ANSWERS

1. To confess your sins and receive absolution (forgiveness) from a priest

2. Earliest 3 February, latest 9 March

3. 9 February 2027

4. Sundays are not counted as part of the fast

5. A slice of meat, usually bacon (eaten up before Lent)

6. "Fat Tuesday". The colours are purple, green and gold.

7. Olney, in Buckinghamshire

8. Liberal, Kansas

9. A headscarf and an apron (with a skirt or dress). They must toss (flip) the pancake at the start and again at the finish.

10. Westminster School. The tradition is called the Pancake Greaze (or just the Greaze).

11. The Up'ards and the Down'ards

12. "Bursting Day"

13. Semla (plural semlor). The king was Adolf Frederick.

14. Maslenitsa. The pancakes are called blini.

15. Buckwheat (sarrasin, or blé noir)

16. A drop scone

17. Poffertjes

18. Teff

19. Orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier or Curaçao). It is said to have been named in front of the future King Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales.

20. Potato