Famous dances, nuclear errors and one naughty miniature dachshund – take the Thursday quiz

Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. Photograph: Martin Belam/The Guardian

The Thursday quiz summer of shrinkflation continues the trend for shorter quizzes, but this week is always one of the favourite Thursday quizzes of the year. It is the annual Willow week! Every question has been set by the official dog of the Thursday quiz. Remember, it is just for fun, and since there are fewer questions than usual, every answer carries a lot more pressure with it. Think of it as the penalty shootout of Thursday quizzes. Guess well!

The Thursday quiz, No 171 – Willow week!

1. 

   Willow enjoyed the opening ceremony at the Olympics, but can never remember the name Lady Gaga was given at birth. What was it?

   1. Winona Laura Horowitz

   2. Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson

   3. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

   4. Dogface Hermann Dingbat

2. 

   Willow wants you to tell her what Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez revealed after her fencing contest …

   1. That she had forged her qualification and had actually never fenced before

   2. That she was actually seven months pregnant

   3. That she was actually Algerian and didn't have an Egyptian passport

   4. That she was actually four very naughty miniature dachshunds in a trenchcoat

3. 

   Willow knows down to her toe beans that Nusantara is shortly to be inaugurated as the new capital city of where?

   1. Indonesia

   2. Malaysia

   3. Cambodia

   4. Syldavia

4. 

   Talking of purpose built capital cities, Willow knows it is the anniversary of Islamabad becoming the capital of Pakistan. But where was Pakistan's capital from 1947 to 1959?

   1. Peshawar

   2. Lahore

   3. Hyderabad

   4. Karachi

5. 

   Willow knows that Dance of the Knights is one of the most famous pieces of music from a ballet and that Alan Sugar really likes it, but when did Sergei Prokofiev premiere Romeo and Juliet?

   1. 1918

   2. 1928

   3. 1938

   4. 1948

6. 

   Like most men apparently, Willow thinks about the Roman empire every single day. The year of the five emperors saw Pertinax, Didius Julianus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, and Septimius Severus all claim the title of Roman emperor. Which year?

   1. 93 BC

   2. AD 93

   3. AD 193

   4. AD 293

7. 

   Willow worries about nuclear accidents, and knows that a big one happened at Three Mile Island in 1979. Which US state is the Three Mile Island nuclear generating station located in?

   1. Pennsylvania

   2. Maine

   3. New York

   4. New Hampshire

8. 

   Willow is hiding from her fictional GCSE film studies exam. If you were taking your fictional GCSE film studies exam, what answer would you give to the question "Who regulates the UK film industry?"

   1. British Board of Film Certification

   2. British Board of Film Categorisation

   3. British Board of Film Classification

   4. 30-50 feral hogs

9. 

   Willow has never been to Vietnam, but she wants you to tell her if she visited Ho Chi Minh City, would she be in the north of Vietnam or the south?

   1. Ho Chi Minh City is in the north of Vietnam

   2. Ho Chi Minh City is in the south of Vietnam

10. 

    You probably didn't know it was Chuck D's birthday today. But Willow did. He is best known as part of which hip-hop group?

    1. Run DMC

    2. Public Enemy

    3. NWA

    4. Wu-Tang Clan

11. 

    Dogs are not renowned for their maths skills. Willow can't remember what type of angle in a triangle is smaller than 90 degrees. Tell her

    1. Obtuse

    2. Acute

    3. Reflex

    4. Contiguous

12. 

    Willow is exhausted by asking all these questions, but one last thing haunts her dreams. She wants to know how much the French spent on a banquet for King Charles III last year, which was just revealed in an audit report

    1. €275,000

    2. €375,000

    3. €475,000

    4. 575,000 Grotzits

Solutions

1:C - She was born in 1986 and adopted the name Lady Gaga before shooting to fame with her debut album The Fame in 2008, 2:B - “What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three! It was me, my competitor, and my yet-to-come to our world little baby!” said the Cairo resident in a post on Instagram, 3:A - President Joko Widodo has begun working from the new presidential palace there, despite widespread criticism that the city is not ready to host its first Independence Day celebrations in August, 4:D - Rawalpindi was briefly the interim capital before the status was fully transferred to the purpose-built Islamabad, 5:C - Although better known from a revised version first performed in Leningrad in 1940, a version of the ballet was first performed in Brno in Czechoslovakia in 1938. Willow doesn't know that, that is far too technical for her, 6:C - Pure chaos energy of a year, including Didius Julianus buying his way to the throne after the Praetorian Guard sold it off, having assassinated his predecessor, as you do. Willow much prefers the day of the five long naps, 7:A - It is near the state's capital city of Harrisburg, a location referenced in the opening sequence of Kraftwerk's anti-nuclear protest song Radioactivity when it is performed live, which is one of Willow's favourite songs, 8:C - It is the British Board of Film Classification, which was founded in 1912 and which has Natasha Kaplinsky as its president which is why you see her signature before new movie releases in the UK, 9:B - With a larger population than the capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is in the south, 10:B - Carlton Douglas Ridenhour co-founded the group with Flavor Flav. Bring the noise, 11:B - Acute angles are less than 90 degrees, 12:C - Let them eat cake indeed

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun and enjoyed the pictures of Willow!

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers then tough, you can’t email the quiz master because he isn’t working today, and anyway, Willow’s word is final. Enjoy one of the best pop videos about a dog instead …

Golden Retriever by Super Furry Animals