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Sports, scandals, music, memes… Take our bumper quiz of all the highs and lows of the year that was (answers at the end)
1. In October, who unexpectedly walked through a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest, causing police to get involved to disperse the growing crowds?
a. Donald Trump
b. A protester dressed as a giant sandworm
c. Timothée Chalamet
d. UN secretary general António Guterres
2. In April, a new Lennon-McCartney single, Primrose Hill, was released. But why did it cause little excitement among Beatles fans?
a. It was a collaboration between Sean Ono Lennon and James McCartney, and not their more famous fathers
b. It was an AI creation made to advertise a cryptocurrency
c. It used made up of previously recorded material the band had disavowed
d. Most Beatles superfans have simply moved on to other interests
3. In September, the 33rd winner of the Mercury prize was announced, with the gong going to the album This Could Be Texas, by whom?
a. English Teacher
b. Japanese Breakfast
c. Dutch Uncles
d. Ugandan Methods
4. Only 17 world records were broken at the Paris Olympics, a decline from 20 in Tokyo 2020. In this context, the world record broken by the Women’s Team Cycling Sprint event (won by Great Britain), was remarkable for what reason?
a. It was broken twice
b. It was broken three times
c. It was broken four times
d. It was broken five times
5. 2024 was a year for the ages in the genre of hip-hop beefs, where two musicians get so angry they’re forced to set angry poems about each other to music. The feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake featured a staggering number of diss tracks exchanged between the pair. What was the name of Lamar’s final salvo in the feud, which subsequently went to number one in the Billboard Hot 100?
a. Not a Game
b. Not Like Us
c. Just Like Us
d. Just Two Friends
6. Back to the Olympics, South Korean Kim Ye-Ji became an online sensation following her silver medal in the women’s pistol event – for what reason?
a. Her sci-fi apparatus and implacable demeanour was judged to convey “main character energy”
b. She took her shots in perfect choreography to a K-pop soundtrack she’d curated herself
c. She closed both eyes while shooting
d. At 76, she became the oldest ever medallist in the discipline
7. We also said goodbye to legendary hit-maker Quincy Jones who had a bafflingly prolific and varied career. Which of the following songs had he no hand in producing?
a. Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra
b. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
c. It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To) by Lesley Gore
d. 9 To 5 by Dolly Parton
8. The year’s totemic album, Charli xcx’s Brat, kicked off a “brat summer” of memes, references and even political figures associating themselves with the craze. Which of the these politicians did Charli herself anoint as “brat” on social media?
a. US presidential hopeful Kamala Harris
b. Irish taoiseach Simon Harris
c. Tory MP Rebecca Harris
d. Former parliamentary under-secretary of state for transport, Tom Harris
9. This year, the “Wagatha Christie” saga appeared to reach its conclusion when Rebekah Vardy’s countersuit ended with a judgement that she pay 90% of Coleen Rooney’s legal bills. But what other consequence of the case’s long stint in the courts was revealed?
a. Wayne Rooney applied to study law at Nottingham University
b. Coleen Rooney applied for a licence to act as a private detective in England and Wales
c. Rebekah Vardy applied to start a crisis management PR agency
d. Jamie Vardy applied for a place at Rada
10. Sportsman David Jenkins (82) made headlines in October when accused of what controversy?
a. Faking all of his climbs in the Seven Summit Challenge
b. Doing 17 miles of the London Marathon by car
c. Bribing his way on to the Scottish Over-80s volleyball team
d. Using a steel conker at the World Conker Championships
11. In February, Willy’s Chocolate Experience, an “immersive event” inspired by, but not licensed by, Roald Dahl’s classic took place in Glasgow. Attenders described it as “little more than an abandoned warehouse”. With a script likely written by ChatGPT, which of the following were ways in which it deviated from the source material?
a. “Willy Wonka” was renamed “Willy McDuff”
b. The Oompa Loompas were renamed “Wonkidoodles”
c. There was a villain called “The Unknown” who terrified the already-disappointed children
d. All of the above
12. US singer Sabrina Carpenter had 2024’s song of the summer, with which irrepressible, caffeine-centred bop?
a. Espresso
b. Americano
c. Spill The Tea
d. Livin’ La Vida Mocha
13. In March, the 96th Oscars ceremony was held, with big wins for Oppenheimer, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest. But who this year became the youngest person ever to win two Academy Awards?
a. Composer Ludwig Göransson
b. Actor Emma Stone
c. Singer Billie Eilish
d. Producer Charles Roven
14. Which of the following was 2024 not a designated “International Year of”?
a. The UN’s “International Year of Camelids”
b. The EU’s “European Year of Dance Music”
c. The Commonwealth’s “Year of One Resilient Common Future”
d. The Catholic Church’s “Year of Prayer”
15. In March, the new Consumer Price Index shopping basket, used to calculate inflation, was announced. Which was not an addition?
a. An air fryer
b. A rotisserie chicken
c. A loaf of gluten-free bread
d. A vinyl record
16. 2024 was a leap year, meaning those born on 29 February enjoyed their first birthday in four years. Among those was New York rapper Ja Rule, born on 29 February 1976. As of this year, how many birthdays has he been able to celebrate?
a. 10
b. 11
c. 12
d. 13
17. Rotters stole what valuable artefact from the University of Hertfordshire in October?
a. Britain’s only inflatable planetarium
b. A prototype exo-skeleton giving a person the strength of an elephant
c. The mummified corpse of liberal philosopher Jeremy Bentham
d. The first ever Sinclair Spectrum microcomputer
18. Staying with crime, in October, a 63-year-old man was arrested after a robbery from Neal’s Yard that resulted in the theft of which items valued at over £300,000?
