From Moo Deng to Me Espresso: it’s the 2024 bumper pop culture quiz of the year

L-R: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, Josh O'Connor at the Challengers premiere, Maurizio Cattelan's artwork Comedian, Moo Deng and Charli xcx. Composite: Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/AFP/Getty Images/UPI/REX/Shutterstock/Will Heath/Alamy

1. In January, one celebrity received an email intended for another with a very similar name – and was astonished to find out how much money the other was making. Who were the two stars involved?

   1. Halle Berry and Halle Bailey

   2. Tom Holland and Tom Hollander

   3. Michael Jordan and Michael B Jordan

   4. Michelle Williams and Michelle Williams

2. Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud via diss tracks dominated headlines this year. But who was the third rapper who sparked the fight, then apologised for his diss track about Kendrick?

   1. 50 Cent

   2. Travis Scott

   3. Metro Boomin

   4. J Cole

3. 

   In February, an unlicensed Willy Wonka “experience” staged in a Glasgow warehouse was so mediocre that angry parents called the police. Which of the following DIDN’T happen next?

   1. The fiasco inspired a horror film and a musical

   2. A sad cheese sandwich that was served to all guests went viral

   3. A (deliberately bad) tribute to the event was staged in Los Angeles

   4. Actor Karen Gillan asked to be cast in the film adaptation

4. A little pygmy hippo called Moo Deng won the internet’s heart this year. What does her Thai name roughly translate to in English?

   1. Pork chop

   2. Bouncy pork

   3. Fried pork

   4. Glazed pork

5. 

   Taylor Swift wrapped up her Eras tour this year. How many shows did she play in total?

   1. 139

   2. 149

   3. 159

   4. 169

6. Which of these celebrities was NOT the subject of a lookalike competition this year?

   1. Ryan Reynolds

   2. Timothée Chalamet

   3. Jeremy Allen White

   4. Paul Mescal

7. As part of his comeback to Hollywood, Armie Hammer launched a very strange podcast called Armie HammerTime, which saw him interview his own mother. What did she give him for his birthday?

   1. A vasectomy

   2. A DVD of Dune 2

   3. An oedipal complex

   4. A timeshare in the Cayman Islands

8. 

   On the seemingly endless press tour for the equally long film Wicked, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were interviewed by Out Magazine journalist Tracy Gilchrist, who told the stars that people had been “taking the lyrics of Defying Gravity and really holding space with that”. How did Grande and Erivo respond?

   1. Grande tenderly took hold of Erivo’s finger

   2. Grande implied that Glinda was maybe a bit gay

   3. Erivo stood up unprompted to sing one loud and perfect note

   4. All of the above

9. In her song Girl, So Confusing, Charli xcx described the complicated feelings she had been harbouring about another woman – which, to the delight of the internet, turned out to be Lorde. The pair worked it out on a remix, in which Lorde remembered something someone said to her when she was 10. What was it?

   1. “We’re alike and we have the same hair”

   2. “You walk like a bitch”

   3. “I like the old you and not the new you”

   4. “Let’s go down to the tennis court and talk it out”

10. 

    Which film-maker said he walked out of Joker: Folie à Deux after 15 minutes to go shopping and called it “a really bad musical”?

    1. Quentin Tarantino

    2. Christopher Nolan

    3. Paul Schrader

    4. Ridley Scott

11. In Luca Guadagnino’s film Challengers, what is the food that Patrick and Art share in a sexually-charged scene?

    1. Oysters

    2. Eggplant

    3. Churros

    4. Sausages

12. 

    In the first episode of Baby Reindeer, what does Donny give to Martha during their first conversation?

    1. A pint of beer

    2. A cup of tea

    3. His phone number

    4. A copy of All Fours by Miranda July

13. Rebel Wilson made headlines when her memoir was published, with a heavily publicised chapter eventually being redacted from the book in Australia and the UK. What was the chapter called?

    1. Sacha Baron Cohen and Other Assholes

    2. The Brothers Grimsby Was Very Bad

    3. Brüno Wasn’t Great Either, Come to Think of It

    4. Talladega Nights Was Pretty Funny Though

14. In July, Jack Black cancelled Tenacious D’s Australian tour after Kyle Gass made a joke about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. What was happening on stage when it happened?

