New Year's Eve Trivia Jeopardy

A game to fill the hours before midnight: world celebrations, the ball drop, calendars, and the year that is ending. Free to copy, played from phones.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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Every clue on this board

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Celebrations Around the World

$200
Scots call New Year's Eve this.
What is Hogmanay?
$400
In Spain, people eat 12 of these at midnight, one with each chime of the clock.
What are grapes?
$600
Fireworks over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House make this Australian city's celebration famous.
What is Sydney?
$800
In Scotland and northern England, the custom of being the first person across the threshold after midnight is called this.
What is first-footing?
$1,000
Buddhist temples in Japan ring their bells this many times on New Year's Eve.
What is 108?

The Ball Drop

$200
The New York ball takes this many seconds to descend its pole, matching the final countdown to midnight.
What is 60?
$400
Welcoming 1908, the first New York ball drop took place on December 31 of this calendar year.
What is 1907?
$600
The ball is covered in crystal triangles made by this Irish crystal maker.
What is Waterford?
$800
The ball drop was inspired by these devices, dropped at a set time so sailors could check their chronometers.
What are time balls?
$1,000
With the ball dark during World War II in 1942 and 1943, crowds marked midnight with a minute of this.
What is silence?

Calendars and Timekeeping

$200
A leap year adds a day to this month.
What is February?
$400
This imaginary line in the Pacific marks where the calendar date changes.
What is the International Date Line?
$600
January is named after this two-faced Roman god of beginnings.
Who is Janus?
$800
The calendar most of the world uses was introduced in 1582 by this pope.
Who is Pope Gregory XIII?
$1,000
The early Roman year began in this month, which is why September's name means seventh.
What is March?

Resolutions

$200
A classic resolution is to get fit, which is why these places see a January rush of new members.
What are gyms?
$400
This challenge asks people to give up alcohol for the first month of the year.
What is Dry January?
$600
In SMART goal-setting, the S stands for this.
What is specific?
$800
Started in the UK in 2014, this campaign challenges people to eat plant-based for the first month of the year.
What is Veganuary?
$1,000
Ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at this new year festival, often called the ancestor of resolutions.
What is Akitu?

Party Food and Drink

$200
This sparkling wine, named for a region of France, is the classic midnight toast.
What is Champagne?
$400
In the American South, this black-eyed pea and rice dish is eaten on New Year's Day for luck.
What is Hoppin' John?
$600
Southern New Year's meals pair black-eyed peas with these leafy greens, said to stand for money.
What are collard greens?
$800
In Japan, long buckwheat noodles of this kind are eaten on New Year's Eve for a long life.
What is soba?
$1,000
The Dutch ring in the new year with these deep-fried dough balls dusted with powdered sugar.
What are oliebollen?

The Year in Review

$200
Every December this magazine names its Person of the Year.
What is Time?
$400
Dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster and Oxford each announce one of these every year.
What is a word of the year?
$600
Spotify's personalized year-end recap for its listeners goes by this name.
What is Wrapped?
$800
Each December, Pantone names one of these, such as Classic Blue for 2020.
What is a Color of the Year?
$1,000
Google publishes its annual look back at what people looked up most under the name Year in this.
What is Search?

Final Jeopardy — Times Square

Times Square, home of the famous ball drop, was named for this newspaper after it moved its headquarters there in 1904.

What is The New York Times?

How to run this board

New Year's Eve parties have a long stretch between dinner and midnight, and a trivia game fills it well. This board covers how the world celebrates, the Times Square ball drop, calendars and timekeeping, famous resolutions and their history, party food and drink, and a column looking back on the year that is ending.

The Year in Review column is the one to check before the party. Its clues are written generally, so read it through and swap in anything local or personal that the room will enjoy.

Timing tip: aim to start Final Jeopardy at about 11:45. Wagers get made as the countdown approaches, and the winner is announced just before the clock strikes midnight.

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