a. 4,000 artisanal scented candles
b. 950 wheels of cheddar cheese
c. 250 tonnes of organic maple syrup
d. One small cartridge of printer ink
19. The year in video games got off to an auspicious start on 2 January when 13-year-old Willis Gibson uploaded footage of himself becoming the first person ever to “beat” which 35-year-old video game?
a. Sonic The Hedgehog
b. Tetris
c. Mario Kart
d. Crash Bandicoot
20. This year, Mimii Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan became the first black couple to win which dating show?
a. Love is Blind
b. Dating Naked
c. Love Island
d. Temptation Island
21. Viral rap/drum-and-bass track The Spark was longlisted for two Grammys this year. What is notable about the rap crew who perform the song?
a. All members are currently in prison for tax evasion
b. The group has never made their identities known and said they will not attend the ceremony
c. The group has submitted the same song each year for two decades in an attempt to try to win
d. The group is comprised entirely of Irish primary schoolchildren
22. It’s been a weird year for football ownership. Who of the following high-profile Americans is not in, or pursuing, ownership of a football club from England’s northwest?
a. Rapper A$AP Rocky (Tranmere Rovers)
b. Basketball star LeBron James (Liverpool FC)
c. Rowers/tech bros (literally) the Winklevoss Twins (Fleetwood Town)
d. YouTube sensations DudePerfect (Burnley)
23. Returning to beefs, the diss track, Hiss, also debuted at number one in the US charts. Taking aim at Drake, Nicki Minaj and Pardison Fontaine, it was a hit for which rapper?
a. Megan Thee Stallion
b. Cardi B
c. Ice Spice
d. Doja Cat
24. The year’s biggest global box office hit was Inside Out 2, the Pixar sequel which anthropomorphises individual emotions. Which of the following feelings was not a character in the film?
a. Disgust
b. Ennui
c. Nostalgia
d. Excitement
25. The year’s biggest TV drama was Mr Bates vs The Post Office. Over 9 million people watched, ITV’s searing dramatisation of the Post Office’s Horizon database scandal. Which publication was the first to bring this case to popular attention?
a. Computer Weekly
b. Database Monthly
c. Postmaster Quarterly
d. Financial Times
26. In January, Lincolnshire Wildlife Park gained global notoriety due to antics from which of its residents?
a. A gorilla obsessed with acts of self-pleasure
b. A chimpanzee who kept stealing visitors’ phones
c. A flock of parrots constantly uttering obscene language
d. An unstoppably flatulent hippo
27. In September, we mourned the loss of the great Dame Maggie Smith. In 1978, her Academy Award for best supporting actress kicked off a four-year run of wins in that category for actresses initialled MS. Who was not among them?
a. Mary Steenburgen
b. Meryl Streep
c. Maureen Stapleton
d. Mena Suvari
28. 2024 was a banner year for weight-loss drug Ozempic, with an estimated 90,000 people taking it in the UK amid numerous controversies about its side effects. But where did scientists first find the drug’s active hormone, Exendin-4?
a. In the venom of the gila monster
b. In the stomach of the blue whale
c. In the thorax of the funnel-web spider
d. In the ink of the spotty bobtail squid
29. Euro 2024 ended with a victory for Spain, as England became the first team in the competition’s history to lose back-to-back finals. Which even less auspicious record did Cristiano Ronaldo set at the tournament?
a. Quickest non-injury substitution (14 minutes)
b. Most offsides in a single tournament (21)
c. Most penalties missed in a single tournament (4)
d. Most shots without a single goal (23)
30. The year in sports kicked off with the PDC World Darts Championship, won by “Cool Hand” Luke Humphries. What is the unusual provenance of his name?
a. He was named after Steve McQueen’s character in Cool Hand Luke, a fact of which he was unaware when he adopted his own nickname
b. He’s named after Marvel’s Luke Cage
c. His full name is Luke Skywalker Humphries
d. His name is an acronym for “Leeds United, Kings of Europe”
31. 2024 saw the second TV dramatisation in nine months of Prince Andrew’s disastrous interview on Newsnight. But which of the following actor pairings did not appear together in either production?
a. Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson
b. Gillian Anderson and Billie Piper
c. Billie Piper and Michael Sheen
d. Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson
32. 2024 saw London’s all-male Garrick Club finally enter the 1960s when it voted to admit female members. Who were the first two women admitted after this change?
a. Helen Mirren and Sandi Toksvig
b. Judi Dench and Siân Phillips
c. Vanessa Redgrave and Mary Beard
d. Pepsi and Shirlie
33. 2024 saw an unlikely moment of scheduling serendipity in Glasgow, when the city hosted which two things on the night of 4 November?
a. A comeback gig by Interpol, the indie band, and the general assembly of Interpol, the global crime-fighting agency
b. The gathering of the World Models Congress (fashion) and the World Models Conference (railway sets)
c. The annual summit of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and the “Clash At The Castle” event by the WWF (World Wrestling Federation)
d. An Evening With Brian Cox (the actor), across the street from An Evening With Brian Cox (the physicist)
34. Bryan Johnson – the 47-year-old tech CEO who looks like a slightly damp 45-year-old tech CEO – continued his quest to live forever, but which of the following is not a strategy he uses to defeat the cruel vicissitudes of time?
a. Eating the same three meals every day
b. Harvesting blood from his 18-year-oldteenage son
c. Never driving above 16mph
d. Dinner at 11am and bedtime at 8pm.
1. c
2. a
3. a
4. d
5. b
6. a
7. d
8. a
9. a
10. d
11. d
12. a
13. c
14. b
15. b
16. c
17. a
18. b
19. b
20. c
21. d
22. c
23. a
24. d
25. a
26. c
27. d
28. a
29. d
30. d
31. c
32. b
33. a
34. c
