A wicked witch, an invaded pitch and a really big potato – take the Thursday quiz

Margaret Hamilton in the Wizard Of Oz. Photograph: MGM/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Thursday once more, and it is time to brave the triple challenge of some topical questions, some general knowledge teasers, and some very silly regular features. Will Kate Bush be the correct option this week? Will Ron from Sparks look disapprovingly at your answers? And will you be able to earn a bonus point by spotting a hidden reference to Doctor Who? No anagrams this week, but you’ll all be thrilled to know that the flag round is back. Have fun and let us know how you got on in the comments. I think it might be a tricky one.

The Thursday quiz, No 29

1. 

   THE GREAT WAR: 11 November carries a huge significance as the end of the first world war. But which one of these events DIDN'T take place on 11 November 1918 itself?

   1. Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies

   2. Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquished power

   3. Poland's sovereignty was returned as the Second Polish Republic

   4. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicated

2. 

   SPORT: Leyton Orient recently unveiled a memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to 41 players, staff, officials and supporters who were killed in first world war action after signing up together in December 1914 in "the Footballers' Battalion". But what was the club called in 1914?

   1. Woolwich Orient

   2. Clapton Orient

   3. Leyton Orient

   4. Hackney Orient

3. 

   PRESENT ARMS: The quiz master was saddened to learn of the death of Astro, one of the earliest members of the band UB40. But where did they get the name UB40 from?

   1. It was painted on the side of a picture of a German U-boat in a school history textbook that belonged to Astro

   2. It was Birmingham street slang for "You are acting like an old man"

   3. It was part of the postcode of the youth club where the band first rehearsed in Balsall Heath in South Birmingham – B1U B40

   4. It was the designation of a government form for signing on for unemployment benefit

4. 

   FLAGS OF JOY: Say hello to the return of a regular flag inquisition. Whose flag is this?

   1. Mongolia

   2. Tibet

   3. Taiwan

   4. Nepal

5. 

   GCSE SCIENCE CORNER: A little bit of biology for you today. Which of these sentences BEST describes the MAIN activity of a cell membrane?

   1. Releases the most energy during respiration

   2. Controls the movement of substances in and out of the cell

   3. Is where the proteins are made

   4. Controls the activity of the cell

6. 

   DEFYING GRAVITY: It has been announced that which of these stars will feature in a movie adaptation of the Oz-based smash hit musical Wicked?

   1. Ariana Grande

   2. Katy Perry

   3. Christina Aguilera

   4. Kate Bush

7. 

   SPUD-U-LIKE: A couple in New Zealand have gained a load of publicity after digging up what is possibly, but not definitively, the world's heaviest and ugliest potato. But what have they called it?

   1. Steve

   2. Pickles

   3. Hermes

   4. Doug

8. 

   GOING IT ALONE: The city council in Oroville, located at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills about 90 miles from the Californian state capital of Sacramento, has made what extraordinary declaration?

   1. That it is a constitutional republic

   2. That it will use its own currency and no longer accept the US dollar

   3. That it is going to become a base for private space exploration

   4. That it has founded a European Super League, but then had to back down a couple of days later

9. 

   EVERY TRAIN GOES SOUTH FROM HERE: Scotland is home to the most northerly railway station in the UK. Where?

   1. Thurso

   2. Traken

   3. Wick

   4. Culrain

10. 

    WHAT'S THAT COMING OVER THE HILL: The Plunket Shield cricket match between Wellington and Canterbury in New Zealand was interrupted by what this week?

    1. A flock of seagulls swooped down on to the pitch and wouldn't move

    2. A swarm of bees enveloped the players

    3. A common brushtail possum ran on to the pitch

    4. A dog in the crowd stole the ball after a six was hit, and wouldn't give it back

11. 

    WHAT A CARRY ON: It would have been lovely June Whitfield's 96th birthday today. How many Carry On films was she in?

    1. Two

    2. Four

    3. Five

    4. Seven

12. 

    ROCK ON: The Earth’s first continents rose out of the ocean 700m years earlier than previously thought, a new analysis of ancient rocks suggests. So what is the new date the authors think that stable continents – known as cratons – started to emerge above sea level?

    1. Between 4.3bn and 4.2bn years ago

    2. Between 3.3bn and 3.2bn years ago

    3. Between 2.3bn and 2.2bn years ago

    4. Between 1.3bn and 1.2bn years ago

13. 

    ENSEMBLE CAST: Plot twist this week. Which of these WASN'T a character from Kenny Everett's various extremely naughty television shows?

