SCOTS QUIZ OF THE YEAR
IT’S time to say goodbye to 2019, and what a rollercoaster of a year it’s been – but how much can you remember of the tumultuous events that unfolded?
Our quizmaster, JONATHAN BROCKLEBANK, poses the questions. Tough though they are, it’s a great bit of festive fun, so see how you get on. Answers on page 38.
ROUND ONE: SCOTTISH NEWS
1 Which retailer was accused of lowering the tone of Edinburgh’s Princes Street by opening a store there in November?
(A) Lidl (B) Ann Summers (C) Poundland (D) The Harry Potter Shop
2 In April, Jackie Bird presented her last bulletin after 30 years as the BBC’s face of news in Scotland. How did she mark her departure on screen?
(A) By reading out a story about herself from the autocue (B) In a tearful ad-libbed address to the nation at the close of the bulletin (C) With a rendition of So Long, Farewell from the Sound of Music (D) She made no mention of it whatsoever
3 A poll conducted by the Scottish Book Trust in November found which word to be the favourite in the Scots vocabulary?
(A) Dreich (B) Peely-wally (C) Och (D) Bidie-in
4 Which modern Scottish landmark is to feature on the new Bank of Scotland £20 note?
(A) The Queensferry Crossing (B) The V&A in Dundee (C) The Scottish parliament (D) Glasgow’s revamped Queen Street station
5 What emerged in February as the fastest growing crime in the retail sector, with one in four customers admitting to it?
(A) Using supermarket parking facilities but shopping elsewhere (B) Surreptitious shoplifting of groceries at self-service tills (C) Haranguing staff for moving products to different aisles (D) Buying cigarettes and alcohol for under-age consumers
6 The all-new Caledonian Sleeper service was rolled out in April following a £150million revamp. Early teething problems included...
(A) Chronic delays and staff stressed to the eyeballs by the complaints (B) Brake and signals failures resulting in passengers being decanted in the small hours onto buses (C) Faulty toilets and showers and unclean cabins (D) All of the above
7 Meanwhile ScotRail’s recruitment advert for learner train drivers attracted how many applications?
(A) 15 (B) 1,500 (C) 15,000 (D) 150,000
8 How did ten-year-old Ruby Dailly from Neilston, Renfrewshire, make a name for herself this festive season?
(A) She is the star of the John Lewis Christmas advert (B) She performed the Christmas lights switch-on in London’s Oxford Street (C) Her cover version of Frosty the Snowman is the Christmas number one (D) She made a guest appearance in the Queen’s Christmas message
9 With a salary of £395,000, who was the highest paid Scot in
the BBC’s now annual roll-call of broadcasters earning more than £150,000 a year (A) Nicky Campbell (B) Andrew Marr (C) Ken Bruce (D) Laura Kuenssberg
10 What accident befell giant panda Yang Guang at Edinburgh Zoo in July?
(A) He got a shock from an electric fence (B) He broke a tooth on a bamboo shoot (C) He locked himself out of his enclosure (D) He sat on a bee and was stung on the bottom
ROUND TWO: CULTURE
11 Which was voted the funniest joke of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
(A) A cowboy asked me if I could help him round up 18 cows. I said, ‘Yes, of course. That’s 20 cows.’ Jake Lambert (B) Someone stole my antidepressants. Whoever they are, I hope they’re happy. Richard Stott (C) What’s driving Brexit? From here it looks like it’s probably the Duke of Edinburgh. Milton Jones (D) I keep randomly shouting out ‘Broccoli’ and ‘Cauliflower’. I think I might have Florets. Olaf Falafel
12 More than a decade after she penned her final Harry Potter novel, what did Forbes magazine calculate were JK Rowling’s daily earnings from the franchise?
(A) £200 (B) £2,000 (C) £20,000 (D) £200,000
13 According to a radical new interpretation by Glasgow University history lecturer Martin McGregor, Shakespeare may have written Macbeth to promote what?
(A) Republicanism (B) Unionism (C) Occultism (D) Tourism
14 What unfortunate discovery did specialists make about the Raphael masterpiece known as the Haddo Madonna, hanging in the National Trust for Scotland’s Haddo House in Aberdeenshire?
