Happy Christmas. Here are five festive questions for you.
Project Gutenberg
One
The names for Santa’s reindeer originate from a poem known variously as A Visit from St. Nicholas (in full Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas); The Night Before Christmas or ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. In this, there are eight reindeer, and below are anagrams of their names.
(Two are doubled — two reindeer names joined by ‘and’ — for example, if we were looking for cartoon characters, ‘trendy major’ would be ‘Tom and Jerry’.)
The confused reindeer are
- shared
- craned
- cavern annex drip
- me cot
- up cid
Over the years, the final two reindeer have had various names, so I’ve provided you with three versions: (1) is from the original publication, (2) is from Project Gutenberg, and (3) is [possibly] the best known.
- darn mixed bundle
- bland intruded zen
- bland intern zoned
Two
A writer best known for his 1900 novel, which was adapted into a musical film in 1939, penned The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus in 1902. In this work, he renamed Santa’s reindeer and increased their number to ten: Flossie, Glossie, Racer, Pacer, Fearless, Peerless, Ready, Steady, Feckless and Speckless. Who was the writer, and what was the title of his 1900 novel?
Three
In Arthur C. Clarke’s short story The Star (1955), the faith of a Jesuit priest is tried when he discovers the Star of Bethlehem was actually a… — What nine-letter word completes this?
Four
The first solo female vocalist to reach number one on the UK Christmas chart simultaneously topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks – a record at the time. Who was the singer and with what song did she achieve these feats?
Five
Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.”
This is the opening of ‘Christmas Creeps’, which is chapter one of what novel, and who wrote it?
Six
The creature who performed the wedding ceremony in The Owl and the Pussycat is popular at Christmas. What is this creature?
Seven
What Christmas ballet features the ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’?
Eight
In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown visits a psychiatric booth for help with his problems. Who runs this booth?
Nine
In which decade did the first commercially available Christmas cards go on sale to the public?
Ten
White Christmas is Guinness World Records’ best-selling single. Who composed the song, for what film was it written, and who sang it in that film?
Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.
Quizology Online 