Starter for 10 — it’s your big fat quiz of the year!

What a quiet 12 months! Oh wait… From England’s Euros heroes to Covid chaos and billionaires behaving badly, were you paying attention to the highs and lows? Nick Curtis brings you 18 fiendishly fun questions

Caroline Costello

Nick Curtis @nickcurtis

21 December 2021

1. Who said “you have no authority here”, to whom and where was “here”?

a) The “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley to vice-president Mike Pence during the storming of the US Capitol on January 6.

b) Angela Rayner to Sir Keir Starmer in his office, after his shadow cabinet reshuffle.

c) Chairman Brian Tolver to stand-in clerk Jackie Weaver during the Handforth parish council meeting, held on Zoom.

2. Which of these did NOT happen on April 19?

a) Nasa’s Ingenuity helicopter performed the first powered flight on another planet.

b) The formation of European Super League.

c) Raul Castro stood down as First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, ending 62 years of the country being ruled by someone with the surname ‘Castro’.

3. Which of these scenarios were most likely to result in a swift arrest by the Met Police?

a) Being accused of multiple breaches of the Covid mixing rules that you, the Government, have put in place?

b) Admitting countless episodes of cost-cutting, bad practice and carelessness in the insulation of Grenfell Tower to a public inquiry.

c) Taking part in a peaceful, outdoor, candlelit vigil for Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by a Met Police officer.

Getty Images

4. What was described in the Evening Standard as “the Schrödinger’s Cat of telly. Was it good? Was it terrible? I don’t know. I don’t think we will ever know”?

a) Get Back, an eight-hour-plus documentary about The Beatles faffing around writing songs.

b) Mare of Easttown, starring Kate Winslet as a small-town sheriff with secrets, family issues and yadda-yadda-yadda.

c) Vigil, the submarine-set thriller starring Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, and “the lesbian bath of regret”.

5. Which billionaire’s spaceship looked most like a penis?

a) The Crew Dragon Resilience launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

b) The New Shepard launched by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin.

c) The Unity spaceship launched by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard lifts off

Getty Images

6. Who said she just planned to “keep [going] about my business and stay sane”?

a) British tennis star Emma Raducanu after winning the US Open and sacking her coach.

b) Meghan, Duchess of Sussex following the birth of her and Prince Harry’s daughter Lilibet.

c) Gina Coladangelo after being caught by a security camera in an office embrace with then-health secretary Matt Hancock.

7. Which country became the first to accept Bitcoin as an official currency on September 7?

a) Russia

b) Monaco

c) El Salvador

Matt Hancock affair accusations

PA Wire

8. Who was the top scorer in England’s Euro 2020 Three Lions team?

a) Harry Kane, according to the FA, after his four goals put him equal with Gary Lineker as the nation’s top scorer (10) at major tournaments.

b) Marcus Rashford, according to the Guardian, for his work on child poverty, his reading initiative and his heroic stand against racism following England’s loss on penalties.

c) Jack Grealish, according to the gossip columns covering his love life.

9. Who told a crowd how she’d been inspired by a teacher called Miss Macdonald?

a) Paris Hilton.

b) Adele.

c) Shonda Rhimes.

10. An estimated £200 million was spent policing… what?

a) COP26.

b) The G7 meeting.

c) Prince Andrew.

11. How much per roll did the Lulu Lytle wallpaper used to refurbish Downing Street at Boris and Carrie Johnson’s request allegedly cost?

a) £351 million.

b) £840.

c) £20, the same as the axed uplift in Universal Credit.

12. Which of these people is NOT now selling knitwear?

a) Diver Tom Daley, who is now selling his own designs after being pictured knitting at the Olympics.

b) Ella Emhoff, Kamala Harris’s step-daughter, who is designing a line for Batsheva after working with the designer on an outfit for the inauguration.

c) Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend Bo Lox, who set up Balls of Wool after Minaj told the world his testicles had become swollen after having his Covid jab.

Tom Daley wins Bronze in Tokyo

Jeremy Selwyn

13. Who broke wind in front of 800,000 people?

a) Newsreader Simon McCoy, during the launch of GB News.

b) Bill Gates, announcing that he and wife Melinda were to divorce, on a Teams meeting with colleagues.

c) Joe Wicks, during one of his livestreamed PE with Joe broadcasts.

14. What event happened on March 23, with ramifications for the entire global supply chain?

a) Amazon opened its first till-free shop.

b) The Ever Given container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal.

c) Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram all went down, leading to a massive dip in the secondary selling market.

15. As the Taliban overran Afghanistan, Trudy Harrison MP wrote a letter confirming that the Ministry of Defence would make sure a slot was available for a charter flight out of Kabul airport. Who was due to be on it?

a) Embassy staff.

b) Afghan interpreters.

c) Dogs and cats.

16. Who referred respectfully to whom as “Yoda” in which competition?

a) Chigs to Jürgen in The Great British Bake Off.

b) Toby Aromolaran to Liam Reardon in Love Island.

c) Greg Wise to Craig Revel Horwood in Strictly Come Dancing.

17. Lambeth council announced that a trial scheme had reduced traffic by two-thirds within the zone affected. What are these zones called?

a) LFTs (Lateral Flow Traffic zones).

b) LTNs (Low Traffic Neighbourhood zones)

c) NFTs (Non-Fungible Traffic zones).

An audience with Adele

CBS via Getty Images

18. Finally, which of these happened to Kanye West this year?

a) Had divorce proceedings initiated against him by Kim Kardashian; was named the richest black man in American history; allegedly dated models Irina Shayk and Vinetria; changed his name to ‘Ye’.

b) Delayed release of his album Donda several times, inaugurated it with a “performance art” wedding to Kim K, then claimed that Universal released it without his approval; ended his feud with Drake; shaved off his eyebrows.

c) All of the above.

Answers

1 C, 2 B, 3 C, 4 C, 5 B, 6 A, 7 C, 8 A, 9 B, 10A, 11 B, 12 C, 13 C, 14 B, 15 C, 16 A, 17B, 18C

How did you do? Let us know in the comments below.

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