These are answers to the 100 questions in last week's quiz.  As we said, the prize for getting all or any of the answers right is a self-administered warm glow of self-satisfaction.  We hope you enjoyed it and had a splendid Christmas.

More importantly, whether you tackled the quiz or not, have a very happy New Year.

1.  How many acres are there to a square mile?
       
- 640.

2.  A referendum in Greenland recently showed some 75% of inhabitants in favour of independence..  From whom?

- Denmark.

3.  Which is the world's biggest marine fish?

- The whale shark.

4.  The veroa mite spreads a seemingly incurable disease that is killing large numbers of which animal?

- Honey bees.

5.  Who wrote the world's longest known opera?

- Stockhausen;.  Licht, a sequence of seven pieces, one for every day of the week, lasts 29 hours.

6.  From what did Lance Armstrong recover before winning the Tour de France for the first time?

- Testicular cancer.

7.  How would you convert fuel consumption figures in litres/100km to miles/gallon or vice versa?

- Divide the fuel consumption, metric or imperial, into 282.5.

8.  Alexandra Burke has topped the Christmas singles chart with Hallelujah..  Who wrote the song?

- Leonard Cohen.

9.  How many times did republican John McCain try for the US presidency?

Three.

10.  What was the name of Aravind Adiga's Man Booker prize winning novel, published in March this year?

- White Tiger..  It was his first novel.

11.  What do Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae control in the US?

- Mortgages.

12.  Who is the boss of the International Monetary Fund?

- Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

13.  What, in the UK claims to be the world's first air-conditioned building?

- St Georges Hall, Liverpool.

14.  Who said 'publish and be dammed'?

- The Duke of Wellington, replying to a blackmail threat.

15.  Which was the world's first independent air force?

- The Royal Air Force, founded in 1918.

16.  What is the largest licensed premises in the UK?

- The Royal Festival Hall in London.

17.  What is the difference between a code and a cipher?

- A code hides a message so that it looks innocent; a cipher converts a message to symbols that have no meaning without a key

18.  Guardian writer Nick Davis recently wrote a book critical of falling standards in the media..  What is it called?

- Flat Earth News.

19.  What is John Sergeant's autobiography called?

- Give Me Ten Seconds More.

20.  Which was the world's first circular terminal building at an airport?

- Gatwick's Beehive, opened in 1933.

21.  Which is reckoned to be Britain's most remote island?

- St Kilda.

22.  When was the SOS message adopted as a distress call?

- 1909.

23.  Which ship first used the SOS distress signal in an emergency?

- The Titanic.

24.  What is the Fosberry Flop?

- The pole vault technique first used in the Olympics by Dick Fosberry in 1968..  He won a gold medal.

25.  Who was the Tory MP recently arrested as part of an enquiry into alleged leaks of politically sensitive information?

- Damian Green, immigration spokesman.

26.  There are the three possible 'fathers' in the film Mamma Mia!.  Who are they?

- Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård.

27.  What is the Jewish name for the Old Testament?

- The Torah.

28.  For what events did Uriah Bolt win gold medals at the Beijing Olympics?

- 100 and 200 metres, setting new world records for each.

29.  What determines the date of Easter?

- The phase of the moon.

30.  What is difference between a US and an Imperial gallon?

- A UK gallon is 4,545 litres; a US gallon is about 17% smaller at 3.76 litres.

31.  What is the name of the Georgian president who tried, unsuccessfully, to subdue South Ossetia earlier this year?

- Mikhail Saakashvili.

32.  What is the population of Austria, to the nearest half million?

- 8.4 million.

33.  What are the colours of the Belgian flag?

- Black, yellow and red, in three vertical stripes..

34.  What is the lightest known metal?

- Lithium.

35.  Which spy thriller writer also wrote regularly on cookery for a UK national newspaper?

- Len Deighton, who wrote for the Observer and wrote two cookery books.

36.  What do you call a dealer in candles, paint and similar?

- A chandler.

37.  Why was golf banned in England in 1547?

- The authorities were worried that it was distracting people from archery.

38.  Andy Green drove Thrust SSC at 763 mph and now aims to drive another jet car to around 1,000mph..  What is it called?

- Bloodhound.

39.  If you picked up the Gray Lady in New York, what would you get?

- The New York Times..  It got the nickname from the comparatively small number of pictures.

40.  In London, who or what is the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street?

- The Bank of England.

41.  Which part of India gave us Vindaloo?

- Goa

42.  What is the world's heaviest flying bird?

- The Great Bustard; males reportedly exceed 20 kg...  There is a plan to re-introduce the birds to the UK.

43.  In which London hotel does Alain Ducasse run a restaurant?

- The Dorchester.

44.  Which Roman general famously committed suicide by falling on his sword?

- Mark Anthony.

45.  Who is the Speaker of the House of Commons?

- Michael Martin.

46.  What was the name Martin Shaw's most recent TV series?

- Apparitions.

47.  What type of hat did Sherlock Holmes wear?

- A deerstalker.

48.  Who first introduced the world to the song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?

- Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St. Louis.

49.  Who said 'politicians are all the same, they promise to build a bridge even where there is no river'?

- Nikita Khrushchev.

