Animal giveaways, musical Wombles and mysterious discoveries – take the Thursday quiz

This is Haydn the Womble, AFC Wimbledon’s mascot. But who was the boss of the musical Wombles that first started having hits in the 1970s? Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

You might think that April Fools’ season is well and truly over, but not in the world of the Thursday quiz’s favourite band, Sparks. One of the biggest Sparks fan groups on Facebook changed its name to be a Wombles fan group as a joke on the morning of 1 April. You can only change a group name once every 28 days. We are now into day 11 of the joyless quarter of the fandom fractiously reacting badly to every post about the Wombles. It has been fantastic. Anyway, on with the quiz, where you face 15 questions on topical news, general knowledge, and of course, about the Wombles.

The Thursday quiz, No 155

1. 

   The mayor of remote Italian island, Alicudi, has offered to give away which free animal to anyone who will take one, as they now outnumber humans on the island six to one?

   1. Cats

   2. Hedgehogs

   3. Goats

   4. Very naughty miniature dachshunds

2. 

   Who said that 10 hours of being waterboarded for a 90-second scene in Game of Thrones left her with chronic claustrophobia?

   1. Lena Headey

   2. Maisie Williams

   3. Sophie Turner

   4. Hannah Waddingham

3. 

   German chancellor Olaf Scholz has joined TikTok, but promised he would not do what on the platform?

   1. Sing

   2. Rap

   3. Dance

   4. Backflips

4. 

   This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She knows that something was discovered in the US state of South Carolina and nobody knew where it came from, but can't remember what. What was it?

   1. $1.8bn was discovered in a state bank account with no explanation how it got there

   2. A shipwreck washed up near Charleston that looks to be at least over 200 years old but nobody knows how

   3. A polished metal monolith appeared with the date 03/28/2026 etched on it

   4. 30-50 feral hogs went on a rampage

5. 

   Justin Allen from Horsham, Pennsylvania, became an internet celebrity when he revealed on social media that when the New York City metropolitan area and its outskirts were shaken by a 4.8 quake he was doing what?

   1. Having a heart attack

   2. Having sex with his wife

   3. Having a vasectomy

   4. Having a fight with an angry goose

6. 

   UK prime minister Rishi Sunak (pictured, possibly with the fashion police) has apologised for making which brand of trainers uncool?

   1. New Balance

   2. Adidas

   3. Nike

   4. Sainsbury's Basics

7. 

   One question about every country taking part in the Euro 2024 finals this summer. This week: Serbia. Belgrade is the capital of Serbia, but which is the country's second city by population?

   1. Novi Sad

   2. Niš

   3. Subotica

   4. Teloš

8. 

   A ground-floor rented flat in Birkenhead which was crafted over a period of 30 years into an extraordinary palace of outsider art has been given Grade II-listed status. What is the flat in Wirral known as?

   1. Ron's place

   2. Russell's place

   3. Kate's place

   4. Ncuti's place

9. 

   We insist for some reason you put the first four Avril Lavigne albums into the correct order of release …

   1. Let Go, Under My Skin, Goodbye Lullaby, Avril Lavigne

   2. Let Go, Under My Skin, The Best Damn Thing, Goodbye Lullaby

   3. Let Go, The Best Damn Thing, Goodbye Lullaby, Avril Lavigne

   4. Let Go, The Best Damn Thing, Head Above Water, Under My Skin

10. 

    You have always wanted to pass a GCSE in an ancient language, right? Try this one. Which letter of the Greek alphabet is this: Φ (or φ in lower case)?

    1. Psi

    2. Phi

    3. Chi

    4. Rho

11. 

    Everyone has an unhappy time in the opera Tosca, first performed in 1900. What is the occupation of Mario Cavaradossi, Tosca's ill-fated lover?

    1. Soldier

    2. Shepherd

    3. Painter

    4. Feral hog wrangler

12. 

    On this day in 1951 the Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, was recovered after it had been stolen from Westminster Abbey. Where was it found?

