Satan by a visiting priest.
Two eggs, lightly poached
Winston Churchill
H. H. Asquith
Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins’ last words were to his wife, Jennifer, before he died of a heart attack in 2003.
How did you do?
You scored {{score}} out of 100!
0-20: Terrible, truly terrible. Have you even opened a paper this year? Must try harder next year.
21-40: Not bad, but not exactly good either. Try looking at more than just the pictures of Kim Kardashian’s bottom and Ed Miliband failing to eat a bacon sandwich.
41-60: A solid score. Perhaps if you spent less time having a life of your own, you might have done even better!
61-80: Very good. You clearly know your Farages from your garages and your twits from Twitter rows. Brush up a little more and you’ll be doing as well as Boris Johnson in a room of people who know nothing about politics.
81-100: Impressive, if a little sad. Either way, you can be on our pub quiz team any day.
Who took 32 seconds to apologise?
Maria Miller
Who was criticised for visiting the Somerset floods without his wellies?
Owen Paterson
According to Ukip councillor David Silvester, what caused those floods?
God’s anger at gay marriage
Where did the Tour de France start?
Leeds
Which country pluckily became the 18th member of the eurozone?
Latvia
Which country became the first to legalise euthanasia for all terminally ill children?
Belgium
Who got married shortly after midnight on March 29?
The first same sex couples
For how many days was David Moyes the manager of Manchester United before being sacked in April?
295
Who lost their job after taking a picture of builder Dan Ware’s house?
Emily Thornberry
Why did people get shirty with Matt Taylor?
He wore a shirt which offended some people
Why were these people (and animals) briefly in the news in 2014?
Judge in Oscar Pistorius trial
Thokozile Matilda Masipa
Gardener reportedly employed to remove leaves from parliamentary trees by hand
Annabel Honeybun
Korean Air chief's daughter who delayed a flight in anger because angry at how nuts were being served
Heather Cho
Drag queen who won Eurovision song contest
Conchita Wurst
Sochi Winter Olympic mascots
The Hare, the Polar Bear, and the Leopard
Round Two...
At 16, he became youngest person ever to ski to South Pole
Lewis Clarke
Judge jailed for attempting to pervert the course of justice in Vicky Pryce/Chris Huhne case
Constance Briscoe
Non-league football coach who became manager of Leeds United for six games
David Hockaday
Woman at centre of sex scandal involving Ukip general secretary Roger Bird
Natasha Bolter
Jogger who bumped into David Cameron
Dean Farley
Kitty Skimpole, Watt Rouncewell, Mrs Snagsby?
Bleak House
Spadge Hopkins, Granny Trill, Cabbage-Stump Charlie?
Cider with Rosie
Gia Matteo, Leila Williams, Dr Grace Trevelyan Grey?
Fifty Shades of Grey
Grunthos the Flatulent, Lunkwill, Majikthise?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Penny Husbands-Bosworth, Perpetua, Una Alconbury?
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Sir Jocelyn Hitchcock, Lady Trilby, Mr Wenlock Jakes?
Scoop
Valentine Wannop, Potty Perowne, General Campion?
Parade’s End
Lord Stannis Baratheon, Ser Helman Tallhart, Utherydes Wayn?
Game of Thrones
Jane Fairfax, Mrs Goddard, Colonel Campbell?
Emma
Albert Bloch, Dr Cottard, Charlie Morel
A la Recherche du Temps Perdu
The Swedish Nightingale?
Jenny Lind
The Little Sparrow?
Edith Piaf
Bambi?
Tony Blair
The Great She-Elephant?
Margaret Thatcher
The Desert Fox?
Field Marshal General Erwin Rommel
The Flea?
Lionel Messi
The Great Bear?
Handel
The Raging Bull?
Jake LaMotta
The Big Bird?
Joel Garner
The Welsh Goat?
David Lloyd George
A province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries. Slightly smaller than Montana
Finland
The world’s largest country that borders only one country. Slightly larger than the US
Canada
Settlement of free slaves from the US began here in 1822. Slightly larger than Tennessee
Liberia
Part of the Norwegian kingdom of the Hebrides until the 13th century. Slightly more than three times the size of Washington DC
Isle of Man
The world’s largest island. Slightly more than three times the size of Texas
Greenland
One of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830. Slightly more than twice the size of California
Venezuela
For centuries, stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world. Slightly smaller than the US
China
Played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. Slightly smaller than Oregon
The UK
The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian empires. Slightly smaller than Texas
Afghanistan
Lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of its capital city in a 1755 earthquake. Slightly smaller than Indiana
Portugal
Bottom Flash?
Cheshire
Lickey End?
Worcestershire
River Piddle?
Dorset
Six Mile Bottom?
Cambridgeshire
Lord Hereford’s Knob?
Powys
Nether Wallop?
Hampshire
Effingham?
Surrey
Brokenwind?
Aberdeenshire
Weedon?
Buckinghamshire
Badgers Mount?
Kent
Name that Monarch
Henry VII
Louis XVI of France
Good King Wenceslas
William II
Queen Victoria
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
James I
Richard III
Catherine the Great of Russia
Name these buildings:
Guggenheim museum, Bilbao
Elysée Palace, Paris
Ely Cathedral
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Portable Document Format
JPEG
Joint Photographic Experts Group
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
SMS
Short Message Service
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
AYSOS
Are you stupid or something?
CID
Consider it done
DIKU
Do I know you?
PIR
Parents in room
FF
Friends forever
Jarrow, Chichester and Millfield?
Tyne and Wear metro stations
Beverley Hills, Croydon, and Fairy Meadow?
Sydney metro stations
Military Museum, Temple of Heaven, Biomedical Base?
Beijing metro stations
Canberra, Somerset, Mayflower?
Singapore metro stations
St Andrew, St George, St Clair?
Toronto metro stations
Which painting shows Jean de Dinteville, George de Selve, a globe, a sundial, and a skull?
The Ambassadors, by Hans Holbein the Younger
Which painting shows Nan Wood Graham, Dr Byron McKeeby, and a pitchfork?
American Gothic, by Grant Wood
What is the reverend Robert Walker doing in a portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn?
Ice skating
Who recorded Dr Tulp’s anatomy lesson?
Rembrandt
By what name is Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1 by James Whistler better known?
Whistler’s Mother
You must pardon me, gentlemen, for being a most unconscionable time a-dying
Charles II
My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go
Oscar Wilde
Monks! Monks! Monks!
Henry VIII
This is not a good time for making enemies
Voltaire
Two eggs, lightly poached
Roy Jenkins