theartsdesk Christmas Quiz

You're going to test your stomach and sweet temper to the maximum today - test your brain and memory too with our monster quiz about the arts covered by theartsdesk in 2011. Every artform is represented here in 12 dozen questions. Settle down between courses, films and presents and see how many you and your near and dear can do.

There's a linkable clue to each question where you will find an article that furnishes the answer. All the answers are on another page here - which will become live at noon today to give you a start.

1. In film, what is “the Great Whatsit?” Clue
2. Which shuttered cultural institution suffered a sexual scandal, lost two major stars, and reopened its doors after restoration to the tune of roughly $1 billion (with decorations in gold leaf washed by vodka-soaked squirrel tails)? Clue
3. In the film We Need to Talk About Kevin, which Buddy Holly song is playing on the soundtrack when Eva (Tilda Swinton) finds herself terrorised on Halloween? Clue
4. At what age did Tim Minchin start making audiences laugh? Clue
5. How many national anthems have been recorded by the London Philharmonic to play at the London 2012 Olympics? Clue 
6. Which rock star asked a concert audience to stop singing his first name because “it’s a shit chant - not enough syllables”?  Clue
7. Who gave the actor Christopher Eccleston his first career break by casting him as Pablo Gonzales in A Streetcar Named Desire at Bristol Old Vic? Clue
8. When did the last train run on the High Line track in New York City?  Clue             
9. What shape was the egg from which Brazilian artist Lygia Pape emerged? Clue      
10. What is a luthier? Clue            
11. Name the Scottish artist who painted the philosophers David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau? Clue      
12. What medium is Tacita Dean obsessed with? Clue
13. Name the rodents from another planet who performed at the Barbican in a musical event? Clue    
14. Alumni of Alan Bennett's play The History Boys were everywhere on stage during 2011. Theatre buffs, see if you can name four sightings of them and the productions they were in. Clue 
15. On Peter Gabriel’s new version of “Don’t Give Up” which female singer took the part originally sung by Kate Bush? And where does she come from? Clue     
16. In the belly of whose whale did Parisians walk? Clue    
17. Which new opera divided critics in its depiction of senile sex, boob jobs and drug overdoses? Clue
18. Where in the world did massed fiddles overwhelm theartsdesk?  Clue       
19. Where on a warm operatic night did a wood become a 1960s schoolhouse, and a fairy king a paedophile master? Clue       
20. Jane Eyre star Mia Wasikowska originally hails from which country? Clue       
21. Of which nationality was Egon Schiele who had a very popular show at Richard Nagy this year? Clue
22. Which British artist made sculptures out of sand? Clue
23. The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible yielded an extremely long play. The performer who played God had one other theatrical role this year. Name the performer and the role. Clue
24. Who borrowed, plagiarised or downright stole (according to taste) some dance moves from a very unlikely source? Name both pilferer and pilfered parties. Clue
25. Which city in 2011 branded itself “Home of Metal”? Clue
26. What colour is shared by a god dubiously resurrected by a Russian ballet company, a sea seen in several UK theatres in summer, and a Robert Lepage production at the Barbican? Clue
27. Which musical intellectual curated the Brighton Festival back in May? Clue  
28. Which California dude did a version of Gershwin's "Summertime" on his last album? Clue
29. The pop artist Richard Hamilton, who died this year, was tutor to which glamrock star? Clue
30. Which singer told theartsdesk that “I am a lady of the sea, I’m a lady of the water”? Clue       
31. Which building used a million cubic metres of Transylvanian marble? Clue     
32. Which barefoot diva died last week?  Clue      
33. Which Oscar-winning Brit played a boxer living on his past glories? Clue
34. Identify the artist-duo known for wrapping famous buildings and landmarks. Clue     
35. Which former Just a Minute team member was a school with the radio show's host, Nicholas Parsons? Clue   
36. Which distinguished news photographer likened ballet dancers to coal miners, in terms of hard work? Clue
37. He won an Oscar playing the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. When he made his debut as a director, what two new skills did his character learn? Clue
38. He was an American in Rome, his favourite painter was Poussin, and he had a show this year with his hero. Name that artist. Clue
39. Which director introduced a bull terrier and tomato ketchup to an operatic staple? And name the production. Clue
40. Lizzie Siddal was the mistress of which English artist? Clue
41. Which threatened West End café was volubly championed by theatregoers and artists against developers? Clue
42. Which 14th-century Great Hall hosted an acoustic music festival? Clue       
43. Björk’s new songs were introduced live by whose disembodied voice? Clue      
44. Name the husky-voiced thespian Dame who returned to an erstwhile stage success about a social climber - this time in a different role from her original one. Clue      
