The questions of 2014 answered

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Merry Christmas, If you're just about to tuck into your turkey, read this first. It's our cheat sheet of 2014. If you want, feel free to print it off, cut it into strips and replace the cracker joke with facts. If you want. No pressure.

What are frostquakes? Answer: Frostquakes are the loud cracking of frozen soil caused by expanding ice beneath the surface, occurring after a plunge in temperatures following wet weather.

How do you drive in floods? Answer: Stay out of water more than six inches deep. Drive slowly in a low gear with high revs to prevent water entering the exhaust.

How does a snake eat a crocodile? Answer: With difficulty. After the initial death struggle, the snake's organs swell well beyond their normal size and it releases digestive enzymes over several days in order to break down the crocodile's body.

Exactly what does the phrase Boko Haram mean? Answer: "Haram" means forbidden in Arabic, while the Hausa language phrase "ilimin boko", denoting the style of schooling created in Nigeria by colonialists, was shortened to "boko" and has come to mean Western-style education. So "Western education is a sin" is a workable translation.

How long can someone survive in a life raft? Answer: Lengthy periods of survival in a life raft have been known in warm waters but in cold or choppy waters the chances lessen. Access to drinking water, usually from rainfall, is vital to lasting more than a few days.

What language would Jesus have spoken? Answer: Aramaic would have been Jesus's first language, with Hebrew used for scholarly questions. He may also have known some Greek.

Could Tourette's syndrome make a goalkeeper better? Answer: People with Tourette's tend to be very good at controlling their voluntary movements and activities that require concentration like sport and music can help reduce tics.

Why does the sum 7x8 catch people out? Answer: People find multiplication sums featuring the numbers 7 and 8 difficult. Calculation becomes harder still when under pressure.

How often do planes fly over conflict zones? Answer: International no-fly zones must be avoided by all airlines and a national aviation authority can ban its airlines from flying over part of a foreign country. Otherwise airlines decide, but they tend to be secretive about the details.

Who are the Yazidis? Answer: The Yazidis share elements of their faith with Christianity and Islam, also practising the sacrifice of animals and circumcision. Their supreme being is Yasdan, whose divine will is executed by the Peacock Angel, Malak Taus, whom Yazidis worship five times a day. People can only be born in to the faith. They cannot join it.

Where does the phrase 'boots on the ground' come from? Answer: The word "boot", a synecdoche (a figure of speech where the part represents the whole) meaning soldier, was used as long ago as World War One. The earliest known use of the full expression "boots on the ground" came in 1980, in a story in the Christian Science Monitor about the Iran hostage crisis. You're welcome.