(A) It is a fake (B) It is stolen (C) It is disintegrating (D) It depicts someone else
15 The new BBC Scotland channel was launched in February. What was the first thing shown on it?
(A) A performance by a Scottish synth pop band (B) A party political broadcast by the SNP (C) An episode of the Beechgrove Garden (D) Its flagship news broadcast The Nine
ROUND FOUR: SHOWBIZ
21 A collection of Billy Connolly’s finest routines was published in the book Tall Tales and
Wee Stories. A tale about what launched his TV career when he told it on Michael Parkinson’s chat show in 1975? (A) A party reveller wearing incontinence pants (B) Robin Hood being buried atop a wardrobe (C) A wife murderer finding a place to park his bike (D) A cardinal visiting a Glasgow school
22 Which performing duo was dropped from BBC Scotland’s 2019 Hogmanay coverage after 30 years at its heart?
(A) The Krankies (B) Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain (C) Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan (D) Hue and Cry
23 Which Scottish musical virtuoso launched a series of tutorials on how to play their instrument on YouTube
(A) Nicola Benedetti on violin (B) Deacon Blue drummer Dougie Vipond (C) Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson on flute (D) AC/DC guitarist Angus Young
24 In October, Lewis Capaldi from Bathgate, West Lothian, became the first Scottish solo artist since whom to have a number one in the US Billboard Hot 100?
(A) Lonnie Donegan (B) Donovan (C) Lulu (D) Sheena Easton
25 Which Scottish actress has been lined up to appear as
the guest lead in the forthcoming series of Line of Duty?
(A) Tilda Swinton (B) Kelly Macdonald (C) Elaine C Smith (D) Karen Gillan
26 Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade, Scotland’s favourite OAPs behaving badly, took their leave of Craiglang in the final series of Still Game. Where did we last see them?
(A) Wandering off into the wilds of Ben Lomond (B) In the Clansman bar hectoring Boaby (C) Getting packed off to a nursing home (D) Driving over a cliff edge like Thelma and Louise
27 Actor Ewan McGregor starred in the film Doctor Sleep, released in November. To which classic horror movie is it a sequel?
(A) Dawn of the Dead (B) Psycho (C) The Shining (D) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
28 The Beatles’ Abbey Road album and its iconic cover marked its 50th anniversary in 2019. What did Scot Iain
MacMillan stand on to take the zebra crossing photograph?
(A) A stepladder (B) The bumper of his van (C) Ringo Starr’s drum kit (D) A stack of Sgt Pepper LPs
29 A DNA project organised by a Scottish clan found which Hollywood screen goddess’s ancestors came from the Moray village of Edinkillie?
(A) Rita Hayworth (B) Marilyn Monroe (C) Sophia Loren (D) Marlene Dietrich
30 Honorary Scot Sir Rod Stewart unveiled his pride and joy at his home in Los Angeles in November. What is it?
(A) A dressing roomsized footballers’ bath (B) An epic model railway (C) A guitarshaped swimming pool (D) A Celticthemed vegetable garden
ROUND FIVE: SPORT
31 Scotland’s dreams were
shattered in the FIFA Women’s World Cup after which international team clawed back a threegoal deficit in the last 20 minutes (A) Argentina (B) Germany (C) England (D) The Faroe Islands
32 It went pear-shaped for the men in the Rugby World Cup too. Who saw them off in Scotland’s final match in the group stages?
(A) New Zealand (B) South Africa (C) Ireland (D) Japan
33 Andy Murray began the year by announcing what he thought was his retirement through injury in January. Less than six months later he was competing in the Wimbledon mixed doubles. With whom?
(A) Martina Hingis (B) Serena Williams (C) Maria Sharapova (D) His mother Judy
34 Scottish football legend Billy McNeill passed away in April, aged 79. What was his nickname?
(A) Cesar (B) Napoleon (C) Constantine (D) Kublai Khan
35 Which artefact connected with a Scottish sporting legend went on sale in January with an asking price of £575,000?
(A) The late racing driver Jim Clark’s Lotus 21 from the 1961 season (B) Archie Gemmill’s shirt from the 1978 World Cup match against the Netherlands (C) Sir Chris Hoy’s 2012 London Olympics lycra suit (D) Sir Alex Ferguson’s chewing gum from his final match in charge of Manchester United in 2013
ROUND SIX: POLITICS
36 Which fictional character did spoof interviews with all four of the main party leaders in
Scotland ahead of the General Election?
