Fed up of application stress? Sit back with a cuppa, stick on the Christmas music, and have a crack(er) at our 2024 Chambers Student Christmas quiz
A Traditional Christmas
1 What traditional Christmas decoration is actually a parasitic plant?
Mistletoe attaches to its host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant.
2 How many reindeer are featured in the poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas?”
Eight (no Rudolph!). Twas the Night Before Christmas is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, originally titled ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’.
3 Marzipan is made (conventionally in the western world) mainly from sugar and the flour or meal of which nut?
Almond.
4 Which Christmas dish developed from ‘frumenty’, a thick porridge of cereal, dried fruit and spices?
Christmas Pudding.
5 A commonly mistaken lyric is heard in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ – the line ‘four calling birds’ was instead ‘four colly birds’ in the original from the 1780s. What is a colly bird?
The original ‘colly bird’ was the European Blackbird (Turdus merula) as ‘colly’ meant ‘black’ as in ‘coaly’, and is why border collies bear that name. The subsequent versions are undoubtedly the result of mis-hearings and misinterpretations.
6 The four colly birds are not the only birds that feature in ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ – including the colly birds, how many types of bird feature in the song?
6 – Partridge, Turtle doves, French hens, Colly birds, Geese, Swans.
7 What Christmas-themed ballet premiered in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1892?
The Nutcracker, major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker.
8 Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, the musical score became one of the most famous compositions of which Russian Romantic composer?
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
9 In 1843, Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol,”. Published on 19th December, the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve; by the end of 1844 thirteen editions had been released. In the book, what was Mr. Scrooge’s first name?
Ebenezer
10 The French word “Noel” is often used around Christmas, but what was its original meaning in Latin?
Birth
Christmas in the UK
11 The best-selling physical single (CD and vinyl) of all time is White Christmas (1942) as performed by Bing Crosby. The song was listed as the world's best-selling single in the first-ever Guinness Book of Records (published in 1955) and—remarkably—still retains the title. But what is the most played Christmas song in the UK?
Fairytale of New York - The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl (according to research from the Performing Rights Society)
12 Which of the following was NOT included on a recent Radio 2 Poll that asked viewers in the UK to select the top 10 Christmas films of all time?
Elf, Die Hard, The Nightmare Before Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Home Alone
13 Which supermarket offered the cheapest turkeys in 2024?
Aldi
14 Coca-Cola released their beloved ‘Holidays are Coming’ advertisement back in November. The ad has become a regular fixture of the Christmas schedule in over 100 countries. In what year was the advert first broadcast – 1955, 1975, 1995 or 2005?
1995
15 The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, but which day does the Winter Solstice fall on this year?
Saturday 21st December
A year in the Memo (the year gone by)
16 Right at the beginning of January, the headlines were dominated by calls for regulation on the use of AI in the entertainment industry. But what was it exactly that artists were looking to protect?
Voice/likeness - Read more on the story here
17 Back in the spring, two men were charged with the controversial felling of the 150-year-old Sycamore Gap tree towards the end of 2023. What famous landmark did the Sycamore Gap tree sit alongside?
Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland - Read more on the story here
18 Also in the spring, a runaway Netflix sensation was a certified hit for the streamer centering around one man’s ordeal with a middle-aged stalker, written from creator Richard Gadd’s personal experience. The series was named after the affectionate nickname given to Gadd by his real-life stalker. What was it?
Baby Reindeer - Read more on the story here
19 In July, Labour won the UK General Election by a landslide. But while the majority was staggering, new prime minister Kier Starmer immediately courted controversy with his brutally pragmatic plans to fix the economy. Which of the following was the phrase that Starmer used to explain his plan?
'Things can only get better'
'Things will get worse before they get better'
'Things are unlikely to get better'
20 The back end of 2024 has been pretty eventful. A proposal to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales was introduced to Parliament in October, before being debated in November. MPs backed the proposals in a historic vote which paves the way for a change in the law. What was the winning majority?
5
55
155
21 Malcolm Chenery, who died in 2021, detailed that his estate should be left to Diabetes UK. But the charity’s claim for the money was challenged, primarily because of the unorthodox material it was written on. In November, the High Court ruled that it was valid. On what did Malcolm Chenery record his last wishes?
Two food packaging boxes – one that had contained Young’s frozen fish, and another which once contained Mr. Kipling mince pies - Read more on the story here
22 The legal industry remains as competitive as ever, with the top law firms locked in intense competition for the very best talent. The £2.7 billion merger between the UK’s Allen & Overy and the US’s Shearman & Sterling to form A&O Shearman was one of the biggest of recent times. In November, Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin added another high-profile transatlantic merger to the mix. But which firm came from which side of the pond?
HSF - Australian-British
Kramer Levin – American
23 Even if you’re not sure of her name, it’s likely you’re aware of her story. Gisèle Pelicot is a French woman who’s the victim at the centre of one of the largest rape trials in history. Ms Pelicot has become somewhat of a feminist icon through the trial. Despite having been the victim of such horrendous crimes, she waived her right to anonymity to ensure that the trial could take place in the full view of the public. Who was the main defendant in the case?
Ms Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot - Read more on the story here