From Lily Allen to six-seven: it’s the 2025 bumper pop culture quiz of the year

1. According to Lily Allen’s album West End Girl, what was the name she gave on dating apps while “looking for someone to have fun with while my husband walks away”?

   1. Austin Prime

   2. Dallas Major

   3. Houston Minor

   4. Phoenix Galore

2. In an interview with the BBC, Timothée Chalamet was asked to nominate his favourite British people. Who was on his list?

   1. Noel Edmonds

   2. Hugh Grant

   3. Susan Boyle

   4. Liz Truss

3. An advertisement for American Eagle stirred controversy this year due to its slogan: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” But lost in all the noise was the charitable cause Sweeney’s denim line was raising money for. What was it?

   1. Domestic violence

   2. Racial equality

   3. Animal welfare

   4. Climate action

4. Piper, noooo! Which of the following is NOT a line said by Parker Posey’s character Victoria Ratliff in season three of The White Lotus?

   1. "I just don't think, at this age, I'm meant to live an uncomfortable life”

   2. “Just because people are rich doesn’t mean they’re not trashy”

   3. “I don’t even have my lorazepam. I’m going to have to drink myself to sleep”

   4. "One day I decided to trick my mind into loving beans, and now I do"

5. Donald Trump seemed to pick fights with every late-night host on US television this year. Which late-night host did the US president call a “truly deranged lunatic”?

   1. Seth Meyers

   2. Jimmy Kimmel

   3. Jon Stewart

   4. Stephen Colbert

6. 

   This year, Adrien Brody broke the record for the longest acceptance speech at the Oscars. How long was it?

   1. Four minutes and 16 seconds

   2. Five minutes and 37 seconds

   3. Six minutes and 45 seconds

   4. Seven minutes and 23 seconds

7. The Oasis reunion tour went around the world, with the Gallagher brothers playing 41 shows to almost 3 million people. What song did they end their shows with?

   1. Wonderwall

   2. Champagne Supernova

   3. Don’t Look Back in Anger

   4. Some Might Say

8. Which Lord of the Rings actor surprised a bride and groom during their wedding ceremony at the film set of Hobbiton in New Zealand this year?

   1. Ian McKellen

   2. Orlando Bloom

   3. Andy Serkis

   4. Elijah Wood

9. Which Shakespearean character did Taylor Swift name a song for on her album The Life of a Showgirl?

   1. Lady Macbeth

   2. Hamlet

   3. Ophelia

   4. Elizabeth Taylor

10. 

    Ice Cube starred in a hilariously bad remake of War of the Worlds on Amazon Prime Video. Which of the following was an actual scene in this film?

    1. Ice Cube’s character hacks his daughter’s smart fridge and criticises her for not eating enough eggs

    2. The world is saved by a USB drive delivered with an Amazon Prime delivery drone

    3. The FBI messages Ice Cube on Microsoft Teams to send him a file titled "FBI_Search_Warrant.pdf"

    4. All of the above

11. Quentin Tarantino called Paul Dano “weak sauce” for his performance in which film?

    1. There Will Be Blood

    2. Swiss Army Man

    3. The Batman

    4. The Fabelmans

12. 

    The rapper Cardi B was the defendant in a colourful lawsuit after allegations that she ... what?

    1. Assaulted a security guard by scratching her with her fingernails

    2. Assaulted a security guard by pulling her hair

    3. Assaulted a security guard by calling her fat

    4. Borrowed from the chorus of another rapper's song

13. The White House reacted with anger to the first episode of South Park this year, in which Trump was depicted having sex with Satan. Who did he later cheat on Satan with in the Lincoln Bedroom?

    1. JD Vance

    2. Peter Thiel

    3. Kristi Noem

    4. Robert F Kennedy Jr

14. Marc Maron's WTF podcast ended after 1,686 episodes in October. Who was his final guest?

    1. Barack Obama

    2. Regina King

    3. Matt Groening

    4. Jamie Lee Curtis

15. Which of these did Kim Kardashian NOT do this year?

    1. Collaborate with Fortnite

    2. Host a MasterClass about running a business

    3. Pass the bar to become a lawyer

    4. Star as a lawyer in a Ryan Murphy series

16. 

    How many languages does Rosalía speak on her album Lux?