    1. Captain Kremmen

    2. Cupid Stunt

    3. Sid Snot

    4. Vera Thin

14. 

    ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS SEX: That's a 1983 song by Sparks where it is all you ever think about exclusively. But that's not important right now. A new species of endangered frog recently discovered in the Gondwana rainforests of New South Wales does what unusual thing for frogs in its reproductive cycle?

    1. The male frog carries its tadpoles around with it

    2. The female frog eats the male frog after copulation

    3. The female frog drops her eggs off into the water in the leaves of pitcher plants

    4. The male frog carries fertilised eggs around in a special pouch inside his mouth

15. 

    DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD: An item purchased at auction for £75 has turned out to have once belonged to Anne Boleyn and is now believed to be worth £200,000. What was it?

    1. Her neck scarf

    2. Her swaddling cloth

    3. A cup she drank from prior to her execution

    4. A carved wooden bird

Solutions

1:D - It was this. All the others took place on 11 November 1918 itself, but Kaiser Wilhelm II's abdication preceded those events by two days. He stepped down on 9 November 1918., 2:B - The club was founded as Glyn Cricket Club in 1881. They changed the name to Orient in 1888 and then Clapton Orient in 1889, apparently because one player worked for the Orient Steam Navigation Company. The club moved from Clapton in the 1930s, and only became Leyton Orient after the second world war. Between 1966 and 1987 they dropped the Leyton and were known simply as Orient. , 3:D - Signing Off and Present Arms from 1980 and 1981 remain fantastically-produced social commentary about Britain at the time, regardless of whether you can abide hearing Red Red Wine at every wedding you go to., 4:A - Originally designed by the artist Dodiin Choidog, this version became the official flag in January 1992. According to my notes, the blue stripe represents the eternal blue sky, and the red stripes thriving for eternity, and not an attempt to look like a Crystal Palace home strip at all., 5:B - The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and controls the movement of substances in and out of cells. The basic function of the cell membrane is to protect the cell from its surroundings. , 6:A - Chart-topping pop star Grande, 28, will play Galinda while Oscar-nominated British actor Cynthia Erivo, 34, will appear as Elphaba, the younger version of the Wicked Witch of the West so memorably played by Margaret Hamilton in the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz., 7:D - The name being a pun because they "dug" it up has only served to split the quiz master's sides even further about this hilarious story of a massive tuber., 8:A - Aggravated at what they see as federal and state overreach Oroville leaders said the designation was a way of affirming the city’s values and pushing back against state rules it doesn’t agree with, although a legal expert said the designation was merely a gesture and did not grant the city any new authority. Lisa Pruitt said it was not clear what the designation meant. “Whatever they mean by constitutional republic you can’t say hocus pocus and make it happen." Now, if they had a Wicked Witch to say hocus pocus, that would be a different matter., 9:A - It is Thurso, which has four trains a day on weekdays which take you down to beautiful Inverness via one of the most scenic railway routes in the word. Wick is also a terminus on the same branch, but it is more southerly than Thurso., 10:B - Everybody had to duck as the bees came to check out the wicket. That's a picture of a different cricket match by the way, as the picture of the one in question rather gave it away., 11:B - She was in Carry On Nurse (1959), Carry On Abroad (1972), Carry On Girls (1973), and unfortunately also Carry On Columbus (1992)., 12:B - The scientists hypothesise that the earliest continents rose out of the global ocean covering earth after 300 to 400m years of continuous volcanic activity. Dr Priyadarshi Chowdhury of Monash University, the study’s lead author, said the Singhbhum craton may have been formed from a pile-up of lava over time, so that the crust – approximately 50km deep – “becomes so thick and it just floats up above the water … like an iceberg floating on water”., 13:D - The other three were Kenny Everett characters, but Vera Thin was an early invention of Dick Emery, as a thinly-disguised Vera Lynn. Presumably you'd get cancelled by GB News these days for daring to send up the forces' sweetheart., 14:A - The male frogs carry developing tadpoles in pouches on their sides of their bodies before little frogs emerge two to three months later. You can tell by his face that Ron from Sparks thinks you should have known that., 15:D - Identified as Anne Boleyn’s heraldic emblem, the 16th-century royal falcon probably adorned her private apartments at Hampton Court Palace. It is in such extraordinary condition that it even bears its original gilding and colour scheme. Cracking episode of Bargain Hunt, that.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

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

2. 4 and above.

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

• If you do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, please feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com but remember, the quiz master’s word is always final, and you wouldn’t want him to cast a spell on you.