The gap between Christmas and the new year, when nobody really knows what day it is. Fortunately the Thursday quiz can remember when it is Thursday, and so you face the regular challenge of 15 not particularly topical general knowledge questions strung together with a few in-jokes. There are no prizes, it is just for fun. Let us know how you get on in the comments, and happy new year!

The Thursday quiz, No 88

1.ON THIS DAY: On 29 December 1989, which writer, philosopher and former dissident was elected the first post-communist president of Czechoslovakia?

2.HAPPY BIRTHDAY: It is Alan Rusbridger’s birthday today! Happy birthday Mr Former-editor-in-chief of this very website! But which year did the Guardian introduce the ‘Berliner format’ in print?

Rusbridger and Berliner

3.OTTAWAN’S DISCO POSER: Ottawan recorded D-I-S-C-O in 1979. But which I listed here is NOT one of the moons of Jupiter?

Disco ball

4.WHO WILL RID ME OF THIS TURBULENT PRIEST: It is the anniversary of Thomas Becket’s murder. In which cathedral?

Stained glass

5.OH HOW TERRIBLY VEXING WITH DIDO: Dido loves flags, probably. Which of these answers best describes the flag of Suriname?

Dido

6.DEBUT NOVELS: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was the first published novel by which author?

Girl in the library

7.GCSE SCIENCE CORNER: What are children taught at GCSE level causes an atom’s nucleus to become unstable?

Chemistry lesson

8.DO YOU NEED A TINY DENTIST: How many teeth on average does a garden snail have?

Common garden snail

9.THAT PICTURE MOVED: In which year did the Lumière brothers first show their very first movie – La Sortie de l’Usine Lumière à Lyon?

Cinema screen

10.IT’S A DOG’S LIFE: This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She is thinking about how Laika died on Sputnik 2. But on 19 August 1960 which two Soviet dogs were the first to go to space and safely return to Earth?

Willow, the official dog of the Guardian's Thursday quiz

11.THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME: The internal angles of a two-dimensional rhombus add up to what?

Maths

12.LOOKING FORWARD TO 2023: One of the biggest sporting events next year is the Fifa Women’s World Cup. Where is it being hosted?

Beth Mead

13.LOOKING BACK TO 1923: Which major US landmark was completed in 1923?

US fan

14.MMMM TASTY: According to the official website, what is the name of the Quality Street chocolate that is described as “a whole roasted hazelnut encased in runny caramel and a milk chocolate shell”?

Chocolates

15.ODDS OR EVENS WITH SHAKIN’ STEVENS: This week the Welsh rocker wants to know how many stations there are on the fully opened Crossrail network in London known officially as the Elizabeth line?

Shakin' Stevens

If you do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, please feel free to email [email protected], but remember the quizmaster’s word is final, and he is likely sleeping off too many Christmas pies.


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