Bunkagame — September 3, 2026

Question 1

This 1953 flirty Christmas song, first sung by Eartha Kitt and asking Santa for extravagant gifts, has charted on Sweden's Sverigetopplistan and Romania's Airplay. It has been recorded by artists like Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Ariana Grande. Which song is it?

Accepted Answer

'Santa Baby' was written in 1953 for Eartha Kitt and has been recorded many times, charting in recent decades on Sweden's Sverigetopplistan and Romania's Airplay 100. It remains one of the most-covered holiday songs in the US Billboard Holiday 100.

Question 2

This 2009 hip-hop anthem by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys reached number 4 on Mexico's Anglo Monitor Latino chart. In Austria, one of its least commercially successful territories, it peaked at just number 13. Which song is it?

Accepted Answer

'Empire State of Mind' by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys was released in 2009 as an anthem for New York City. It hit number 4 in Mexico's Anglo chart but only number 13 in Austria, along with weak showings in Brazil and Spain.

Question 3

Taylor Swift released a 10-minute version of this heartbreak song in 2021 that hit number 1 in Singapore and New Zealand. In the Philippines it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard chart, and in Lithuania it reached number 39 on AGATA. Which song is it?

Accepted Answer

'All Too Well (Taylor's Version)' was the re-recorded 10-minute version Taylor Swift released in 2021 as part of 'Red (Taylor's Version)'. It charted globally, hitting number 8 in the Philippines and number 39 in Lithuania.

Question 4

This American cinema chain opened in 2002 as a single Hollywood theatre in Los Angeles and later expanded, with the Chicago location becoming its first Midwest theatre. The chain filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2021. Which cinema chain is it?

Accepted Answer

ArcLight Cinemas opened in 2002 as the ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, and expanded to eleven locations across California, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois, with its Chicago theatre being the chain's first Midwest venue. The company shut down in 2021.

Question 5

This Japanese calligrapher and abstract expressionist artist, who lived to age 107 and died in 2021, has works in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. In Gifu Prefecture, an entire art space at Seki bears her name and opened in 2003. Which artist is it?

Accepted Answer

Toko Shinoda was a Japanese calligrapher, painter and printmaker whose abstract works blend traditional Japanese ink with modernist form. The Art Institute of Chicago holds her work, and the Toko Shinoda Art Space in Seki, Gifu Prefecture opened in 2003.

Question 6

Samuel Beckett himself sanctioned a famous 1980 mixed-race production of this play at Cape Town's Baxter Theatre, with John Kani and Winston Ntshona as the two tramps. It was also staged in Johannesburg in October 2020, in the first live indoor theatre event after South Africa's COVID lockdown. Which play is it?

Accepted Answer

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett is his 1953 tragicomedy about two men waiting endlessly for someone who never comes. The Baxter Theatre Cape Town production of 1980, sanctioned by Beckett himself, was a landmark; the play returned to Johannesburg in 2020 during the pandemic.

Question 7

This Major League Soccer club, founded in 1996 and originally called the Kansas City Wiz, plays home matches in Kansas. Its television broadcast network carries games to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma via Cox Channel. Which team is it?

Accepted Answer

Sporting Kansas City started in 1996 as the Kansas City Wiz, an MLS charter franchise. The club plays home games in the Kansas suburbs and has TV coverage across Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma via the Sporting Kansas City Television Network.

Question 8

This Polish reporter and author was born in Pinsk in 1932 in the eastern borderlands of the Second Polish Republic. His stance toward the Polish Communist Party shifted in 1956, the year of the Poznań June protests. Which writer is it?

Accepted Answer

Ryszard Kapuściński was a Polish journalist known for reporting from decolonisation-era Africa and Latin America in books like 'The Emperor' and 'The Shadow of the Sun'. He was born in Pinsk (now Belarus) in 1932 and shaped his politics during the 1956 Poznań upheaval.

Question 9

The second instance of this tournament, dedicated to a Canadian-invented ice sport played with a straight stick and rubber ring, took place in Helsinki in March 1992. Its 2002 edition was held in Edmonton, Alberta at the Northlands AgriCom Arena. Which championship is it?

Accepted Answer

The World Ringette Championships is the top international tournament for ringette, a sport invented in Ontario in 1963. The second edition was held in Helsinki in 1992, and the 2002 event went to Edmonton, Alberta.

Question 10

In the late Middle Ages, Nowogród was one of the most important towns of this medieval Polish territory. Nur was also part of it until 1526, when the region was a vassal of the Polish crown. Which medieval principality is it?

Accepted Answer

The Duchy of Mazovia was a Polish medieval and early-modern territory centred on Warsaw, absorbed into the Kingdom of Poland in 1526. It included Nowogród in the late Middle Ages and Nur remained part of it until that same year.