An Oscars trivia question has X united in pedantry

If you've ever been to a pub quiz or a trivia night, you know folks can get granular on the details. And one X user's experience has struck a chord with fellow trivia fiends.

On Thursday, film critic Mattie Lucas (@cinemattie) posted of her experience at a local trivia night, in which punters were seemingly asked to answer one question: "Who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2025?"

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Sounds simple enough, but if your whole category of prowess is entertainment, you're going to take issue with the phrasing of such a question.

"I asked 'for the ceremony that happened in 2025, or the year 2025?'" wrote @cinemattie. "And everyone turned to look at me like '...fuck.'"

Lucas was right to raise her hand on this. To clarify, the Oscars honour films released through the previous calendar year. So the 98th Academy Awards, held in March 2026, gave out the gold to films from 2025. The 97th Academy Awards, held in March 2025, awarded films from 2024.

So, in Lucas' trivia case, the answer could have been Mikey Madison for Anora (Best Actress at the 97th Academy Awards, held in 2025), or Jessie Buckley for Hamnet (Best Actress at the 98th Academy Awards, for a film that came out in 2025). (Lucas got it right.)

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Lucas' tweet really resonated with fellow trivia-goers on X, gaining 1.2 million views and a flood of comments backing her up.

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Look, there's often money and/or bragging rights on the line at trivia nights, she was right to ask!

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's Senior Editor, General Assignments, based in London. She has been Mashable's UK Editor (and still manages the illustrious UK team) and Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives searching for Exit 8. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror, and loves to nerd out with movie stars, filmmakers, and TV creators.