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Free New Year's Eve questions

30 New Year's Eve quiz questions with answers

Three rounds of ten questions on New Year traditions, midnight moments and resolutions. Tap a question to see the answer, or play them live on New Year's Eve with automatic scoring.

Round 1: New Year traditions worldwide

  1. 1.In New York's Times Square, what famous object descends a flagpole during the final minute of the year?

    The crystal ball (the ball drop)

  2. 2.How many grapes do Spaniards traditionally eat at midnight, one for each chime of the clock?

    Twelve

  3. 3.In Japan, temple bells ring out the old year with how many strokes, one for each earthly desire?

    108

  4. 4.In Scotland, the 'first-foot' (the first guest across the doorstep after midnight) traditionally brings a lump of what?

    Coal

  5. 5.In which country do people smash old plates against friends' front doors on New Year's Eve, a big pile of shards being a sign of popularity?

    Denmark

  6. 6.In Italy, wearing underwear of which colour on New Year's Eve is said to bring good luck?

    Red

  7. 7.In Colombia and other Latin American countries, people race around the block at midnight with an empty suitcase, hoping the new year will bring plenty of what?

    Travel

  8. 8.In Greece, what is baked into the vasilopita cake cut at New Year, bringing luck to whoever finds it in their slice?

    A coin

  9. 9.On Brazilian beaches like Copacabana, which colour do revellers traditionally wear on New Year's Eve for peace and good luck?

    White

  10. 10.In Ecuador, what do people set alight at midnight on New Year's Eve to burn away the old year?

    Effigies (the año viejo dolls)

Round 2: Around midnight

  1. 11.Which 18th-century Scottish poet wrote the words of 'Auld Lang Syne'?

    Robert Burns

  2. 12.Which imaginary line in the Pacific Ocean do you cross to jump from one calendar day into the next?

    The International Date Line

  3. 13.The 'a.m.' in 12 a.m. is short for which Latin phrase?

    Ante meridiem ('before midday')

  4. 14.Because the old Julian calendar runs behind, on which January date do countries such as Serbia celebrate 'Old New Year'?

    14 January

  5. 15.When midnight strikes in London on New Year's Eve, what time is it in New York?

    7 p.m. (still 31 December)

  6. 16.How many times does Big Ben strike when it rings in the new year at midnight?

    Twelve

  7. 17.What is the name of the extra second that has occasionally been added to clocks to keep them in step with the Earth's rotation?

    A leap second

  8. 18.Until 1752, the legal new year in England began not on 1 January but on the 25th of which month?

    March

  9. 19.Which vast country counts eleven time zones between Kaliningrad and Kamchatka?

    Russia

  10. 20.What does the time standard UTC stand for?

    Coordinated Universal Time

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Round 3: Resolutions & records

  1. 21.In which country did the alcohol-free Dry January campaign start in 2013?

    The United Kingdom

  2. 22.The beginner-friendly running plan popular with New Year resolvers takes you 'from couch to' a run of how many kilometres?

    Five (Couch to 5K)

  3. 23.In the SMART method for setting goals (beloved of resolution-makers), what does the letter S stand for?

    Specific

  4. 24.By what three-character nickname was the feared computer date bug of 1 January 2000 known?

    Y2K (the millennium bug)

  5. 25.Which European capital hosts the famous New Year's Day concert that traditionally ends with the Radetzky March?

    Vienna

  6. 26.London's New Year fireworks light up the sky around which giant observation wheel on the Thames?

    The London Eye

  7. 27.A giant champagne bottle holding fifteen litres (twenty ordinary bottles) is named after which Babylonian king?

    Nebuchadnezzar

  8. 28.Which US city's Mummers Parade has been a New Year's Day tradition since 1901?

    Philadelphia

  9. 29.Members of which New York beach's Polar Bear Club famously plunge into the Atlantic on New Year's Day?

    Coney Island

  10. 30.Which Californian city first held its flower-covered Rose Parade on New Year's Day 1890?

    Pasadena

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