Christmas Trivia for Adults: 40 Questions With Answers

Christmas trivia for adults in 30 seconds

Good Christmas trivia for adults mixes questions everyone half-remembers (movie lines, radio songs) with a few hard ones that start arguments. Below are 40 questions with answers in 4 rounds of 10: movies, songs, hard history and funny picks. Each round takes about 10 minutes, so all 4 fill a relaxed 45-minute game.

• Split into teams of 2 to 6 and give each team paper and a pen
• Read each question twice, then give about 30 seconds to answer
• No phones until the round is marked
• Swap sheets between teams and mark them as you read the answers
• 1 point per right answer, and keep a running score
• Break a tie with a closest-number question

Round 1: Christmas movie trivia questions and answers

Start with movies, because almost every adult at the table has seen at least half of these. It warms the room up before the harder rounds.

• 1. In Home Alone (1990), where is the McCallister family flying when they leave Kevin behind? Answer: Paris.
• 2. In Elf, what are the four main food groups of elves? Answer: Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.
• 3. In A Christmas Story, what does Ralphie want for Christmas? Answer: A Red Ryder BB gun.
• 4. In It's a Wonderful Life, what is the name of George Bailey's guardian angel? Answer: Clarence.
• 5. In Die Hard, what is the name of the building where the Christmas party is taken over? Answer: Nakatomi Plaza.
• 6. In Miracle on 34th Street (1947), which department store hires Kris Kringle as its Santa? Answer: Macy's.
• 7. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, how many sizes does the Grinch's heart grow? Answer: Three.
• 8. In Love Actually, what job does Hugh Grant's character have? Answer: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 9. In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which famous hotel does Kevin check into? Answer: The Plaza Hotel.
• 10. In The Polar Express, what does the boy choose as the first gift of Christmas? Answer: A silver bell from Santa's sleigh.

Round 2: Christmas song trivia for adults

Everyone knows the choruses. Fewer people know who sang them first or when. If you have a speaker, play 5 seconds of each song after you read the answer.

• 1. In what year did Mariah Carey release "All I Want for Christmas Is You"? Answer: 1994.
• 2. Which duo released "Last Christmas" in 1984? Answer: Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley).
• 3. Guinness World Records lists which Christmas song as the best-selling single of all time? Answer: "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby.
• 4. Who wrote "White Christmas"? Answer: Irving Berlin.
• 5. Brenda Lee recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" in 1958. About how old was she? Answer: 13.
• 6. Who wrote and sang "Feliz Navidad" in 1970? Answer: José Feliciano.
• 7. Which two musicians put together Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984? Answer: Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.
• 8. Who had the first hit with "Jingle Bell Rock" in 1957? Answer: Bobby Helms.
• 9. Which singer is best known for "Blue Christmas"? Answer: Elvis Presley.
• 10. Which singer made the 1953 hit "Santa Baby"? Answer: Eartha Kitt.

Round 3: Hard Christmas trivia questions and answers

This is the round that separates the teams. Allow close answers, like "Ward" for question 2, if your group is feeling generous.

• 1. In A Christmas Carol, what is the first name of Scrooge's cheerful nephew? Answer: Fred.
• 2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 by Robert L. May for which department store's giveaway booklet? Answer: Montgomery Ward.
• 3. Haddon Sundblom's Santa paintings, starting in 1931, helped make the red-suited Santa famous in ads for which company? Answer: Coca-Cola.
• 4. NORAD's Santa tracking began in 1955 after a misprinted phone number in an ad for which store? Answer: Sears.
• 5. In A Christmas Carol, how many ghosts visit Scrooge, counting Marley? Answer: Four.
• 6. In A Christmas Carol, what is the name of Scrooge's dead business partner? Answer: Jacob Marley.
• 7. What is Tiny Tim's family name in A Christmas Carol? Answer: Cratchit.
• 8. In what year was Dr. Seuss's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! published? Answer: 1957.
• 9. The first official tree lighting at Rockefeller Center in New York was held in which year? Answer: 1933.
• 10. What is the name of the town in It's a Wonderful Life? Answer: Bedford Falls.

Round 4: Funny Christmas trivia questions for adults

End on the silly stuff. These are easy to get half right, so they keep the scores close and the table loud.