    1. Arbroath Abbey

    2. Urquhart Castle

    3. St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh

    4. Fort William

13. 

    It is also the anniversary of the release of the very first Apple computer, the aptly named Apple 1. Steve Jobs co-founded the company, but who designed the Apple 1 (not pictured, that's an iPod and someone who has shaved the Apple logo into their hair for some reason)?

    1. Steve Wozniak

    2. Frederick Marius

    3. Tim Cook

    4. Bill Gates

14. 

    In recent weeks the ruling Conservative party in the UK has released ads claiming "gripped by the tendrils of rising crime London citizens stay inside" and that "services are being put to the sword and 600 jobs are now at risk" in Birmingham. What was their message last Thursday?

    1. Don't go swimming, the sea is full of discharged raw sewage

    2. Privatising the Royal Mail has been a tremendous success

    3. We have been in power for 14 years but it is the "woke blob" to blame

    4. Don’t let the doomsters and the naysayers trick you into talking down our country

15. 

    Who was the musical genius behind the Wombles?

    1. Mike Batt

    2. Jeff Lynne

    3. Jeff Wayne

    4. Ron from Sparks

Solutions

1:C - Their number has grown so rapidly in recent years that they started to gravitate from their usual abode at the top of the island towards the inhabited area, damaging vegetation, causing havoc in gardens and allotments, knocking over stone walls and even wandering into people’s homes. They sound great, 2:D - The national treasure has described it as "Definitely, other than childbirth, the worst day of my life", 3:C - Scholz’s spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a statement the account will offer “a look behind the scenes of everyday government life”, and Scholz said on the social media platform that the Thursday quiz continues to refer to as Twitter "I will not dance. Promised", 4:A - State officials say the sum was discovered last October – though the state auditor, George Kennedy III, recently told a hearing he knew about it in 2017 but presumed it was in the account temporarily. Republican governor, Henry McMaster, said “There’s something wrong somewhere”, 5:C - In a salutary lesson for our times, Allen has deleted the social media account on which he initially posted, and we quote in full, "A FUCKING EARTHQUAKE HAPPENED IN THE MIDDLE OF MY VASECTOMY" , 6:B - He made the apology after he was seen wearing the grey, white and black Adidas Samba trainers in a Downing Street interview, paired with a white shirt, navy chinos and black socks, prompting widespread ridicule of the look, 7:A - It is Novi Sad, which lies on the Danube and was founded in 1694. It has a population of over 300,000, 8:A - The late Ron Gittins created a remarkable fantasy world with brightly coloured historical murals, handmade costumes, and fireplaces sculpted into a minotaur, a lion’s head and a Roman altar., 9:B - It wasn't that complicated, was it?, 10:B - It is Phi. Incidentally that is a picture of the Pokémon Unown, the symbol Pokémon, which has 28 separate forms all of which look suspiciously like ancient writing. "It is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the various Unown," it said in the game Pokémon Ruby. Spooky. And if you got this right, you have now got a point towards your fictional GCSE Ancient Languages, 11:C - He is a painter and ends up dead, as does Tosca, as does the corrupt police chief Baron Scarpia. They really knew how to do bleak endings in opera, huh?, 12:A - The four students who stole it from Westminster Abbey to return it to Scotland – breaking it in the process – left it on the altar of the abbey where the Declaration of Arbroath had been signed in 1320, 13:A - Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold some possessions to raise enough money to buy the components, and the rest, as they say, is history, 14:D - If the Thursday quiz could insert gifs into the quiz you would be seeing either that gif of Eric Morecambe looking into the camera and wincing, the computer guy blinking, or the panda smashing up the computer in that Japanese advert, 15:A - The Thursday quiz thinks it may have asked this exact question before, with the same Ron from Sparks punchline. Ron probably thinks the Thursday quiz should have known that

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 workings – feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com, but remember the quiz master’s word is final and remember you’re a Womble.