- By Mark Easton
- Home editor
Susanne and Thomas Jeromin, the official world record holders for the most decorated Christmas trees in one home
Welcome to the festive quiz in which you simply have to get closer to the answer than anyone else. Now in its 16th year, all the questions in my Boxing Day family puzzler relate to events from the extraordinary year we have just had. All the solutions are numbers.
To make it fair, each player/team should write down their guesses before revealing them. One mark is given for the closest answer and three if by luck or genius you get it spot on. The answers can be found at the bottom of the page.
1. After 64 years and despite a backlash from fans, the Caramac chocolate bar was discontinued by Nestlé this year. The last few on the shelves retail for 75p, equivalent to 180 pre-decimal pennies. But how many old pennies did a bar cost when it was launched in 1959?
2. Amid reports of planned republican demonstrations disrupting the Coronation, a huge police presence patrolled the crowds making arrests. How many people were charged with an offence?
3. The German Institute of Records last month declared Susanne and Thomas Jeromin’s house near Hanover had achieved the world record for the most decorated Christmas trees in one home. How many trees did the couple have?
4. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, there were 1,624 football banning orders in place at the end of the 2022/23 season. How many of them were against women?
5. A used pair of trainers were sold at auction this year. They had been worn by Michael Jordan during the NBA finals in 1998. How much, in US dollars, did they sell for?
Prices of the now-discontinued Caramac bar have changed over the years
6. In November this year, the Guinness World Records Day invited challengers to set a new benchmark for human endeavour. How many poker chips did Italian Rocco Mercurio balance on one finger?
7. It took Twitter (now X) two years to reach 1m users. How long did it take Threads, this year’s new rival to X, to achieve the same feat?
8. We are all looking to reduce our Christmas carbon footprint. But according to the packaging company GWP, how many rolls of Sellotape (other brands are included) are used in the UK on Christmas Eve?
9. Back in 1950, the average person in Britain made 329 bus journeys a year. According to figures this year, how many bus trips does the average person make in a year now?
10. On 9 June, Nadine Dorries announced she was standing down as a Conservative MP with immediate effect. How many days did “immediate effect” prove to be?
Nadine Dorries appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show this year, after resigning with ‘immediate effect’
11. According to data from the 2021 Census, released this year, what proportion of the 40m people in England and Wales who answered the question on sexuality, described themselves as straight or heterosexual?
12. A learner driver spent almost £1,400 on driving theory tests at a centre in Redditch, in Worcestershire. How many of the multiple choice tests did the nameless driver fail before finally passing this year?
13. The pub chain JD Wetherspoon reported record annual takings in 2023. Drinkers spent £1.9bn at its 826 watering holes, 161 of which have been given the name of prominent men with local connections. But how many of its pubs have been given the name of a prominent woman, historical or fictional? (Generic royals, titles or family names don’t count!)
14. England cricketer Ben Stokes hit nine sixes in his remarkable 155 in the second Ashes test against Australia this summer. How many sixes did cricket legend Sir Geoffrey Boycott hit for England in his 18-year international career?
15. Dubbed ‘Barbenheimer’, the films Barbie and Oppenheimer came to big screens around the world on the same day, Friday 21 July. In dollars, how much did the two movies take worldwide on the opening weekend?
Actors Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie played Ken and Barbie in a film rivalling Oppenheimer in cinemas
16. Donald Trump ran into trouble at his New York civil fraud trial after posting a false claim that the court clerk in the case was a democrat senator’s girlfriend. The judge fined him for two violations. In dollars, how much did the former president have to pay for his comments about the clerk?
17. Prince Harry’s memoir “Spare” saw the largest first-day sales for any non-fiction book ever. Across all formats, how many copies were sold on publication day around the world?
18. There are now 943 vineyards in Great Britain, with almost 4,000 hectares growing grapes. How many hectares of Scotland are dedicated to viticulture? (A hectare is the size of an international rugby union pitch.)
19. Birdsong is not what it was. The British Trust for Ornithology has been researching the decline in our bird populations. By how many has the number of wild birds in Britain fallen since 1970, according to a report in May?
20. The Sussex Christmas Tree Throwing Championships attracted a record number of participants and spectators this year. Competitors are required to throw a six-foot fir tree across a Christmas tree farm. How far in meters did judges calculate new record-holder James Gardiner of Hailsham threw his tree?
1. 3p; 2. 0; 3. 555; 4. 6; 5. $2.2m; 6. 255; 7. 1 hour; 8. 1 million; 9. 58; 10. 81; 11. 96.1%; 12. 59; 13. 9; 14. 8; 15. $536m; 16. $15,000; 17. 1.4m; 18. 1.9; 19. 73m; 20. 10.6
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
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