• 1. What is the name of the Grinch's dog? Answer: Max.
• 2. In the 1964 Rudolph TV special, what does Hermey the elf want to be instead of a toymaker? Answer: A dentist.
• 3. In the song, what is Frosty the Snowman's nose made of? Answer: A button ("a button nose and two eyes made out of coal").
• 4. In Home Alone, what do Harry and Marv call themselves? Answer: The Wet Bandits.
• 5. In Elf, what does Buddy pour on his spaghetti? Answer: Maple syrup.
• 6. In A Christmas Story, what gets stuck to the frozen flagpole? Answer: Flick's tongue.
• 7. In A Christmas Story, what is the "major award" the dad wins shaped like? Answer: A woman's leg (the leg lamp).
• 8. Where does the Grinch live? Answer: On Mount Crumpit, above Whoville.
• 9. Which of Santa's reindeer shares a name with the Roman god of love? Answer: Cupid.
• 10. In Christmas Vacation, what does Cousin Eddie show up in? Answer: An RV.

Tie-breaker: closest number wins

If two teams finish level, ask one question with a number answer. Every team writes a guess, and the closest one wins. Try this one: in Christmas Vacation, how many lights does Clark Griswold say he has put on the house? Answer: 25,000 (250 strands of 100 bulbs).

How to host a Christmas trivia night for adults

You don't need a projector or an app. A host, a pile of paper and a scoreboard are enough. This is the same flow the host guide in our printable trivia game uses.

• 1. Make teams of 2 to 6 players. Mix up couples and coworkers so no team is stacked.
• 2. Give each team one answer sheet per round, numbered 1 to 10 (or 1 to 20 for longer rounds).
• 3. Read each question out loud twice. Teams write their answers without using phones.
• 4. At the end of each round, teams swap sheets and mark each other's answers while you read the key.
• 5. Score 1 point per correct answer and write the totals on a scoreboard everyone can see.
• 6. After the last round, the highest total wins. If it's a tie, use the closest-number question.
• 7. Short on time? Play 2 or 3 rounds. Each one takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Ways to play: office party, family night or video call

• Office party: keep it work-safe and play in table teams of 6 to 8. For a big room, our guide to office Christmas party games for large groups covers mics, timing and scoring for 20 to 100 people.
• Family night with mixed ages: pair each kid with an adult, or give kids their own easy round and let them score double.
• Video call: the host shares the questions on screen, teams answer in a private chat to the host, and you read the scores at the end of each round.
• Drinking-game style for grown-ups: the team with the lowest score after each round picks the next round's topic or does a forfeit. Keep it optional.
• Want more than trivia? Pair it with a game from Christmas party games for adults between rounds to keep energy up.

Tips that make trivia more fun

• Accept close spellings. Nobody should lose a point for writing "Nakatomi Plaza" wrong.
• Put the hardest round third, not last, so the game ends on laughs.
• Keep a prize on the table where everyone can see it, even if it's a box of cookies.

Printable Christmas trivia with answer key

If you'd rather print a full game than copy questions off a screen, our Christmas Trivia Game Printable is a 19-page US Letter PDF with 200 questions in 10 rounds of 20: Traditions Around the World, Christmas Carols, Christmas History, Food and Treats, Santa and the North Pole, Science and Nature, True or False, Finish the Carol, a Kids Round and a Winter and Holiday Mix. It includes a host guide with scoring, an answer key for all 200 questions, an answer sheet to print for each team, a scoreboard for up to 8 teams and 5 closest-number tie-breakers. None of the questions above are in it, so you can use both. You can get the 200-question Christmas trivia game on Etsy. It's a digital download, so nothing is mailed.

Watching a holiday movie after the quiz? Christmas Movie Bingo has 50 unique cards with 24 movie moments each, a caller sheet and 48 calling cards in a 57-page PDF. It's also on Etsy. More holiday printables are in the Christmas & New Year shop.

More Christmas party ideas

Planning the whole night? Our holiday party games guide helps you pick games by group size and time, from 15-minute icebreakers to a full game night. Want a longer, story-driven night after the quiz? Try a Christmas murder mystery party with character booklets and clue rounds.