AG AIGAMELIB 59 playable now, 61 experiments Play a case
Menu

Seven days of questions and answers

New Year Trivia Answers Archive

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

Play today's quiz

Daily round

  1. Rosh Hashanah is the New Year observance of which religion?

    Answer: Judaism

    Rosh Hashanah marks the Jewish New Year within the Hebrew calendar.

  2. Approximately how long does Earth take to orbit the Sun once?

    Answer: 365.24 days

    Earth's tropical year is about 365.24 days, which is why leap-day adjustments are needed.

  3. Which country has a New Year custom of casting molten metal and interpreting its shape?

    Answer: Finland

    Finnish New Year fortune-telling traditionally interprets shapes formed by cooled molten metal.

  4. The name Nowruz comes from Persian words meaning what?

    Answer: New day

    Nowruz combines Persian words whose English meanings are new and day.

  5. Which calendar did the Gregorian calendar replace in countries that adopted the reform?

    Answer: Julian calendar

    The Gregorian reform corrected drift that had accumulated under the Julian calendar.

Daily round

  1. What is the Sinhala and Tamil New Year commonly associated with in Sri Lanka?

    Answer: The Sun's transition into Aries

    Sri Lanka's April New Year is traditionally timed through an astrological transition of the Sun into Aries.

  2. Which Paris landmark is often illuminated during New Year celebrations?

    Answer: Eiffel Tower

    The Eiffel Tower is a prominent focus of Parisian New Year imagery and illumination.

  3. Which song did bandleader Guy Lombardo famously perform on New Year's broadcasts?

    Answer: Auld Lang Syne

    Guy Lombardo's New Year's broadcasts helped establish Auld Lang Syne as a North American midnight standard.

  4. Which city stages a major New Year's Eve fireworks display around its harbour bridge and opera house?

    Answer: Sydney

    Sydney's harbour landmarks form the setting for its internationally recognized fireworks display.

  5. Which legume is eaten in parts of the southern United States for New Year luck?

    Answer: Black-eyed peas

    Black-eyed peas are a customary New Year's food in parts of the American South.

Daily round

  1. What is the name for a period of ten consecutive years?

    Answer: Decade

    A decade is a span of ten years.

  2. What is the first shrine or temple visit of the year called in Japan?

    Answer: Hatsumōde

    Hatsumōde is the customary first visit to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple after New Year begins.

  3. The title “Auld Lang Syne” comes from which language?

    Answer: Scots

    Auld Lang Syne is a Scots phrase referring roughly to times long past.

  4. Which soup is traditionally eaten during Korean Seollal?

    Answer: Tteokguk

    Tteokguk is a Korean soup containing sliced rice cakes and is eaten for Seollal.

  5. Rosh Hashanah begins in which Hebrew month?

    Answer: Tishrei

    Rosh Hashanah starts on the first day of Tishrei in the Hebrew calendar.

Daily round

  1. Who wrote the version of “Auld Lang Syne” that made the song famous?

    Answer: Robert Burns

    Scottish poet Robert Burns recorded and adapted the words associated with Auld Lang Syne.

  2. During which New Zealand season does the predawn rising of Matariki occur?

    Answer: Winter

    Matariki rises in New Zealand's predawn sky during winter and marks a new seasonal cycle.

  3. At which Madrid square do crowds gather for Spain's televised midnight grape tradition?

    Answer: Puerta del Sol

    The clock at Puerta del Sol is the focal point of Spain's nationally broadcast New Year countdown.

  4. What is the thirteenth-day outdoor observance that concludes Nowruz festivities in Iran?

    Answer: Sizdah Bedar

    Sizdah Bedar is traditionally spent outdoors on the thirteenth day of Nowruz.

  5. Which ring-shaped cake is a New Year specialty in Denmark and Norway?

    Answer: Kransekake

    Kransekake is built from stacked rings of almond-based cake for celebrations including New Year.

Daily round

  1. Which flower is especially associated with Tết in northern Vietnam?

    Answer: Peach blossom

    Pink peach blossoms are a traditional Tết decoration in northern Vietnam.

  2. Which Pennsylvania city has marked New Year's Eve with a giant chocolate Kiss replica?

    Answer: Hershey

    Hershey, Pennsylvania, has used a large Kiss-shaped object as a local countdown symbol.

  3. Which citrus fruit often tops the Japanese New Year decoration kagami mochi?

    Answer: Daidai

    A daidai bitter orange traditionally sits atop the stacked rice cakes of kagami mochi.

  4. Which date is added to the Gregorian calendar in a leap year?

    Answer: February 29

    Leap years add February 29 to keep the calendar aligned with Earth's orbit.

  5. Which city is famous for a New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square?

    Answer: New York City

    New York City hosts the well-known Times Square ball drop on New Year's Eve.

Daily round

  1. What is the final month of the Gregorian calendar year?

    Answer: December

    December is the twelfth and final month of the Gregorian year.

  2. The Polar Bear Plunge typically asks participants to do what?

    Answer: Enter cold water

    A Polar Bear Plunge is a festive group dip in cold open water, often held around New Year's Day.

  3. Which festival traditionally closes the Chinese New Year celebration period?

    Answer: Lantern Festival

    The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and concludes the traditional festivities.

  4. Which round bread may conceal a coin in Greek New Year celebrations?

    Answer: Vasilopita

    Vasilopita is cut around New Year, and finding its hidden coin is considered fortunate.

  5. Which clock tower's bell is commonly called Big Ben during London's New Year broadcasts?

    Answer: Elizabeth Tower

    Big Ben is the nickname of the Great Bell housed in Elizabeth Tower.

Daily round

  1. What time standard replaced Greenwich Mean Time as the principal international civil reference?

    Answer: Coordinated Universal Time

    Coordinated Universal Time, abbreviated UTC, is the main global civil time standard.

  2. Which sparkling wine must come from its namesake French region to use that protected name?

    Answer: Champagne

    Champagne is a protected regional name for sparkling wine from France's Champagne region.

  3. Which imaginary line largely determines where one calendar date changes to the next?

    Answer: International Date Line

    Crossing the International Date Line changes the civil date by one day.

  4. Chol Chnam Thmey is the traditional New Year festival of which country?

    Answer: Cambodia

    Chol Chnam Thmey is the Khmer New Year celebrated in Cambodia.

  5. How many animals form the traditional Chinese zodiac cycle?

    Answer: Twelve

    The Chinese zodiac repeats a sequence of twelve animal signs.