    1. They were midway through a rendition of Tribute

    2. Gass was singing Happy Birthday to Black

    3. Black was singing Happy Birthday to Gass

    4. The lights had gone out

15. 

    Sabrina Carpenter’s song Espresso became song of the (northern hemisphere) summer this year. And then the spring. And then the winter. It simply will not stop. She’s now selling a Sabrina Carpenter-branded product line named for it. What is the product?

    1. Coffee pods

    2. Lipstick

    3. Perfume

    4. Press-on nails

16. This year, Charlotte Wood was nominated for the Booker prize. How many years had it been since an Australian author was nominated?

    1. Two years

    2. Four years

    3. Eight years

    4. 10 years

17. 

    Oasis announced their reunion tour in August. What was the band originally called before Noel Gallagher joined?

    1. The Drizzle

    2. The Storm

    3. The Rain

    4. The Torrent

18. Himbos, zaddies and golden retriever boyfriends are out; the “hot rodent boyfriend” is in. Who WASN'T an example of this very 2024 compliment?

    1. Pedro Pascal

    2. Barry Keoghan

    3. Josh O’Connor

    4. Mike Faist

19. Which of the following programs did actor Andrew Garfield NOT go on to discuss the grief of losing his mother this year?

    1. The Modern Love podcast

    2. Sesame Street

    3. All There Is with Anderson Cooper

    4. Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel

20. 

    In August, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez announced their divorce, heralding the end of Bennifer 2.0. How long were they married for?

    1. Two years

    2. Three years

    3. 10 years

    4. 20 years

21. Which of these four phrases does not exist in the modern vernacular?

    1. Skibidi

    2. Greznez

    3. Rizz

    4. Hawk Tuah

22. Which female singer began selling pictures of her feet on OnlyFans this year?

    1. Britney Spears

    2. Billie Eilish

    3. Katy Perry

    4. Lily Allen

23. 

    Sally Rooney’s fourth novel came out this year. What was the title?

    1. Garbanzo

    2. Paparazzo

    3. Intermezzo

    4. Me Espresso

24. Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 came out this year, 24-years after Gladiator, which starred Russell Crowe. Who did Crowe once hire to write a Gladiator sequel that was never made?

    1. Nora Ephron

    2. Aaron Sorkin

    3. Baz Luhrmann

    4. Nick Cave

25. 

    This is Pantone’s colour of the year. What is its name?

    1. Baltic amber

    2. Chocolate martini

    3. Mocha Mousse

    4. Chanterelle

26. Which of the following musicians DIDN'T fall off stage while performing this year?

    1. Chris Martin

    2. Olivia Rodrigo

    3. Billie Eilish

    4. Taylor Swift

27. In November, a banana duct-taped to a wall sold at Sotheby’s for US$5.2m. Who purchased this work by artist Maurizio Cattelan?

    1. A TikTok influencer

    2. A crypto entrepreneur

    3. A Twitch streamer

    4. Pete Hegseth

28. 

    In the film The Substance, an ageing aerobics star played by Demi Moore gains access to an illicit new drug that creates a younger version of herself. Who plays the young Demi Moore?

    1. Jenna Ortega

    2. Margaret Qualley

    3. Dakota Johnson

    4. Aubrey Plaza

29. Which pop star is played by a CGI monkey in their biopic?

    1. George Michael

    2. Madonna

    3. Chappell Roan

    4. Robbie Williams

30. Which of the following WASN’T the plot of a 2024 Netflix Christmas film?

    1. A snowman comes to life as a hot guy and falls in love with Gretchen Wieners from Mean Girls

    2. A down-on-her-luck Broadway dancer enlists all the hunks in her small hometown - including Chad Michael Murray - to perform in an all-male Christmas-themed strip show to save her parents’ bar

