Answers are at the bottom
It’s time to take a break from your last-minute gift shopping, perk a pot of coffee or brew a cup of tea and relax for a while. I’ve prepared a rather colourful
Christmas quiz for you and yours. The answers and colourful photo are to be found further back in the paper, on page X. No peeking!
Red and white are the colours that dominate Christmas stories and decorations. Grab a pencil and a sheet of paper. Away we go!
1) What Canadian government agency and American government agency vessels have red and white hulls? How are their colour schemes opposite?
2) Red and white is used by A] a popular soft drink B] a Canadian bank C] two maritime signal flags; state their message D] a mandatory sign in any indoor gathering place E] two emergency services that perform the same role. F] uniform of former volunteer hospital helpers G] a national flag that depicts a daytime astronomical feature.
3) A service that advertises using a red and white striped pole. During some COVID periods, this useful service was not allowed to operate.
4) The name of an albino ruminant which could become the navigator for a Yule-time wheel-less non-motorized package delivery vehicle.
5) Any three common names of the Christmas Eve ho, ho ho’ing deliverer of coal and gifts.
6) The ‘as the crow flies distance’ between the normal residence of Joseph and Mary and the town in which their son was born.
7) Two European countries: one has two horizontal red stripes, white in middle; the other had two horizontal white stripes, with red in the middle, now a symbol of the opposition party.
Answers:
1) Coast Guards: Canadian vessels have a red hull with a white diagonal; American vessels have a while hull, red diagonal. (5 points)
2) (1 point each)
A Coca Cola.
B Bank of Nova Scotia.
C Half red, half white: pilot on board. Red field, white diagonal: diver below.
D Red Cross and Red Crescent.
E Candy Striper’s uniform.
F Japan’s ‘rising sun’.
3) Barber shops, temporarily closed due to two meter spacing. (1 point)
4) If Rudolph were an albino deer, he could guide Santa’s sled. (3 points)
5) Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, Sinter Klaas… (3 points)
6) Distances given vary, depending on source, between 90-110 km and 60-80 miles. (4 points)
7) 7) Austria’s flag has two horizontal red stripes, with white in the middle. Belorussia earlier flag had two horizontal white stripes, red in the middle. (3 points)
Total of 25 points. How did you do? 25? You’re very clever – or you used the Internet to get the answers. 15-20? Not bad – but not great. 0-5: If you’re an American, I know who you voted for during the last federal election.
If you disagree with any of my answers, write your complaint on the back of a Canadian fifty-dollar (red and white) bill, then mail it to me.
