52 weeks 52 questions, part four

Quiz of the year's news

The fourth and final instalment of the Magazine's annual quiz of the year's news, today covering October - December. Don't forget to tot up your total...PLUS a special bonus question each day - see below for details.

1.) Multiple Choice Question

Whose handwriting, glimpsed on a lectern in October?

1. Sir Ian Blair
2. Sarah Palin
3. David Cameron

2.) Multiple Choice Question

During the election campaign, a hacker broke into Sarah Palin's Yahoo mail account and reset her password. What did he change it to?

1. hockeymom
2. popcorn
3. misswasilla84
4. moose

3.) Multiple Choice Question

In October a supermarket price war pushed petrol to below £1 a litre for the first time in 10 months. What did the average price of unleaded peak at in July?

1. 109.7p
2. 117.9p
3. 119.7p
4. 127.9p

4.) Multiple Choice Question

On a royal visit to Google HQ, what was the Duke of Edinburgh unable to find on Google Earth?

1. The Earth
2. London
3. Buckingham Palace
4. Google's London HQ

5.) Missing Word Question

I made a mistake, admits *

1. Ross
2. Brand
3. Osborne

6.) Multiple Choice Question

In late October as house prices slid downwards, it was estimated about 2.5m homeowners could be in negative equity by the end of 2009. What proportion of the total homes in the UK is this?

1. About 5%
2. About 10%
3. About 20%
4. About 30%

7.) Multiple Choice Question

Boxer Peter Buckley, left, finally threw in the towel on 1 November after losing more times than any other fighter in the world. How many knock-out wins has he achieved in his 300 bouts?

1. None
2. Five
3. Eight
4. Fifteen

8.) Multiple Choice Question

D'oh! Spotted in November, what's the Welsh translation of this Swansea road sign?

1. "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated."
2. "This in-box is no longer monitored. Please contact _______."
3. "I am on annual leave for the next two weeks."

9.) Multiple Choice Question

After being elected president, Barack Obama gained the Secret Service code name Renegade, and Renaissance for wife Michelle. Which former president and first lady were, respectively, Eagle and Evergreen?

1. Richard and Pat Nixon
2. Ronald and Nancy Reagan
3. Bill and Hillary Clinton

10.) Multiple Choice Question

What, in November, was described as having "the pace of a steamroller with engine trouble"?

1. A woolly mammoth, the genome for which has been almost pieced together
2. Troubled High Street retailer Woolworths
3. Nicole Kidman's latest film epic, Australia
4. The 10-year-old International Space Station

11.) Multiple Choice Question

Which one of these dropped in price when VAT dropped from 17.5% to 15% on 1 December?

1. M&S teacakes
2. Jaffa cakes
3. Chocolate digestives

12.) Multiple Choice Question

Spot the real Lapland:

1. Blizzard
2. Sprinkling
3. Huskie
4. Reindeer

Answers

1. It's David Cameron, adding the phrase "You can't admit that change is needed, because that would mean admitting you've got it wrong" to his conference speech. At the same time, Sir Ian resigned from the Met Police, and surprise vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin met her Democratic rival in their one and only debate.
2. It was reset as "popcorn" and posted online. In October David Kernell, the son of a Democratic politician, pleaded not guilty to breaking into Ms Palin's e-mail.
3. It rose to 119.7p in July, according to the AA, when UK fuel prices hit record highs on the back of crude oil also hitting all-time peaks.
4. It was Google's London HQ - after being shown a aerial view of Buckingham Palace, Prince Philip asked to see the Mayfair office in which he was standing. They found the address, but no building - the satellite image was taken when it was vacant land.
5. So said George Osborne of his handling of meetings in Corfu with a Russian billionaire. Meanwhile, Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross apologised for leaving explicit messages on Andrew Sachs' answerphone - Brand then quit the BBC and Ross was suspended for three months.
6. It's about 10% of the total houses in the UK. The prediction came from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
7. It's eight knock-outs. The 39-year-old British super-featherweight finished his 300-fight career with a win on points, making it 32 victories, 256 defeats and 12 draws - the worst on record.
8. It's number 1: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated." All official road signs in Wales are bilingual, and spotting mistranslations is something of a pastime for Welsh speakers.
9. It's the Clintons. The Reagans were Rawhide and Rainbow and the Nixons' Searchlight and Starlight.
10. It's Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann, in a review in the Canberra Times. The space station turned 10 in November - which was when Woolies started sending up smoke signals of its distress.
11. Chocolate digestives dropped in price - biscuits, so classed as a luxury. Jaffa Cakes and M&S teacakes stayed the same price as these are classed as cakes (no VAT).
12. It's picture four - the reindeer. The others are of Lapland New Forest, a theme park on the Hampshire-Dorset border, which closed in December after visitors - paying up to £30 each - labelled it a "scam" and "hell".

Your Score

0 - 4 : Christmas Conga

5 - 9 : Jingle Bell Rock

10 - 12 : Santa Claus Is Coming... To Town

In addition to the 12 questions above, there is also a bonus question for each of the four parts of this quiz. That's how we reach the magic total of 52 questions.

52 weeks, part one 52 weeks, part two 52 weeks, part three

With each part of the quiz we will publish a photograph - all four are on the right. But what is the link between them?

You may, if you work out the answer, tell us using the form below. But there will be no prizes except a Christmas helping of kudos.

The answer will be published here at about 1400 GMT on Tuesday 23 December.

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For a complete archive of past quizzes and our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, visit the Magazine page and scroll down.