Christmas quiz: 50 trivia questions (with answers) to read out tonight

Every December someone says “we should do a Christmas quiz”, and then nobody writes the questions. So here they are: 50 Christmas trivia questions with answers, in five rounds of ten, plus three tiebreakers for when two tables end up level.

We checked every answer against a proper source (the Official Charts Company, Guinness, the Royal Family’s own site and so on). The only arguments left are about handwriting.

• Round 1: Christmas classics
• Round 2: Christmas movies
• Round 3: Name that Christmas song
• Round 4: UK vs US
• Round 5: The hard round
• Tiebreakers

How to run it

Teams of four to six, one answer sheet per team, phones face down. Read a round, give everyone a minute, then have the teams swap sheets and mark each other. One point per question, half a point for the bonus bits. Rounds 1 to 3 suit any crowd; save round 5 for when the mulled wine has kicked in and everyone thinks they’re a genius.

The answers are in italics after each question, so read from your phone and keep it angled away from the nosy table at the front.

Round 1: Christmas classics

1. What three gifts did the Magi bring? (Gold, frankincense and myrrh)
2. Which country has given London the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square every year since 1947? (Norway, as thanks for Britain’s help in the Second World War)
3. Saint Nicholas was a bishop in the town of Myra. Which country is Myra in today? (Turkey)
4. What does the X in “Xmas” stand for? (The Greek letter chi, the first letter of “Christ” in Greek)
5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 for a US department store chain. Which one? (Montgomery Ward)
6. Which of Santa’s reindeer has a name that’s German for “lightning”? (Blitzen. Donner means thunder.)
7. In which country is eating KFC a Christmas tradition, thanks to a 1974 ad campaign? (Japan)
8. Poinsettias, the red Christmas plant, are native to which country? (Mexico)
9. Which London sweet-maker is credited with inventing the Christmas cracker in the 1840s? (Tom Smith)
10. Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, got its name because a ship’s captain spotted it on Christmas Day 1643. Which country does it belong to today? (Australia)

Round 2: Christmas movies

1. In Home Alone, where is the McCallister family flying when they leave Kevin behind? (Paris)
2. What do Harry and Marv call themselves in Home Alone? (The Wet Bandits. Bonus point: in the sequel they’re the Sticky Bandits.)
3. In Home Alone 2, which New York hotel does Kevin check into? (The Plaza)
4. According to Buddy in Elf, what are the four main food groups? (Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup)
5. In Elf, which New York building does Buddy’s dad work in? (The Empire State Building)
6. Who plays the Prime Minister in Love Actually, and what’s Billy Mack’s Christmas single called? (Hugh Grant, “Christmas Is All Around”)
7. In It’s a Wonderful Life, what’s the name of the angel trying to earn his wings? (Clarence)
8. What’s the name of the skyscraper in Die Hard? (Nakatomi Plaza)
9. By how many sizes does the Grinch’s heart grow? (Three)
10. In A Christmas Story, what does Ralphie want for Christmas? (A Red Ryder BB gun. “You’ll shoot your eye out!”)

Round 3: Name that Christmas song

1. Who sang “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, released in 1994? (Mariah Carey)
2. Finish the line: “Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day…” (“…you gave it away”)
3. Which charity single kept Wham!‘s “Last Christmas” off the UK No. 1 spot in 1984? (“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid)
4. Which song does Guinness list as the best-selling single of all time? (“White Christmas”, Bing Crosby)
5. José Feliciano, who sings “Feliz Navidad”, was born where? (Puerto Rico)
6. How old was Brenda Lee when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958? (13)
7. Which band sang “Fairytale of New York” with Kirsty MacColl? (The Pogues)
8. “On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…” what? (Five gold rings)
9. Who recorded “Jingle Bell Rock” in 1957? (Bobby Helms)
10. Which former Beatle released “Wonderful Christmastime” in 1979? (Paul McCartney)

Play it instead of reading it. Swap a few of these for intros: play three seconds of a song, one point for the title and one for the artist. Our Christmas playlist has 40 songs everyone knows, from Mariah and Brenda Lee to Sia and Kelly Clarkson, so you won’t run out.

Loudest round of the night? You can play a Christmas music bingo game on your phones with Bingofy right now: everyone scans a QR code and gets their own card.

Round 4: UK vs US

Five for each side of the Atlantic. Make the Brits answer the American ones and the other way round, then watch everyone overthink it.

UK

1. At what time is the King’s Christmas broadcast shown on Christmas Day? (3pm)
2. Which spotty pink character from Noel’s House Party was the UK Christmas No. 1 in 1993? (Mr Blobby)
3. Which act holds the record for the most UK Christmas No. 1s, with five in a row from 2018 to 2022? (LadBaby)
4. Stir-up Sunday, when families traditionally make the Christmas pudding, is which Sunday? (The last Sunday before Advent)
5. Monty the Penguin and the Man on the Moon starred in whose Christmas adverts? (John Lewis)

US

6. Santa tracking started in 1955, after children rang a number printed in which store’s newspaper ad? (Sears)
7. Which president lit the first National Christmas Tree, in 1923? (Calvin Coolidge)
8. In A Christmas Story, what “major award” does the dad win? (A leg lamp)
9. Who arrives at the very end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? (Santa Claus)
10. The town of Santa Claus, which answers children’s letters to Santa, is in which state? (Indiana)

Round 5: The hard round

1. “Carol of the Bells” uses the tune of which Ukrainian song? (“Shchedryk”, by Mykola Leontovych)
2. In 1965 two Gemini 6 astronauts played “Jingle Bells” in space. On what? (A harmonica and a set of small bells)
3. How many times does “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” mention Christmas? (None. Not once.)
4. In 2023 Brenda Lee became the oldest artist ever to top the Billboard Hot 100. How old was she? (78)
5. In which year did “All I Want for Christmas Is You” first reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100? (2019, 25 years after it came out)
6. In which year did Charles Dickens publish A Christmas Carol? (1843)
7. Who plays Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol? (Michael Caine)
8. Who actually sings “Walking in the Air” in the 1982 film The Snowman? (Peter Auty. Aled Jones had the 1985 hit with it, which is why everyone says him.)
9. The first commercial Christmas card was printed in 1843 for which man? (Sir Henry Cole)
10. The 1826 Eggnog Riot broke out at which US military academy? (West Point)

Tiebreakers

Closest number wins.

• Counting every gift each time the song repeats it, how many presents does the true love give in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”? (364)
• In which year was the first royal Christmas broadcast, by King George V on the radio? (1932)
• Since which year has the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree had an official lighting? (1933)

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Need more for the night? Our list of Christmas party games has 14 more ideas, from white elephant with stealing to paper plate Pictionary. Or keep the teams exactly where they’re sitting and play Christmas music bingo on your phones as the second half.