(A) Chief Commissioner Cameron Miekelson from Scot Squad (B) Isa Drennan from Still Game (C) Rab C Nesbitt (D) Cathy from Two Doors Down
37 Former Labour leader Kezia Dugdale left politics to take up a job at Glasgow University’s John Smith Centre for Public Service. She surprised many by asking who for a reference?
(A) Ruth Davidson (B) Alex Salmond (C) Nicola Sturgeon (D) Ant and Dec
38 Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson also signalled her intent to step back from frontline politics. What did she do before she became an MSP?
(A) BBC Scotland journalist (B) Kickboxing instructor (C) Investment banker (D) Helicopter pilot
39 The Lord Provost of Glasgow, SNP councillor Eva Bolander resigned shortly after her £8,000 expenses bill was made public. Which of these items did she NOT claim for?
(A) Hair and nail appointments totalling £751. (B) 23 pairs of shoes adding up to £1,150 (C) Underwear amounting to £152 (D) Teeth whitening sessions at £420
40 Within days of entering Number 10, Boris Johnson signalled his intent to get which multi-billion pound infrastructure project up and running?
(A) A tunnel under the Pentland Firth linking the Scottish mainland and Orkney (B) A road bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland (C) Causeways linking all inhabited Hebridean Islands (D) Cycle paths to the summits of all 282 Munros
41 Glasgow-born Jo Swinson became the first woman and youngest person to lead the Liberal Democrats in July. Now 39, she admitted plastering her bedroom wall with which band’s posters as a teenager?
(A) The Bay City Rollers (B) Spandau Ballet (C) Take That (D) One Direction
42 Which forensic Scottish interviewer did Boris Johnson refuse to face during the general election campaign after both Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn were given maulings?
(A) Lorraine Kelly (B) Craig Ferguson (C) Sarah Smith (D) Andrew Neil
43 In May, the SNP’s longestserving MP Pete Wishart announced his candidacy for which role?
(A) Commons Speaker (B) The SNP’s man in the Lords (C) Black Rod (D) Father of the House
44 Which party suffered so many resignations in 2019 that it issued scripts to all MPs and MSPs on how to persuade colleagues to stay?
(A) Scottish Labour (B) Scottish Conservative Party (C) SNP (D) The Liberal Democrats
45 Which flawed legislation was the SNP forced to scrap after
a six-year battle to impose it on Scotland?
(A) The Named Person Scheme for children (B) Minimum Pricing on alcohol (C) A smacking ban (D) Workplace parking tax
ROUND SEVEN: STRANGE BUT TRUE 46 In sub-zero temperatures in doing?February, illustrator Alice Goodridge was spotted smashing the ice on Loch Insh near Aviemore with a sledgehammer. What was she
(A) Trying to rescue her pet poodle (B) Sabotaging a curling match (C) Preparing the water for a swim (D) Collecting ice for a drinks party
47 Community Police Officer Stephen Reid told Paisley residents of a plan to use undercover cops to catch which lawbreakers?
(A) Litter bugs (B) Dog walkers who do not scoop poop (C) Unlicensed buskers (D) Pranksters who put traffic cones on statues
48 New figures from TV Licensing revealed how many black and white TVs were still in use in Scottish households?
(A) Three (B) 38 (C) 383 (D) 3,838
49 How did 50-year-old Clyde manager Danny Lennon deal with a chronic injury crisis during his team’s Glasgow Cup victory over Celtic Colts?
(A) He asked if he could borrow a striker from his opponent’s bench (B) He took to the field as a player himself for the first time since his 30s (C) He bought a new defender at half time and sent him on (D) He made an appeal for a midfielder on the PA system.
50 A study based on more than 60,000 samples surprised many by finding that men in Glasgow and Edinburgh have the UK’s smallest what?
(A) Incomes (B) Waistlines (C) Cars (D) TVs