45. Which Ukrainian composer thought that cowboys and Cossacks had much in common? (Clue: he was the man who kept them dogies rolling) Clue  
46. Which opera by which 13-year-old composer was performed in May to mark Europe Day and Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council? Clue      
47. Whose historic piano roll performances were recreated by Sigurd Slattebrekk? Clue
48. Which 20th-century artist painted a series of popes after Velázquez? Clue     
49. Name the German artist who sometimes uses a squeegee instead of a brush. Clue
50. Tony Bennett's Duets II featured Amy Winehouse on "Body and Soul", but which London-born star of stage and screen was the song written for back in 1930? Clue  
51. An eccentric Canadian pianist was revealed in a new documentary to have had a more active love life than was previously known. Who? Clue     
52. Which unlikely indie rocker appears on Jesca Hoop’s song “Murder of Birds”? Clue      
53. Name the Shakespeare tragedy set in a psychiatric hospital this year which starred a Welshman. Clue
54. Which Nineties pop boy band is soon to be releasing its own beer brew, derivatively titled "MMMHop"? Clue       
55. Which monster symphony called upon a record number of performers to fill not just the stage and choir but also the side stalls of the Albert Hall? Clue        
56. Who played with Glen Campbell on his 2011 farewell tour? Clue
57. How did Los Angeles artist Paul McCarthy chop off his own legs? Clue
58. What piece of kitchen crockery is used in a laugh in One Man, Two Guvnors? Clue      
59. Which punk rock icon mutated into a shrill ventriloquist's dummy with a fixation for vehicular financial affairs? Clue
60. Which cast member was Oscar-nominated for the Australian film Animal Kingdom? Clue       
61. Name two West End stars of current farces who were concurrently represented during the year as the authors of new books. And name their shows. Clue 1 - clue 2      
62. Which member of Take That has been linked to television funny woman Catherine Tate?      
63. Who designed a maternity dress for Grace Jones? Clue      
64. Who won the inaugural Nordic Music Prize?  Clue
65. Who played Vivien Leigh in which movie? Clue     
66. With whom did Banksy engage in a tit-for-tat graffiti war before he (not Banksy) fell into a coma? Clue
67. Who caused contention by appearing on the back of their second album as part woman, part motorbike?  Clue      
68. Which rapper declared "I'm Gay" in 2011? Clue
69. What name was YouTube sensation Lana Del Ray (best known for “Videogames” and her Bardot-esque looks) formerly known as? Clue      
70. Where did Naomi Watts meet a tall dark stranger and who was he? Clue       
71. What bloodline did Tracey Emin discover she had this year? Clue
72. Which septuagenarian English folk singer and guitarist earned his musical stripes as a chorister at the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy? Clue      
73. Which French celluloid visionary did Martin Scorsese pay homage to? Clue
74. Name the two flour-covered arbiters - not the presenters - of The Great British Bake-Off. Clue
75. Name the young heroine whose name contains within it a Russian word that brings the show of the same title to a rousing climax. Clue       
76. Who played the libidinous Christopher Isherwood in Christopher and His Kind on BBC Two? Clue
77. Jarvis Cocker got Pulp back together in 2011. What was the band's original name? Clue
78. Which globe-straddling electronic dance musician released his new album alongside a coffee table book of his photography? Clue   
79. Name three outings for an orang-utan in the movies (not including sequels). Clue       
80. Anselm Kiefer came to prominence on the back of which 1980s art phenomenon? Clue       
81. To which region in which country did you go to buy a stringed instrument in the 16th century? Clue     
82. Which stand-up comedian told this joke this year: "Suicide bombing - it's a cultural thing for us. It's like jury service - you say you want to do it but you don't really." Clue      
83. Which architect is responsible for the sci-fi look of Brasilia? Clue  
84. Which show was designed by Jean Cocteau, had music by Erik Satie and costumes by Pablo Picasso? Clue       
85. Which angelically named friend of Nelson Mandela's made a fortune from the online music distribution system OD2? Clue      
86. What office machines does techno producer Carl Craig cite as most influential on his music? Clue
87. Who designed the plantings on the High Line? Clue      
88. Which contemporary dancemaker was enshrined in a 3D movie by a leading Germany film director?  Clue   
89. Concepts were everywhere in the theatre during 2011. With that in mind, name the venerable Broadway musical updated into a video game this autumn. Clue       
90. Numerous plays were represented twice over in London theatre this year. Name at least three of them. Clue
91. Nashi made a British TV debut. Who, what or where is Nashi? Clue
92. Which Kink went to the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School, in the manor of Muswell Hill? Clue
93. Which icy capital saw the inauguration of an 1,800-seater concert hall described by several leading musicians as possessing one of the finest acoustics in the world? Clue 
94. What was Salford-born LS Lowry’s day job? Clue     
95. Name the playwright who gave us a heretic's response to both climate change and Goldoni in two plays across the year. And name the plays. Clue    
