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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 9 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Which object do some Colombians carry at midnight as a wish for travel in the new year?

    Answer: An empty suitcase

    Some Colombians walk with an empty suitcase at midnight as a wish for travel in the coming year.

  2. Which sprouted greens are commonly placed on a Nowruz haft-sin table?

    Answer: Sabzeh

    Sabzeh consists of sprouted wheat, barley, or lentils and symbolizes renewal.

  3. The abbreviation BCE is commonly expanded as what?

    Answer: Before Common Era

    BCE means Before Common Era and labels years preceding the Common Era.

  4. What is the Nowruz table of seven symbolic items called?

    Answer: Haft-sin

    Haft-sin is a display of seven items whose Persian names begin with the letter sin.

  5. 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.

Daily round

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

    Answer: Scots

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

  2. What gas creates bubbles in sparkling wine?

    Answer: Carbon dioxide

    Dissolved carbon dioxide forms the streams of bubbles in sparkling wine.

  3. 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.

  4. What is the Japanese New Year holiday called?

    Answer: Shōgatsu

    Shōgatsu is the Japanese celebration of the new calendar year.

  5. In Spain, how many grapes are traditionally eaten with the midnight clock chimes?

    Answer: Twelve

    Spain's midnight custom uses twelve grapes, one for each clock chime and month ahead.

Daily round

  1. Which sticky rice cakes are traditional Japanese New Year foods?

    Answer: Mochi

    Mochi made from pounded glutinous rice is strongly associated with Japanese New Year meals.

  2. 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.

  3. How many days does a common Gregorian year contain?

    Answer: 365

    A common Gregorian year has 365 days; a leap year has one additional day.

  4. 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.

  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 an epoch in calendar terminology?

    Answer: A reference point from which time is counted

    An epoch is the chosen starting instant used by a chronological system.

  2. Rosh Hashanah begins in which Hebrew month?

    Answer: Tishrei

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

  3. Which soup is traditionally eaten during Korean Seollal?

    Answer: Tteokguk

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

  4. Which month begins the Gregorian calendar year?

    Answer: January

    January is the first month of the Gregorian calendar year.

  5. How many years make a century?

    Answer: 100

    A century comprises one hundred years.

Daily round

  1. Which ancient civilization is often credited with recording early New Year resolutions?

    Answer: Babylonians

    Ancient Babylonians made seasonal promises connected with debts and returned property.

  2. What does the Latin phrase “anno Domini” literally mean?

    Answer: In the year of the Lord

    Anno Domini literally means “in the year of the Lord” and underlies the abbreviation AD.

  3. What food is tossed at doors in Greece as a New Year symbol of abundance?

    Answer: A pomegranate

    Greek New Year custom may involve smashing a pomegranate so its many seeds symbolize abundance.

  4. Which square rice cake is a traditional Tết food?

    Answer: Bánh chưng

    Bánh chưng is a square glutinous-rice cake filled with mung bean and pork for Tết.

  5. A Gregorian year divisible by 100 is a leap year only when it is also divisible by what number?

    Answer: 400

    The Gregorian rule keeps century years as leap years only when they are divisible by 400.

Daily round

  1. How many times are Buddhist temple bells traditionally rung for Joya no Kane in Japan?

    Answer: 108

    Joya no Kane ceremonies ring temple bells 108 times, reflecting a Buddhist enumeration of worldly desires.

  2. What is osechi ryōri?

    Answer: Japanese New Year dishes

    Osechi ryōri is the assortment of symbolic foods prepared for Japanese New Year.

  3. Songkran is a traditional New Year festival in which country?

    Answer: Thailand

    Songkran is Thailand's traditional New Year festival, observed in April.

  4. Which instrument is sounded during Rosh Hashanah services?

    Answer: Shofar

    The shofar, traditionally made from a ram's horn, is sounded during Rosh Hashanah.

  5. What name is given to a party horn that unrolls when blown?

    Answer: Noisemaker

    A party noisemaker may produce sound and extend a rolled paper tube when blown.

Daily round

  1. Which calendar term means a continuous system of numbered years beginning from a reference event?

    Answer: Era

    A calendar era numbers years from a designated epoch or reference point.

  2. Which American state is represented by the fruit in Atlanta's Peach Drop tradition?

    Answer: Georgia

    Atlanta's Peach Drop draws on the peach's longstanding association with Georgia.

  3. What time of day does 00:00 mark at the start of January 1?

    Answer: Midnight

    The 24-hour notation 00:00 marks midnight, the civil boundary between December 31 and January 1.

  4. The Islamic New Year begins with the first day of which month?

    Answer: Muharram

    Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

  5. Which city hosts the annual Mummers Parade on New Year's Day?

    Answer: Philadelphia

    Philadelphia's Mummers Parade features costumed clubs performing on New Year's Day.