Glitching maps, missing bees and antique cheese – take the Thursday quiz

This particular bee is hoping you do really well in today’s quiz. Photograph: Max Allen/Alamy

One of these days, like an exciting curveball, the Thursday quiz is going to end up appearing on a Wednesday or a Friday, just to keep everybody on their toes. But not this week. It is definitely Thursday, and this is definitely an increasingly weirdly niche quiz about topical news, general knowledge, and pop culture, which is excited today to lean into genuine newsy questions about Sparks and Doctor Who. There are no prizes, sadly, as the Thursday quiz operates on the most shoestring of budgets, but we hope you have fun and will let us know how you get on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 213

1. 

   Which manufacturer had to recall sweets in the Netherlands after traces of cannabis were found in them?

   1. Chupa Chups

   2. Jelly Belly

   3. Hershey’s

   4. Haribo

2. 

   The lovely Taylor Swift has finally got her mitts back on her original master recordings. How many of her albums did she buy back from the private equity firm Shamrock Capital?

   1. Six

   2. Seven

   3. Eight

   4. 1,057

3. 

   Who narrowly won Poland's presidential run-off election?

   1. Rafał Trzaskowski

   2. Szymon Hołownia

   3. Karol Nawrocki

   4. Adrian Zandberg

4. 

   This week's geography round is also about Poland. In which part of Poland would you find Kraków?

   1. The north

   2. The south

   3. The east

   4. The west

5. 

   Which country was affected by a Google Maps glitch that appeared to show that loads of the motorways had been closed?

   1. Spain

   2. Italy

   3. Germany

   4. Syldavia

6. 

   The winning word in the US Scripps National Spelling Bee 2025 was …

   1. Éclaircissement

   2. Eclaircissemont

   3. Eclairsisment

   4. Éclaircissiment

   5. Raxacoricofallapatorius

7. 

   Talking of bees (not pictured, they are just out of shot), how many honeybees escaped when a truck overturned near the Canadian border?

   1. 1,057

   2. 140,000

   3. 1,400,000

   4. 14,000,000

8. 

   The Rijksmuseum is exhibiting a 200-year-old illustrated condom which has an erotic illustration on it. Of what?

   1. A milkmaid and three farmers

   2. A nun and three clergymen

   3. A jester and three courtesans

   4. A troop of escaped macaques riding 30-50 feral hogs embarking on a crime spree

9. 

   A wheel of parmigiano reggiano (not pictured) has been celebrated as 'an authentic jewel of nature' after setting a longevity record for parmesan cheese. How long?

   1. 27 years and three months

   2. 37 years and three months

   3. 47 years and three months

   4. 57 years and three months

10. 

    Who was the first archbishop of Canterbury (not pictured, that is the Thursday quiz visiting Rome before it had grey hair and a very naughty miniature dachshund)?

    1. Cuthbert

    2. Dunstan

    3. Augustine

    4. Derek

11. 

    Sportswashing project PSG absolutely humped Inter in the Champions League final 5-0, which was quite annoying for the Thursday quiz as it owns an Inter beach towel and supports them, and they also just fumbled winning Serie A too. Where was the match though?

    1. The Allianz arena in Munich

    2. The Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid

    3. The Stade Vélodrome in Marseille

    4. Brisbane Road in Leyton

12. 

    It is Nicko McBrain's birthday today. Happy birthday, Nicko! Which band does he drum for?

    1. Judas Priest

    2. Def Leppard

    3. Iron Maiden

    4. Sparks

13. 

    This is Willow, the official dog of the Thursday quiz, meeting Salchicha, a guest dog of the Thursday quiz. They were discussing Amber, who went missing for 36 days and got rescued after having swum out to which island in Dorset?

    1. Furzey Island

    2. Long Island

    3. Green Island

    4. Brownsea Island

14. 

    It is the anniversary of the first running in 1883 of the Orient Express (not pictured, that is the Leyton Orient express). What was the initial destination of the route?

    1. Venice

    2. Vaduz

    3. Vienna

    4. Verona

15. 

    Sparks released their 28th – TWENTY-EIGHTH! – studio album last week. Where did Mad! debut on the official UK albums chart?

    1. 2

    2. 12

    3. 22

    4. 32

16. 

    And finally – spoilers sweetie – Doctor Who lead actor Ncuti Gatwa appeared to regenerate at the weekend into …?

    1. Billie Piper

    2. Jenna Coleman

    3. Karen Gillan

    4. Rose Matafeo

Solutions

1:D - Haribo has recalled its Happy Cola F!ZZ sweets after traces of the drug were found inside. In the Netherlands. Drugs. In the Netherlands. It is scarcely believable, 2:A - The rights to the master recordings of her first six albums have been passing through different hands for years in what could be described as a bit of a saga, 3:C - Nawrocki squeaked in with 50.89% of the vote, 4:B - It is roughly about 100km or 200,000 ancient Sumerian cubits away from Poland's border with Slovakia, 5:C - The phenomenon also affected parts of Belgium and the Netherlands, 6:A - It is French and means something probably, but the Thursday quiz couldn't be bothered to look it up, 7:D - The truck was transporting about 70,000lb of hives and honeybees. Presumably they all simultaneously flew to one side of it and the weight tipped it over and they made good their escape, 8:B - Chicken jockey your way out of that one, reverend, 9:A - Of course, any old slice of vile American processed cheese will probably outlast microplastics, 10:C - He lead Pope Gregory the Great's mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons in Kent, then stayed, 11:A - It was played at Bayern Munich's ground in Germany. Let us never mention it again, 12:C - He remains a member of the band, but announced his retirement from live shows in 2024, 13:D - Amber is a rescue dog who disappeared after being with a new family for one day, and travelled 100 miles, 14:C - The initial service ran from Paris to Vienna via Munich from 5 June 1883 until 4 October 1883, when the route was first extended. It was subsequently extended again to go to Constantinople, as it was then called, 15:A - It is their highest ever UK chart placing, and the album actually went to No 1 in the official physical albums chart, official independent albums chart, official CD albums chart, official vinyl albums chart and official Scottish albums chart. Go Ron and Russell!, 16:A - The Thursday quiz is doing everything in its power to simply will Rose Matafeo into being cast as the next Doctor Who by linking her name to the role at every opportunity

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 – and can show your working and are absolutely 100% positive you aren’t attempting to factcheck a joke – you can complain about it in the comments below. Why not watch Return The Day (Colours) by Dog Race instead?

Return The Day (Colours) by Dog Race