    1. 13

    2. 17

    3. Four

    4. Eight

17. Which of the following is NOT a voice actor credit in Zootopia 2?

    1. Ed Sheeran is Ed Shearin, a sheep

    2. Robert Irwin is Robert Furwin, a koala

    3. Bob Iger is Bob Tiger, a tiger

    4. Glen Powell is Glen Owl, an owl

18. The tremendously horny gay romance series Heated Rivalry premiered in November, starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as captains of rival teams in which sport?

    1. Basketball

    2. Ice hockey

    3. American football

    4. Soccer

19. 

    Katy Perry went to space this year! What did she do up there?

    1. She revealed the setlist of her next tour

    2. She sang the first verse of her next single

    3. She blew a kiss to Justin Trudeau

    4. She had a panic attack

20. The medical drama The Pitt was a huge hit for HBO this year, with Noah Wyle winning best actor at the Emmy awards. What time does Dr Robby’s shift start in the first episode?

    1. 5am

    2. 6am

    3. 7am

    4. 8am

21. In August KPop Demon Hunters became the most-watched film on Netflix. What viral trend did it inspire that led to safety warnings?

    1. Eating steaming hot instant noodles as fast as you can

    2. A TikTok dance challenge that caused some to hyperventilate

    3. Inhaling a gimbap in one go

    4. Opening as many soda pop cans as you can in 10 seconds

22. 

    In June a lifesize Labubu was sold at auction in Hong Kong. How much did it go for?

    1. US$17,324

    2. US$150,324

    3. US$80,324

    4. US$220,324

23. Which rapper is widely credited (or blamed) for starting the six-seven meme?

    1. Skrilla

    2. Shaboozey

    3. Tupac

    4. Jelly Roll

24. Danish author Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume was the surprise literary hit of 2025. Which day of the year does the protagonist live on repeat, Groundhog Day-style?

    1. 18 November

    2. 18 July

    3. 18 March

    4. 18 December

25. The UK series Adolescence, about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering his female classmate, was a huge hit. What was the name of the victim?

    1. Georgia

    2. Katie

    3. Lily

    4. Hannah

26. As the Louvre heist caught the world’s attention, an Associated Press photo of the crime scene went viral featuring three police officers leaning against a car and a surprisingly dapper person who became known as “fedora man”. Who was he?

    1. A detective

    2. A journalist

    3. A teenager

    4. An AI-generated fake

27. Season three of Squid Game premiered this year, with a final episode that featured a surprise cameo from which actor?

    1. Cate Blanchett

    2. Glenn Close

    3. Meryl Streep

    4. Tilda Swinton

28. Which Grammy-winning pop star fought back against the White House after it used her music in a social media post promoting ICE raids?

    1. Chappell Roan

    2. Olivia Rodrigo

    3. Sabrina Carpenter

    4. Gracie Abrams

29. Amazon released a statement urging fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty to do what?

    1. Stop pirating the show

    2. Donate to the American Cancer Society

    3. Check in on each other’s mental health

    4. Stop bullying the show's stars

30. Which of the following WASN’T the plot of a 2025 Netflix Christmas film?

    1. An ambitious US executive is sent to France to buy a famous champagne house – but she falls for the vineyard owner's son

    2. An unemployed single mother pretends to be an elderly man to get work as a Santa at a ski resort – but she falls for the resort owner’s son

    3. A retail worker teams up with a vengeful contractor to stage a heist of a famous London department store – but she falls for him

    4. One of the Jonas brothers poses as a travel agent to get the other Jonas brother back home for Christmas – but a woman at the agency falls for him

