Winners, resigners, guest dogs and royal losers – take the Thursday quiz

Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, has 15 more questions … Photograph: Martin Belam/The Guardian

The Thursday quiz was listening to Hello by The Beloved the other day, in the hope of asking a question such as “how many people mentioned in the song are still alive” and getting the in-joke answer 30-50. But it soon realised it was going to be quibbles all the way down. Leslie Crowther? Died in 1996. Kym Mazelle? Still very much with us. But Zippy? Well, Roy Skelton, who voiced him (and the Daleks) died in 2011. But is Zippy dead? Or was Zippy ever alive? What about the LSO? Presumably some of the people playing in the LSO at the time the single came out in 1990 have subsequently passed. But does that count? Anyway, one thing we can all agree on, that was certainly some words to bulk out this article page so it gets indexed by search engines. On with the quiz … 15 questions, no prizes, have fun!

The Thursday quiz, No 211

1. 

   Who won Eurovision 2025?

   1. Kyle Alessandro with Lighter

   2. Lucio Corsi with Volevo Essere un Duro

   3. JJ with Wasted Love

   4. A very naughty miniature dachshund with incessant barking

2. 

   Pending legal action, who (not pictured – that is just someone happy with the result) won Romania's presidential election rerun at the weekend?

   1. Nicuşor Dan

   2. George Simion

   3. A very naughty miniature dachshund with incessant barking

3. 

   Authorities in Greece are taking action after which company put on a drone display (not pictured – that is the moon) over the Acropolis?

   1. Nike

   2. Adidas

   3. Puma

   4. Magpie Electricals

4. 

   Researchers have claimed the usage in English books of which of these punctuation marks has plummeted by almost half in two decades?

   1. The semicolon

   2. The colon

   3. The hyphen

   4. The interrobang

5. 

   A court in Italy has told descendants of the country's last monarch (pictured, right) to do one after they tried to claim they should own the crown jewels. What was the name of Italy's last king, who abdicated in 1946?

   1. Victor Emmanuel II

   2. Francesco II

   3. Umberto II

   4. Derek

6. 

   Here is Karl-Heinz with his opening lines. This week the Thursday quiz imagines the German soccer legend would like you to point out which of these is the opening line to Down In The Tube Station At Midnight by The Jam …

   1. "A police car and a screaming siren"

   2. "The distant echo of faraway voices"

   3. "Sup up your beer and collect your fags"

   4. "In the city there's a thousand things I want to say to you"

7. 

   This is Willow, the official dog of the Thursday quiz, and she has got this week's geography question, which is about Mauritania. Whereabouts in Africa is Mauritania?

   1. Mauritania is on the west coast of Africa

   2. Mauritania is on the east coast of Africa

   3. Mauritania is in central Africa

   4. Mauritania is in southern Africa

8. 

   This is Diego, an incredibly charismatic guest floof that the quiz master met on the tube last week while drunk. The quiz master was drunk, not the dog, to be clear. Diego knows the Who seem to keep firing Zak Starkey, bless him, but Diego wants to know who was the Who's drummer during their pomp?

   1. John Bonham

   2. Jeff Porcaro

   3. Mitch Mitchell

   4. Keith Moon

9. 

   Here is farther or nearer with Geordie Alan Shearer. This week we imagine the England soccer legend wants to know, if he leaves his hometown of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is farther or nearer – Dublin, Ireland or Paris, France?

   1. Dublin, Ireland is nearer to Newcastle upon Tyne than Paris, France

   2. Paris, France is nearer to Newcastle upon Tyne than Dublin, Ireland

10. 

    This is "Elemental, my dear Watson!", as Sherlock Holmes definitely never said. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry website, which of these elements is the metal with the lowest density?

    1. Beryllium

    2. Magnesium

    3. Lithium

    4. Sparksanium

11. 

    Some fool of a Took (not pictured) has set a new record for the fastest time to run from the west to east of Australia to the other, presumably because there wasn't anything on the telly and he got bored. How many days did it take him?

    1. 25 days

    2. 35 days

    3. 45 days

    4. 1,057 days

12. 

    It is the anniversary of the first battle of St Albans, which is often viewed as having kicked off England's War of the Roses (not pictured – that is the war of the rosés). When?

    1. 1455

    2. 1485

    3. 1515

    4. 1545

13. 

    Who scored Crystal Palace's winning goal in the men's FA Cup final?

    1. Tyrick Mitchell

    2. Jean-Philippe Mateta

    3. Eberechi Eze

    4. Ron from Sparks

14. 

    It is Morrissey's birthday today. So here is a question about lovely Johnny Marr instead. What is the name of the band that Johnny Marr formed with Bernard Sumner from New Order?

    1. Analogue

    2. Monaco

    3. The Other Two

    4. Electronic

15. 

    Japan's agriculture minister Taku Etō has resigned after saying what?

    1. I haven't visited a farm in years, I leave that to staff

    2. I never buy rice because I get it for free

    3. I prefer imported food because it is cheaper and more convenient

    4. The Smiths are better than The Cure

Solutions

1:C - An absolutely beautiful and well deserved winner, the song shows of JJ's operatic range in a ballad and then goes full-on rave at the end, 2:A - Dan won by a margin of 53.6% to 46.4%. It was the second time the vote had been held, 3:B - The country’s culture minister described it as a 'very bad, extremely unpleasant image, as if the Adidas shoe is kicking the Acropolis', 4:A - The Thursday quiz has never had any truck with them; wasteful little things that are confusing to use, 5:C - The Liz Truss of Italian monarchs, he was on the throne for only 34 days, 6:B - It is indeed. Despite being regarded as a classic it only reached No 15 in the UK singles chart, 7:A - It is bordered by Algeria, Mali, Senegal, and the disputed territory of Western Sahara, 8:D - Keith Moon was behind the kit from 1964 to 1978, and played on all releases from My Generation (1965) to the Quadrophenia soundtrack (1979), released after he had died, 9:A - Dublin, Ireland is only 353km away from Newcastle upon Tyne whereas Paris, France is 732km aways away from Newcastle upon Tyne. Top bins!, 10:C - A soft, silvery metal, it has the lowest density of all metals, reacts vigorously with water, and was a cracking Nirvana record. Even in the Thursday quiz, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth …, 11:B - William Goodge went from from Cottesloe beach in Perth to Bondi beach in Sydney. Maybe he wanted to get away from the washing-up?, 12:A - Records suggest there weren't that many casualties, but it was an utter humiliation for Henry VI who was captured by the Richard of York. Chicken jockey your way out of that one, you royal highness, as they no doubt said at the time, 13:C - His 16th minute goal was enough to seal the deal, 14:D - Their first hit also featured Neil Tennant from Pet Shop Boys on it for good measure, just in case the quiz master briefly contemplated not buying it, 15:B - You imagine it wouldn't go down well at the best of times, but it doesn't help that the cost of rice has nearly doubled in a year

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 Hello by The Beloved instead?

Hello by The Beloved