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Seven days of questions and answers

Easter Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 8 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Easter Monday is a public holiday in many countries. In which of these countries is it traditionally celebrated with water fights?

    Answer: Hungary

    In Hungary, Easter Monday is marked by 'locsolkodás,' a tradition where people playfully sprinkle or splash water on each other.

  2. What is the common Amharic name for the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of Easter?

    Answer: Fasika

    Fasika is the Amharic name commonly used for Ethiopian Orthodox Easter, celebrated after a long fasting season.

  3. Which English composer wrote the oratorio "Messiah," which includes the famous "Hallelujah" chorus commonly performed during the Easter season?

    Answer: George Frideric Handel

    Handel composed "Messiah" in 1741; while it is often associated with Christmas, the work's second and third parts focus on the Passion, resurrection, and redemption, making it a fixture of Easter programming.

  4. How often does Easter fall on the same date in both Western and Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity?

    Answer: It varies and sometimes does not coincide for decades

    Because Eastern Christianity uses the Julian calendar for the calculation while the West uses the Gregorian, the dates coincide in some years but can differ by up to five weeks in others.

  5. Which word, from the Latin for 'renewal,' is often used in religious and literary contexts during Easter?

    Answer: Renovatio

    Renovatio is the Latin word for renewal and has historically been used in theological writings about the Easter season.

Daily round

  1. Which spring phenomenon describes the visible northward migration of birds returning from wintering grounds?

    Answer: Vernal migration

    Vernal migration is the term for the seasonal movement of birds traveling northward in spring to breeding grounds.

  2. What is the historical origin of the 40-day duration of Lent?

    Answer: It matches the number of days Jesus spent in the wilderness before his public ministry

    The 40 days of Lent mirror the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness as described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which themselves echo the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the desert.

  3. In the United Kingdom, which chocolate confection resembling a cracked eggshell, filled with a whipped fondant center, has been produced by Cadbury since 1963 and is closely linked to Easter?

    Answer: The Creme Egg

    The Cadbury Creme Egg, with its thick chocolate shell and sugary white-and-yellow fondant filling designed to mimic a raw egg yolk, has become one of the best-selling Easter candies in the UK and several other countries.

  4. What is the traditional method used in Fabergé's famous Imperial Easter eggs to create their decorated surfaces?

    Answer: Hand-painted enamel and precious metals

    Peter Carl Fabergé and his workshop used techniques including guilloché engraving on precious metals covered with multiple layers of translucent vitreous enamel, combined with gemstones and miniatures, to create the iconic Imperial Easter eggs.

  5. In Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, what distinctive feature characterizes the depiction of the resurrected Christ?

    Answer: He radiates light against a dark landscape, contrasting with the suffering crucifixion panel

    Grünewald's altarpiece contrasts the gruesome crucifixion with a luminous resurrection panel where Christ glows with golden light against a deep landscape, symbolizing the victory over death.

Daily round

  1. Which type of flower is most traditionally associated with Easter and symbolizes resurrection and new life in many cultures?

    Answer: Lily

    The white Easter lily has long symbolized purity, hope, and renewal, making it the most common Easter flower.

  2. What does the liturgical term "Triduum" literally mean in Latin?

    Answer: Three days

    Triduum is a Latin word meaning "three days," referring to the three most solemn days of the Christian year: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.

  3. Which 15th-century Italian painter created the Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle in San Francesco at Arezzo?

    Answer: Piero della Francesca

    Piero della Francesca painted the extensive fresco cycle "The Legend of the True Cross" in the Bacci Chapel of San Francesco in Arezzo during the 1450s, covering events from the Passion through the discovery of the cross by Saint Helena.

  4. In Scandinavian countries, children often dress as Easter witches and go door-to-door with a copper coffee pot. Which country most prominently practices this tradition?

    Answer: Sweden

    Swedish children don old clothes, shawls, and painted faces to resemble påskkärringar (Easter hags) and visit neighbors exchanging handmade cards and drawings for small sweets, a custom blending old folklore with Easter celebration.

  5. Which long-eared Australian marsupial is featured in Easter-themed conservation fundraising because rabbits are invasive there?

    Answer: Bilby

    The bilby, a nocturnal marsupial with long ears, has been championed since the 1990s by Australian conservationists as a native alternative to the rabbit, which is an invasive pest in Australia, with chocolate bilbies sold to raise funds for bilby conservation.

Daily round

  1. Which ecclesiastical computation method, developed in the medieval period, was used to calculate the date of Easter each year?

    Answer: The Computus

    The Computus was the medieval system of calendar calculation used to determine the date of Easter, involving the interplay between the solar year, the lunar month, and the fixed date of the vernal equinox.

  2. Which span describes the Easter Triduum in Western Christian liturgy?

    Answer: From Maundy Thursday evening through Easter Sunday evening

    The Easter Triduum begins with the evening liturgy on Maundy Thursday and concludes on Easter Sunday evening.

