Christmas Competitions
Well it’s that time of the year when the silly season is upon us and it wouldn’t be complete without the offering of a quiz or two. Here you will find a plethora of posers on offer from the simplest of picture riddles to those nasty cryptic horrors. Most are just for fun but on the ‘Big Christmas Quiz’ we are giving away a host of prizes. EMI has most kindly given me two copies of Tony Bennett – As Time Goes By’.
I also have two copies of the 3 CD disc set ‘Nat, Matt & Dean’ or maybe you would prefer the ‘Best of Johnny Dankworth’ or the DVD ‘Michael Ball Live’ or ‘If I Never Sing Another Song’ by Joe Longthorne? There is something for everyone so grab your pens, fill in those answers and submit your entry to michele@mattmonro.com. The competition will run until the 10th January and the winners announced in the February update.
Make it Snow
Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Someone came, and kissed me there.
Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen – and kissed me there
By: Walter de la Mare
CHRISTMAS INITIALS
I have generously given you the initial letters of the title – all you have to do is name the Christmas song or carol. Exercise those little brain cells.
1. JB
2. UOTH
3. AIAM
4. OCT
5. TCS
6. JTTW
7. SB
8. HCSC
9. DTH
10. WC
11. WCIT
12. FTS
13. TLDB
14. JOSN
15. WW
16. TFN
17. JBR
18. SN
19. AHJC or HJC
20. BC
THE BIG CHRISTMAS QUIZ
1. Who introduced the first Christmas tree to England?
2. Who wrote the story of ‘The Snowman’?
3. What was the follow up book to ‘The Snowman’ called?
4. What were the names of Santa’s original eight reindeer?
5. In ‘The Night Before Christmas’, what did Santa hold in his teeth?
6. What was ‘The Night Before Christmas’ originally called?
7. What or who are heard in the last verse of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’?
8. Who wrote ‘We Three Kings of Orient Are’?
9. What three gifts did the Wise men give to baby Jesus?
10. What was the third item Good King Wenceslas asked the Page to bring?
11. In Medieval Times, what did the first mince pies contain?
12. The Crusaders brought spices back from The Holy Land. Which three were then added to mince pies to represent the three gifts?
13. What date is Epiphany?
14. Who was the first person to eat turkey on Christmas day?
15. Who invented Christmas Crackers, and when?
16. What year was the cracker added?
17. How many White Christmases were recorded in England in the whole of the 20th century?
18. How many in London and when?
19. When was 25th December first celebrated as the birthday of Christ?
20. Who designed the first Christmas card and when?
21. When and where was the first Christmas stamp introduced?
22. ‘Jingle Bells’ was originally written for which celebration?
23. In Matt Monro’s Christmas song ‘Christmas Magic’, as well as the toys, what else adds to the magic?
24. What other Christmas songs did Matt record?
25. What musical film first featured the most popular Christmas song ‘White Christmas’?
26. What film in the early nineties featured the same song, but a different version?
27. Whose version?
28. Who were the stars of the film ‘White Christmas’?
29. When does Advent begin?
30. What replaces flowers in a church at Advent?
31. What plants is the advent crown made up from?
32. How many candles are in the Advent Crown?
33. How many marks on an Advent candle?
34. What date does an Advent Calendar begin?
35. What were the original images in an Advent Calendar derived from?
36. When were Christmas celebrations banned in England, and for how long?
37. Who by?
38.What is the correct name for Boxing Day?
39. In ‘The Christmas Song’ what age are “the kids”?
40. In what Christmas song is Nuclear Fallout mentioned?
41. Who played the part of the little girl Susan Walker in the original ‘Miracle on 34th Street’?
42. In the film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ what song is played as the theme of the angels?
43. What film is showing at the movie house as George runs down the street in Bedford Falls?
44. What connection does Clarence the angel have with that film?
45. In 2004, where did ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ come in the Radio Times List of Best Film Never to Have Won an Oscar?
46. When was ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens first published?
47. What was Ebenezer Scrooge’s reaction to being invited to Christmas dinner by his nephew?
48. Who was Ebenezer’s down trodden clerk?
49. Why was the ‘Christmas Carol Silent Night’, written for a choir accompanied by a guitar?
50. What froze across in 1963?
Submitted by: Marian Down
CRYPTIC CHRISTMAS
The following are cryptic clues to objects found around the home at Christmas
1. Appointments?