Christmas challenge 2011: the answers

Thanks to everyone who entered the Life & Arts Christmas Challenge, published on December 24, and congratulations to Kathy Leahey of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, who was the first correct entry chosen and wins six magnums of Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé champagne. Answers below.

1. Central Park, New York

2. i) John Major; ii) Arnold Schwarzenegger

3. i) Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher (in The Iron Lady);

ii) Denis Podalydès as Nicolas Sarkozy (in The Conquest);

iii) Nico Evers-Swindell and Camilla Luddington as Prince William and Kate Middleton (in William & Kate)

4. i) Carlos Slim; ii) Alice Walton (of Walmart); iii) Hobart, Tasmania

5. i) Hilary Swank; ii) Mariah Carey, a reported $1m

6. The Bolshoi Theatre

7. Eric Clapton

8. George Clooney

9. Lady Gaga, who denied all knowledge of the routine

10. Wuthering Heights

11. Julian Assange

12. Tracey Emin

13. Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello

14. Ai Weiwei

15. Eva (Evita) Perón

16. The Sound of Music

17. i) Hugh Jackman; ii) Charlie Sheen

18 Abramovich’s £115m, 377ft mega-yacht “Luna” was moored unannounced by Venice’s Biennale Gardens overlooking St Mark’s Basin. His yacht was criticised for being too big and spoiling views of the city.

19. Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless. They appeared together in the TV series Cagney & Lacey.

20. Oscar Wilde

21. Beyoncé Knowles

22. Asia

23. Pope Benedict XVI

24. i) Ted Hughes; ii ) Thomas Hardy

25. Lucian Freud; Eli; “Portrait of the Hound 2011”

26 i) They’re both about the silent film era; ii) 3D

27. Gwyneth Paltrow

28. c) Liz Taylor’s necklace La Peregrina fetched $11.84m

a) Marilyn Monroe’s dress from The Seven Year Itch, $5.6m;

b) The first Superman comic, $2.2m

29. Chinua Achebe

30. Matt Damon

31. Sylvester Stallone; Rocky

32. Gérard Depardieu

33. Endangered sites

34. The Pompidou Centre

35. a) Caravaggio (portrait of St Augustine) b) Leonardo da Vinci (“Salvator Mundi”)

36. Kung Fu Panda 2

37. A sweater; ii Darcy’s has the reindeer face

38. China

39. The Sense of an Ending (by Julian Barnes); A Visit from the Goon Squad (by Jennifer Egan)

40. Alan Graham, the Northern Irish farmer who owns the land, told Rihanna to put on some more clothes. Graham had allowed the pop star to film a new music video in his field but took exception when he went out to fetch his tractor and found her dressed in a way he deemed “unacceptable”.

To see the questions go to ft.com/Christmasquiz