  3. The phrase 'spring forward, fall back' is a mnemonic for what seasonal practice?

    Answer: Adjusting clocks for daylight saving time

    The mnemonic reminds people to set clocks one hour ahead in spring and one hour back in autumn for daylight saving time.

  4. Which liturgical color is commonly used for Easter Sunday celebrations in Western churches?

    Answer: White or gold

    White or gold is commonly used at Easter to express celebration, light, and resurrection in Western liturgy.

  5. What does the Paschal candle symbolize in Christian liturgy?

    Answer: The light of Christ rising from the tomb

    The Paschal candle is lit at the Easter Vigil to symbolize the risen Christ as the light of the world; it is used throughout the Easter season and at baptisms and funerals.

Daily round

  1. What is the earliest possible date for Easter Sunday in the Western calendar?

    Answer: March 22

    Easter can fall as early as March 22, which last occurred in 1818 and will next occur in 2285.

  2. In which city was the Last Supper, according to the Gospel accounts, most commonly understood to have taken place?

    Answer: Jerusalem

    All four Gospels place the Last Supper in Jerusalem, where Jesus had traveled for the Passover feast, and it is traditionally associated with the Upper Room (Cenacle) on Mount Zion.

  3. What is the Octave of Easter?

    Answer: An eight-day period of celebration extending from Easter Sunday to the following Sunday

    The Octave of Easter is the eight-day celebration running from Easter Sunday through the Second Sunday of Easter (also called Divine Mercy Sunday), during which each day is treated as a solemnity.

  4. What is Tenebrae, a service observed during Holy Week?

    Answer: A service of gradually extinguished candles on the last three days of Holy Week

    Tenebrae is a liturgical service held on Wednesday evening of Holy Week (or spread across Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) in which candles are progressively extinguished to symbolize the gathering darkness after the crucifixion.

  5. The tradition of dyeing Easter eggs using onion skins produces which color most commonly?

    Answer: Reddish-brown

    Onion skins contain tannins and quercetin pigments that stain eggshells a warm reddish-brown or amber tone.

Daily round

  1. An Easter egg hunt typically involves hiding what type of eggs?

    Answer: Hard-boiled or plastic eggs

    Easter egg hunts most commonly use hard-boiled dyed eggs or plastic eggs filled with small treats or coins.

  2. What natural phenomenon marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere?

    Answer: The vernal equinox

    The vernal equinox, usually on March 19 or 20, occurs when day and night are nearly equal in length and spring begins.

  3. Which famous Renaissance sculptor created a marble Pietà depicting Mary holding the body of the crucified Christ?

    Answer: Michelangelo

    Michelangelo carved the Pietà between 1498 and 1499; it is housed in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and is one of the most recognized sculptures of the Easter narrative.

  4. Fanesca is a thick, hearty soup served during Holy Week in which South American country, containing up to twelve different types of grains and beans?

    Answer: Ecuador

    Fanesca is a traditional Ecuadorian Easter soup made with salt cod, pumpkin, milk, cheese, and twelve different grains and legumes, said to represent the Twelve Apostles and the diversity of Andean ingredients.

  5. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Easter Monday features a tradition where men playfully whip women with braided willow branches. What is this whip called?

    Answer: Pomlázka

    The pomlázka is a braided willow rod that men use to gently whip women on Easter Monday in a ritual traditionally believed to transfer health and vitality for the coming year; women may respond by splashing water on the men.

Daily round

  1. Which herb, often called "pasque flower" from the Old French for Easter, is a spring-blooming purple wildflower found across European meadows?

    Answer: Pulsatilla vulgaris

    Pulsatilla vulgaris, the pasque flower, takes its common name from "Pâques," the French word for Easter, because it typically blooms around the holiday in its native European and central Asian grasslands.

  2. Which Gospel describes Mary Magdalene mistaking the risen Jesus for a gardener near the tomb?

    Answer: The Gospel of John

    The Gospel of John recounts Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Jesus and initially thinking he is the gardener.

  3. Which plant process allows many spring bulbs to pause growth during unfavorable winter conditions?

    Answer: Dormancy

    Dormancy lets many bulbs suspend visible growth through winter before resuming when conditions improve.

  4. Which council in 325 CE established the rule that Easter should be observed on the same Sunday by all Christians?

    Answer: Council of Nicaea

    The First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE decreed that Easter should be celebrated on a Sunday and that all Christians should observe it on the same day.

  5. What event does the Easter Vigil service primarily commemorate?

    Answer: The resurrection of Jesus and the passage from death to life

    The Easter Vigil, held after nightfall on Holy Saturday, is the most important liturgy of the year in many Christian traditions, celebrating Jesus' resurrection through Scripture readings, the lighting of the Paschal candle, and baptismal rites.