96. Before he become a director, Nicolas Roeg honed his filmmaking skills as a cinematographer. Name two European film directors he worked with. Clue
97. Which distinguished animal with theatrical connections died this year? Clue
98. Female TV detectives 1: which beauteous French undercover cop did Ben Miller find himself working alongside in a West Indian island? Clue  
99. Which deluxe Alpine spa provided the setting for a Mercury-nominated jazz piano album? Clue       
100. Female TV detectives 2: which legendary US copper turned up in a London theatre rediscovering her libido? Clue
101. Name the performer who went from Harvard's hallowed halls to playing Doris, a former barmaid now married to a Polish Count. Clue      
102. Which folktronica band put their mini-album inside a ball of home-spun wool? Clue    
103. Which 80-year-old saxophone colossus opened a jazz festival describing improvisation as "the highest form of being able to create music"? Clue     
104. Female TV detectives 3: which northerly police hound put knitted jumpers firmly back on the fashion map? Clue     
105. Where did the star of this year's Last Night of the Proms find her first piano? Clue
106. Which unusual combination of languages feature in a film directed by Marc Evans and co-written with Laurence Coriat? Clue
107. Which famous depressive read out a list of names for the white stuff? Clue  
108. Whose four organs caused fights to break out in Carnegie Hall? Clue       
109. Which Beatles were brought back to life on the West End stage? Clue     
110. What classical ballet did actress Natalie Portman pretend to dance in a controversial film? Clue
111. On which novel did director Pedro Almodóvar base his 2011 film The Skin I Live In? Clue      
112. What did Bell take over from Marriner? Clue
113. Which event does Andrew Logan host in a half-male, half-female costume? Clue
114. The Ides of March is a film that "superbly anatomises political chicanery", according to our critic. But what are/is the Ides of March?" Clue
115. What is the name of Harry Shearer’s new documentary on Hurricane Katrina? Clue     
116. What inspirational landscape does the singer Feist describe as "like an armadillo"? Clue 
117. Name the film that unabashedly serves up shit in its forward march to this year's Oscars. Clue      
118. Which northerly contemporary art museum doubles as the town's flood defences? Clue      
119. Not content with scripting the forthcoming Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, Abi Morgan wrote a new play and a new TV series in 2011: name them. Clue 
120. What natural catastrophe earlier this year inspired the ballerina Sylvie Guillem to create a show? Clue
121. Which radical choreographer's company will close forever on 31 December 2011?  Clue
122. Leeds schoolchildren provided the voices for what in an opera? Clue
123. Scholars of Irish drama could have got a PhD just from going to the theatre this year. Name three Irish theatre classics that were revived during the year. Clue       
124. Annie Nightingale said that the Beatles changed everything but nothing was as exciting as The Who until which band came along? Clue 
125. Which offbeat German fantasy film, released this year on DVD, was shown to Kurdish children by documentary-maker Mark Cousins? Clue  
126. Which Doctor Who played a Shakespearean wit - at his own expense? Clue      
127. Which super-group was David Leland associated with? Clue 
128. Name at least three plays by a centenary-celebrating playwright that were seen during the year. Clue
129. What did some German cows do when they heard the pianist Mitsuko Uchida? Clue
130. How many female portraits is Leonardo da Vinci known to have completed in his life? Clue
     
131. Where is the housing estate that features in this year’s Turner Prize exhibition? Clue      
132. Identify the diminutive 19th-century French artist whose favourite muse was known by the nickname La Mélinite. Clue  
133. In the film Tinker Tailor Solider Spy what type of mint do we see George Smiley (Gary Oldman) eating as he prepares to confront the mole?  Clue   
134. Room in a cowslip bell for two? Name two productions of a Shakespeare island romance that turned a speedy spirit into twins. Clue
135. Who headlined the main Pyramid Stage on Glastonbury's Friday night amidst a rainstorm? Clue
136. What's the external architectural feature of Frank Gehry's Spruce Flats? Clue     
137. Art dealer and star of Fake or Fortune? Philip Mould uncovered a valuable lost painting by which American artist this year? Clue
138. In which London gallery did Mark Rothko have a ground-breaking exhibition in 1961? Clue
139. Which American virtuoso jazz trumpet player is "one of Time magazine's 25 most influential people"? Clue    
140. Which opera by two Holocaust survivors was finally heard in London? Clue
141. Which Hollywood starlet is Death Cab for Cutie’s lead singer Ben Gibbard married to? Clue
142. Name the Russian painter whose greatest works were thought lost for decades, before making their way back to Moscow's Tretyakov this year. Clue
143. On which author's works has the actor Simon Callow based three one-man shows? Clue
144. Name all the versions and productions of the ballet The Nutcracker have been offered to British audiences this Christmas. Clue