Pink cocktails, cheesy peas and all the president’s plants – take the Thursday quiz

Neither of these drinks are a pink lady. But what goes into a pink lady? Photograph: Moussa81/Getty Images/iStockphoto

With the quiz master on holiday, the Thursday quiz faced a choice. Take a rest? Or appear each week regardless, but in obtuse pre-written formats. We opted for the latter, and so that is why this week everything has got something to do with the letter P for no readily apparent reason. Let us know how you get on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 123

1. 

   THERE ARE TOO MANY OF US: Which of these countries beginning with the letter P has the smallest population?

   1. Poland

   2. Peru

   3. Paraguay

   4. Portugal

2. 

   COCKTAIL O'CLOCK: Which three ingredients go into a classic pink lady cocktail?

   1. Gin, peach and lemonade

   2. Gin, raspberry and lychee juice

   3. Gin, milk and Chambord

   4. Gin, grenadine and egg white

3. 

   THE BELLS! THE BELLS!: Where do Portsmouth FC play their home games?

   1. Saint Mary's Stadium

   2. Vitality Stadium

   3. Fratton Park

   4. Plainmoor

4. 

   ALL THE PRESIDENT'S CROPS: US president Jimmy Carter was famous for farming what?

   1. Peas

   2. Peanuts

   3. Potatoes

   4. Pelicans

5. 

   WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY: Which presenter of children's favourite Blue Peter also had a recurring role in children's favourite Doctor Who?

   1. Peter Clifton

   2. Peter Duncan

   3. Peter Purves

   4. Petra the dog

6. 

   THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE: Which element of the periodic table has the symbol P?

   1. Potassium

   2. Phosphorus

   3. Platinum

   4. Lead

7. 

   WHAT'S IN A NAME: In the most recent ONS data release of girl baby names in England and Wales – which is from 2021 – what was the most popular girl's name beginning with P?

   1. Penelope

   2. Phoebe

   3. Poppy

   4. Peri

8. 

   FASTER HIGHER STRONGER: Paris will be hosting the summer Olympics for the third time next year. When was the last time the city hosted the summer Olympics?

   1. 1952

   2. 1936

   3. 1924

   4. 1912

9. 

   IT USED TO BE IN YUGOSLAVIA: Andrej Plenković is the prime minister of which country that used to be part of Yugoslavia?

   1. Croatia

   2. Montenegro

   3. Serbia

   4. Slovenia

10. 

    LAUGH? I NEARLY BOUGHT ONE: Which British comedy sketch show featured mock adverts for cheesy peas?

    1. The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer

    2. The Mary Whitehouse Experience

    3. Smack the Pony

    4. The Fast Show

11. 

    ON THIS DAY: On 17 August 1896 Bridget Driscoll became famous as the first woman in the UK to be a …

    1. Pilot of a submarine, when she tested a prototype at Leith docks

    2. Pedestrian killed in a collision with a motor car, at Crystal Palace in London

    3. Professional wrestler, when she was hired by Blackpool Tower circus offering to wrestle all-comers

    4. Priest, when she was ordained by a small offshoot of the German Templar society that had founded a community near Tenby

12. 

    THAT'S GOT TO HURT: In 1812, John Bellingham was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of which British prime minister?

    1. Henry Pelham

    2. William Petty

    3. Robert Peel

    4. Spencer Perceval

13. 

    BAMBOO HOUSES: What are the names of the two giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, which are due to be returned to China at some point this year?

    1. Yang Guang and Tian Tian

    2. Ding Ding and Guangquan

    3. Huai lang and Yisheng

    4. Eric and Ernie

14. 

    AI FOR IDIOTS: We asked ChatGPT to write a "blockbuster-style question about the letter P" and it was useless at it, but which P is a word that means a cure-all or panacea?

    1. Pantechnicon

    2. Panjandrum

    3. Panchreston

    4. Panicle

15. 

    RUSSELL AND RON: What is the name of the fourth studio album by Sparks, released in 1974?

    1. Physical Graffiti

    2. Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat

    3. Planet Waves

    4. Propaganda

Solutions

1:C - Poland has about 37.7 million people, Peru has about 33.3 million, Portugal has about 10.4 million and Paraguay has about 7.4 million, 2:D - Like most cocktails, the origins are disputed, and sometimes ingredients are substituted, but that is how you make a classic pink lady, 3:C - Fratton Park was opened in 1899 and has been the club's only home throughout their history. They came and played reigning League Two champions Leyton Orient the other week when the quiz master was watching, won 4-0, and still have someone in the stands who rings a bell all the way through the match. I'm not even allowed to bring a bottle of water in with the cap still on it, but bells are fine apparently, 4:B - The family business was growing peanuts, which the quiz master honestly did not know grew underground until he was about 36. Thought they grew on trees, 5:C - It was Peter Purves, who appeared as Steven Taylor in a series of adventures in 1965 and 1966 opposite William Hartnell as the Doctor, 6:B - According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, "phosphorus was first made by Hennig Brandt at Hamburg in 1669 when he evaporated urine and heated the residue until it was red hot". What an odd way to spend the day, 7:C - Poppy was the 17th most popular name, 8:C - It was the same year that France also hosted the first official Winter Olympics in Chamonix. France hosted the second ever Summer Olympics in 1900, 9:A - Plenković has served as prime minister since October 2016, 10:D - Do you like Cheese? Do you like Peas? Well, you'll love these! CHEEEESY PEAS!, 11:B - She wasn't just the first woman to be killed in a car accident, she was the first person to die that way in the UK full stop. The car was travelling between 4mph and 8mph, and the coroner at her inquest said he hoped "such a thing would never happen again", 12:D - Perceval served as PM from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated. Parliament's website describes Bellingham as a failed businessman with a grievance against the government, 13:A - Yang Guang is the male panda whose name means Sunshine in Mandarin, and Tian Tian is the female panda whose name means Sweetie. Awwwww. They have been in Edinburgh since 2011, 14:C - It is derived from the Greek for "useful for everything", just like the Thursday quiz itself. ChatGPT produced one-line movie pitches, proudly saying its questions were "designed to capture the essence of blockbuster-style intrigue and adventure, incorporating the letter 'P' into high-stakes scenarios", proving it has no concept of Bob Holness, 15:D - It was Propaganda, the rapid follow-up to breakthrough album Kimono My House, and it featured the singles Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth and Something for the Girl with Everything. Pulling Rabbits Out of a Hat is a Sparks album too, but that was 10 years later, in 1984.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun – let us know how you got on in the comments!

• If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com, but remember, the quiz master’s word is final, and it isn’t amateur hour. And he is on holiday anyway, hence him pre-writing this week’s format.