    3. Lindsay Lohan and her ex-boyfriend go home for the holidays and discover they are dating each other’s siblings

    4. Steve Martin mans a suicide-prevention hotline on Christmas Eve; chaos ensues

Solutions

1:B - Hollander was at the theatre when he opened the email from his agency, who had accidentally sent him the box office bonus intended for Avengers star Holland. "It was an astonishing amount of money," Hollander said. "It was more money than I'd ever [seen.] It was a seven-figure sum.", 2:D - In his song 7 Minute Drill, J Cole said Kendrick had "fallen off like the Simpsons" and called his latest album "tragic" – then deleted the song, saying it was "lame" and "goofy" and that he “felt terrible”. But Drake and Kendrick kept going, 3:B - The kids were actually given a half cup of lemonade and two jelly beans each. A sad cheese sandwich famously went viral after the Fyre Festival in 2017, 4:B - Her siblings include Moo Wan (sweet pork) and Moo Tun (stewed pork), 5:B, 6:A, 7:A, 8:A - Answers b) and c) were viral moments too – but they happened in different interviews, 9:B, 10:C - Speaking to Interview magazine, Schrader said he then returned to watch 10 more minutes and left again. Of Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, he said: “I don’t like either of those people. I don’t like them as actors. I don’t like them as characters … if they came to your house, you’d slip out the back door.”, 11:C, 12:B, 13:A - Baron Cohen denied any wrongdoing on the set of The Brothers Grimsby when Wilson’s memoir was published unredacted in the US. Sentences were redacted from the UK edition, while the entire chapter was blacked out in Australia., 14:C, 15:C - “As addictive as Espresso, this fragrance blends rich Cocoa Powder and Espresso Bean with the sensual allure of Night-Blooming Jasmine and Vanilla Orchid. Buttery Biscotti adds a delectable sweetness, while a finish of Caramel Drizzle, Sugared Amber, and Whipped Cream creates an irresistible warmth. Feel bold, confident, and unforgettable – get them addicted to your essence and leave a lasting impression with every spritz. Limit two per customer.”, 16:D, 17:C, 18:A, 19:D, 20:A, 21:B - Please do not email us if this word means something to you, 22:D - Allen later said that she makes more money from her 1,000 subscribers each month than eight million monthly listeners on Spotify, tweeting: “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”, 23:C, 24:D - Cave’s script saw Crowe’s dead character Maximus being tasked by Roman gods to defeat the Greek god Hephaestus. He is then reincarnated, becomes immortal, fights in the second world war and Vietnam, and ends up working in the Pentagon. The BBC has called it “the strangest sequel never made”, 25:C - These are all names of actual Pantone colours. The colour company described Mocha Mousse as “a mellow brown hue whose inherent richness and sensorial and comforting warmth extends further into our desire for comfort”, 26:D - She did nearly fall off the top of the Folklore cabin during one of her shows in Tokyo though, telling the crowd: “My life flashed before my eyes!”, 27:B - Justin Sun spent four times than the initial estimate for the work; in exchange he received some duct tape, some paperwork, and a banana that had been purchased earlier that day from a fruit vendor for 35c., 28:B - Did they miss a trick not having Qualley’s mother Andie MacDowell play the older version? Who can say?, 29:D, 30:D - This is the plot of the 1994 Christmas film Mixed Nuts, which was directed by Nora Ephron and stars Adam Sandler, Rita Wilson and Anthony LaPaglia for some reason. It is also terrible. Do not watch it

Scores

1. 23 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

2. 22 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

3. 21 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

4. 20 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

5. 19 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

6. 18 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

7. 17 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

8. 16 and above.

   Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

9. 24 and above.

   Great job! Want to be my hot rodent boyfriend?

10. 25 and above.

    Great job! Want to be my hot rodent boyfriend?

11. 26 and above.

    Great job! Want to be my hot rodent boyfriend?

12. 27 and above.

    Great job! Want to be my hot rodent boyfriend?

13. 28 and above.

    Great job! Want to be my hot rodent boyfriend?

14. 29 and above.

    Great job! Want to be my hot rodent boyfriend?

15. 30 and above.

    Look, we're proud of you. But you need to go outside more.

16. 15 and above.

    Keep studying: one day you will know your Hawk Tuah from your Me Espresso.

17. 14 and above.

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

18. 13 and above.

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

19. 12 and above.

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

20. 11 and above.

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

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.

    I'm sad to inform you: you don't have rizz.

27. 4 and above.

    I'm sad to inform you: you don't have rizz.

28. 3 and above.

    I'm sad to inform you: you don't have rizz.

29. 2 and above.

    I'm sad to inform you: you don't have rizz.

30. 1 and above.

    I'm sad to inform you: you don't have rizz.

31. 0 and above.

    I'm sad to inform you: you don't have rizz.