Street vending machines in Tokyo

Is it really Thursday again? Fifteen questions of varying degrees of difficulty, topicality, and downright silliness await you. Along the way there may be some jokes, some political mischief, and even the quiz master’s miniature dachshund. You can score bonus points in the comments by being funny, or if you spot anything related to Doctor Who.

However, you can get points taken off for smugly pointing out something which had already been mentioned in the answer text, which you clearly hadn’t read. Several people did just that on last week’s quiz, in a question about the song Wagon Wheel. Tut tut. Very naughty. Don’t do it again.

The Thursday quiz, No 111

  1. 1.DID THE EARTH MOVE FOR YOU?: Japanese vending machines in the coastal city of Ako are being programmed to do what in the event of detecting an earthquake?

  2. 2.SCARAMOUCHE, SCARAMOUCHE, WILL YOU DO THE FANDANGO?: An early draft of the lyrics for the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody that went up for auction show that Freddie Mercury nearly called it what?

    Queen

  3. 3.FAST AND NOW FURIOUS: A multimillionaire businessman has been hit with one of the world’s highest speeding fines – €121,000 (£104,000) – for driving 30km/h (18.6mph) over the limit in a country where tickets are calculated as a percentage of the offender’s income. Where?

    Bessie

  4. 4.IF YOU WANT IT, KERBLAM IT: Amazon’s main UK division paid how much corporation tax for the second year in a row?

    Amazon

  5. 5.GOING, GOING, GONE: Which British publication available since the 1800s is to be put up for sale by auction after a dispute with Lloyds Banking Group?

    Auction

  6. 6.THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS BULLIES, WITH DOMINIC RAAB: This week the former deputy PM would like to know the name of the bullying sergeant who was a major character in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 movie Full Metal Jacket.

    Dominic Raab

  7. 7.THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE: Element number 7 in the periodic table is Nitrogen. In the periodic table it belongs to group 15. What is another name for group 15 of the periodic table?

    Elements

  8. 8.IT’S A DOG’S LIFE: Willow, the official dog of the Guardian’s Thursday quiz, has been worrying about the baby donkey stolen from Miller’s Ark Animals in Hook, Hampshire, so was pleased it has been reunited with its mum, Astra. Even if she doesn’t look pleased in this picture. But what is the baby donkey’s name?

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

  9. 9.FAKE OR FOR REAL: You could spot three of these headlines on the Guardian website in the last seven days. Which one appeared somewhere else?

    Leah Green in Fake or For Real

  10. 10.WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023: Non-football questions about every country at this year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup. Mainland Italy has two enclaves within it. Vatican City and …?

    Italy celebrate in Sweden

  11. 11.WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023: It will be China’s eighth visit to the women’s world cup. Which of these is one of the names for the currency of the People’s Republic of China?

    A young Chinese football fan

  12. 12.WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023: Norway were champions in 1995. But true or false – brigadier of the Norwegian King’s Guard, Nils Olav III, lives in Edinburgh?

    Ada Hegerberg of Norway

  13. 13.BON VOYAGE: That is a 1974 Sparks song that they played live at Primavera Sound in Barcelona at the weekend. But speaking of Edinburgh, people are enjoying a ‘bon voyage’ on the city’s tram system which has at last fully opened its long-delayed extension. So the line now runs from where to where?

    Sparks

  14. 14.FOR THE LONGEST TIMES WITH DARREN GRIMES: This week Darren wants to know which is longer – the amount of time Liz Truss was prime minister, or the amount of time that British manufacturing exports have been declining according to the latest figures?

    Darren Grimes

  15. 15.ROCKING ALL OVER THE WORLD: Leyton Orient are still the champions of League Two in the English Football League, and the quiz master is still literally in this photo. The DJ at Orient plays the song Rockin’ All Over The World after a home win. It is famous for opening the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley. Who wrote it?

    Leyton Orient

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, and you swear that you’ve actually read the quiz in full, please feel free to email [email protected], but remember the quiz master’s word is final and you wouldn’t want to be left out in the cold.


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