50.  Who said that 'an intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell you more than he knows'?

- Dwight D Eisenhower.

51.  Classically, most tortishell-coloured cats are what gender?

- Female.

52.  Who invented the miner's safety lantern?

- Humphrey Davey.

53.  What was the first of H.E. Bates novels about the Larkin family?

- The Darling Buds of May.

54.  Which star of the Tarzan films had an autobiography published recently?

- Cheeta, the chimpanzee..  The book is called Me Cheeta: The Autobiography.

55.  How long is an aeon?

- In 1957 it was informally defined as a billion years..  That was never ratified, but so far no one came up with a better idea.

56.  The Flesch Index is a tool for measuring what?

- Readability; the lower the numerical score, the greater the gobbledegook.

57.  Which precious metal is associated with a ten year wedding anniversary?

- Tin.

58.  Which is the Roman symbol for 1,000?

M.

59.  Where was the first edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica published?

- Scotland, in 1768.

60.  When was Mother Theresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

- 1979.

61.  When did Messers T & W Bowler sell their first hat?

- 1849.

62.  The MCC is based at Lords; what do the initials stand for?

- Marylebone Cricket Club.

63.  Where was the first British Grand Prix held?

- Brooklands, in 1926

64.  When did Florence Nightingale die?

- 1910

65.  When was the first reported sighting of a monster in Loch Ness?

- 565, by St Columba.

66.  Where was Chop Suey invented?

- New York, in 1896.

67.  When was the first rugby match played at Twickenham?

- 1909

68.  What did women in France get for the first time in 1945?

- The right to vote.

69.  For what did Kelly Holmes win an Olympic gold medal in Athens in 2004?

- The 1,500 metre race.

70.  When was the Football Association formed in England?

- 1863.

71.  When was the first National Lottery draw in England?

- 19 November 1994.

72.  Which claims to be the world's first Sunday newspaper?

- The Observer, first published in 1791.

73.  If you used a Gilbert as a unit, what would you measure?

- Magnetism..  The unit was named for William Gilbert, 1544 to 1603, a founder of English experimental science.

74.  What is the date of St Andrew's day?

- 30 November.

75.  HRH the Prince of Wales sells groceries, under what brand?

- Duchy Originals.

76.  Pianist Alfred Brendel just gave his last professional performance at the end of a 60 year career..  Where?

- Vienna.

77.  Tom Chambers and his partner just won BBC TV's Strictly Come Dancing..  What is his partner's name?

- Christina Dallerup.

78.  Who is captain of the England cricket team in India?

- Kevin Pietersen.

79.  Who invented the Christmas cracker?

- London confectioner Tom Smith, in 1847.

80.  What did the Aztecs use cocoa beans for?

- Currency.

81.  What is Bangladeshi film director Ahsanullah Moni building?

- A copy of the Taj Mahal, prompting indignant Indians to investigate copyrighting the original.

82.  Why is Chicago called the Windy City?

- Two theories, one, the weather and the other, the allegedly long-winded and braggart tendencies of it politicians.

83.  Who is the president of the European Central Bank?

- Jean-Claude Trichet.

84.  Having failed once, what is the Irish Government trying to persuade its people to do again?

- Vote yes to another referendum and accept the Lisbon Treaty.

85.  Why is Rod Blagojevich facing possible impeachment?

- He was allegedly attempting to sell the Illinois senator's seat to be vacated by Barack Obama.

86.  Who plays Dr Who on BBC TV at present?

- David Tennant.

87.  Defending champion John Part just crashed out on the first round of which world championship?

- The PDC World Darts Championship.

88.  His county plans to 'divest' HRH Grand Duke Henri of his remaining executive powers..  What is that country?

- Luxembourg, where the parliament objects to the duke's aim to block a bill on euthanasia.

89.  Which country is next due to assume presidency of the EC?

- The Czech Republic.

90.  Who reportedly wants to buy Britain's share of the Eurostar service?

- Deutsche Bahn, Germany's state-owned railway.

91.  Who is the Daily Sport's new political columnist?

- Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik.

92.  What is Nicole Kidman's latest film called?

- Australia.

93.  Tabloid target Lilly Allen has offered to help London mayor Boris Johnson do what?

- Fight knife crime.

94.  Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JF Kennedy is reportedly eyeing a seat in the US Senate..  Which one?

- That for New York, about to be vacated by Hilary Clinton.

95.  Who played Meryl Streep's secretary in The Devil Wears Prada?

- Anne Hathaway played journalism graduate Andy Sachs.

96.  Mark Felt recently died in the US..  For what did he become famous?

- As Deep Throat, the senior FBI man who did most to blow the whistle on President Nixon's role in the Watergate affair.

97.  What is the name of the World War Two-based TV drama series starring Michael Kitchen?

Foyle's War.

98.  When did HMS Belfast open to the public as a museum ship, on the Thames in London?

- 21 October 1971, Trafalgar Day.

99.  Which British island held its first democratic elections in December?

- Sark.

100.  What was different about the full moon on Friday 12 December?

- It was 28,000 km closer to earth than for 15 years. It won't come that close again till 14 November 2016.