Jens Stoltenberg

Fresh from being annoyed with Paul Weller at the weekend after he declined to play more than a couple of songs by the Jam that the whole of Wembley Stadium would have happily sung along with before Blur, here is the Thursday quiz. Fifteen questions on topical news, general knowledge, and absurdly random trivia. There are no prizes, although thanks to user0 we now seem to have a monthly officially unofficial league table. And please give a warm Thursday quiz welcome to Anna Davidson, who has contributed to compiling it for this week. Let us both know how you get on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 116

  1. 1.JENS AND COMPANY: Nato held its latest summit this week. In which country?

  2. 2.SLACKER: A note in which an author asked for time off working in the civil service has been identified as being in his own handwriting (not pictured) after being misidentified for years. Who?

    Someone signing a signature with an ink fountain pen

  3. 3.HOSPITALITY ON PARADE: That is a 1975 Sparks song where there’s “kind help right there to serve you”. However, consumers of vegan products may have been horrified this week to find that a third of UK vegan products have been found to contain what?

    Ron Mael from Sparks

  4. 4.ACTUAL GROWN ADULT MEN: Elon Musk (not pictured) called Mark Zuckerberg (not pictured) what in public this week?

    Grimes

  5. 5.ALSO APPARENTLY AN ACTUAL GROWN MAN: George Santos, the Republican congressman whose résumé has been shown to be largely fabricated and who has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, stoked outrage by comparing himself to who?

    George Santos

  6. 6.THE MYSTERY DEEPENS: Nobody knows how many children former prime minister Boris Johnson has – a state of affairs you imagine simply wouldn’t have been tolerated by the rightwing press from Thatcher, May or Truss – but this week he added another one to his indeterminate brood. What have he and wife Carrie (pictured, with tiny horses) called him?

    Carrie Johnson

  7. 7.DOG IS LIFE: This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She knows that Canadian justice Rosanna Saccomani this week fined a man for shooting an animal, but can’t remember which animal. Can you?

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

  8. 8.THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE: Element number 12 is Magnesium. It is part of milk of magnesia, used as an antacid. But which magnesium compound is milk of magnesia made of?

    Elements

  9. 9.JOIN THE CLUB: The United Nations last admitted a new member country in 2011. Can you name it?

    UN flag

  10. 10.SHE’S SO HEAVY: Which European capital is going to start charging cars for parking by their weight, in order to deter people from clonking through the urban landscape in massive SUVs?

    Jeep Wrangler

  11. 11.WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023: Non-football questions about each of the countries playing in this year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup. How many official languages does France have (not pictured)?

    France World Cup kit

  12. 12.WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023: Germany’s women will also be at the world cup. How many countries does Germany border?

    Germany women's team

  13. 13.KICKER CONSPIRACY: Leyton Orient are still the champions of League Two in the English Football League, and the quiz master is still literally in this photo. Queen’s We Are The Champions has been on the turntable non-stop. Which Queen album was it first on?

    Leyton Orient

  14. 14.MEN’S WORLD CUP: Finally an actual football question. It is the anniversary of the opening matches of the very first Fifa World Cup for men, held in 1930. France beat Mexico, and the US beat Belgium on the opening day. But which nation hosted?

    The Jules Rimet world cup trophy

  15. 15.ON THIS DAY: It is also the anniversary of the Live Aid concert. Who was it who famously used a British Airways Concorde flight to cross the Atlantic so that they could feature in the show in Philadelphia having already performed at the Wembley leg in London?

    Live Aid

  • We lost a member of the Thursday quiz family this week. Victoria Conlan was a friend and former colleague of the quiz master at the BBC in the early 2000s, and she regularly posted her Thursday quiz score – and witty analysis – on Facebook. She died after a short illness. A partner, mother, sister and much more, Victoria was an absolute force of nature. She leaves behind family and friends who are stunned to have lost her so unexpectedly and suddenly, and who will miss her very much indeed. They are fundraising for Amyloidosis research. Rest well, Victoria.

Victoria Conlan
Victoria Conlan (1973–2023) Photograph: Floyd Briscoe


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