Solutions

1:B, 2:C - “She dreamt big,” Chalamet told the startled interviewer. “She dreamt bigger than all of us. Who wasn’t moved by that? I remember it like it was yesterday”, 3:A - 100% of proceeds were to go to the Crisis Text Line, 4:D - Delivered impeccably by Leslie Bibb, 5:A - He also described Meyers as “the least talented person to ‘perform’ live in the history of television”, 6:B - It felt like five years, 7:B, 8:D, 9:C - The film clip of The Fate of Ophelia was watched more than 27m times on YouTube in the first three days, and saw Swifties flock to Museum Wiesbaden in Germany to see a painting by Friedrich Heyser which is said to have partially inspired Swift's take, 10:D - We watched the whole film so you wouldn't have to, 11:A - Members of the Danoverse who piped up in the actor’s defence included Ben Stiller, Dillon Freasier and Daniel Day-Lewis, 12:A - A Los Angeles jury cleared Cardi B after deliberating for less than an hour; “I know I’ve got a little reputation but I swear to god I am innocent,” she said outside the court, to laughter from the media , 13:A, 14:A - It was a repeat visit from Obama, who was the first sitting US president to appear on the show in 2015, 15:C - After passing the “baby bar” in 2021, Kardashian revealed last month that she had failed the main exam in July, leaving her unable to qualify … for now, 16:A - She sings in Spanish, Catalan, English, Latin, Sicilian, Ukrainian, Arabic, German, Hebrew, Mandarin, Japanese, French and Portuguese, 17:D, 18:B, 19:A - She also sang Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World, 20:C - Each of the 15 episodes covers approximately one hour of a gruelling 15-hour shift, 21:A - Boston's Shriners children's hospital issued a press release warning against the #KPopNoodleChallenge, saying, "Instant noodles make up nearly one-third of pediatric scald burn injuries," after two to three patients began presenting with the injury each week, 22:B - The figurine was 131cm, or 4ft 4in, 23:A - And no, even he doesn’t know what it means, 24:A, 25:B, 26:C - Fifteen-year-old Poirot fan Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux was visiting the museum with his family that day. "I like to be chic," he said. "I go to school like this." OK then!, 27:A, 28:C - The video featured ICE enforcers tackling people to the ground and handcuffing them, set to Carpenter's playfully raunchy song Juno, and posted with a lyric in the share text: "Have you ever tried this one?", 29:D - “The show isn’t real but the people playing the characters are,” the show’s official social media accounts posted in August. The caption accompanying a video graphic read: “The summer we started acting normal online”, 30:D - A Very Jonas Christmas Movie did come out this year – but that’s not the plot and it’s on Disney anyway

Scores

1. 30 and above.

   We didn't actually imagine anyone could score this high? Congratulations, but also: go outside and touch grass <3

2. 29 and above.

   We didn't actually imagine anyone could score this high? Congratulations, but also: go outside and touch grass <3

3. 28 and above.

   We didn't actually imagine anyone could score this high? Congratulations, but also: go outside and touch grass <3

4. 27 and above.

   We didn't actually imagine anyone could score this high? Congratulations, but also: go outside and touch grass <3

5. 26 and above.

   We didn't actually imagine anyone could score this high? Congratulations, but also: go outside and touch grass <3

6. 25 and above.

   We didn't actually imagine anyone could score this high? Congratulations, but also: go outside and touch grass <3

7. 24 and above.

   Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

8. 23 and above.

   Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

9. 22 and above.

   Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

10. 21 and above.

    Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

11. 20 and above.

    Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

12. 19 and above.

    Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

13. 18 and above.

    Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

14. 17 and above.

    Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

15. 16 and above.

    Well done! You'll be prepared for most of the New Year's Eve chat and it's possible you own a Labubu

16. 15 and above.

    It might not seem like it but this is actually the best score: it shows you have a balanced media diet and a healthy relationship to celebrity

17. 14 and above.

    It might not seem like it but this is actually the best score: it shows you have a balanced media diet and a healthy relationship to celebrity

18. 13 and above.

    It might not seem like it but this is actually the best score: it shows you have a balanced media diet and a healthy relationship to celebrity

19. 12 and above.

    It might not seem like it but this is actually the best score: it shows you have a balanced media diet and a healthy relationship to celebrity

20. 11 and above.

    It might not seem like it but this is actually the best score: it shows you have a balanced media diet and a healthy relationship to celebrity

21. 10 and above.

    We all learned something today and that's the most important thing

22. 9 and above.

    We all learned something today and that's the most important thing

23. 8 and above.

    We all learned something today and that's the most important thing

24. 7 and above.

    We all learned something today and that's the most important thing

25. 6 and above.

    We all learned something today and that's the most important thing

26. 5 and above.

    Oh well. You probably read the Guardian for the actual news, which we love you for anyway

27. 4 and above.

    Oh well. You probably read the Guardian for the actual news, which we love you for anyway

28. 3 and above.

    Oh well. You probably read the Guardian for the actual news, which we love you for anyway

29. 2 and above.

    Oh well. You probably read the Guardian for the actual news, which we love you for anyway

30. 0 and above.

    Oh well. You probably read the Guardian for the actual news, which we love you for anyway

31. 1 and above.

    Oh well. You probably read the Guardian for the actual news, which we love you for anyway