Pirate queens, heavenly twins and a curious talking horse – take the Thursday quiz

An Australian horse called Much Much Better. This horse does not, to the best of our knowledge, talk. Photograph: Mark Evans/Getty Images

If you were lucky enough to get a break over Easter then it may feel like Thursday has come around earlier than expected, and that the weekend is nearly here again. Before you can kick off your shoes and start winding down, there is the small matter of 15 questions that are either general knowledge or vaguely topical from the news, with some jokes and sarcasm mixed in. There is a bonus point to be claimed in the comments if you can spot hidden references to Doctor Who in the wrong answer options. There are no prizes, but let us know how you get on.

The Thursday quiz, No 52

1. 

   TO BOLDLY GO: A Nasa-led team of international scientists are hoping to send a message they call 'the Beacon in the Galaxy' into the Milky Way. What do they propose it contains?

   1. A message from Stephen Hawking

   2. An explanation of the constituents of DNA

   3. A recording of Twist and Shout by the Beatles

   4. Instructions on how to form a European Super League™

2. 

   HASTA MAÑANA MONSIEUR: That's a 1974 song by Sparks about how they were the only three words that he knew for sure. But that's not important right now. Scientists obviously don't see the point of sending it into space, but when was the Esperanto language created?

   1. 1887

   2. 1907

   3. 1927

   4. 1947

3. 

   OOH LA LA: What did they find under the floor of the Notre-Dame in Paris during an archaeological dig after the fire?

   1. A vial said to contain the blood of Jesus – probably cursed

   2. An urn containing a burnt parchment – probably cursed

   3. A medieval candle marked with Nordic runes not seen in France before – probably cursed

   4. A body-shaped lead sarcophagus – probably cursed

4. 

   HARSH BUT FAIR: The former editor of El País travel supplement Andrés Rubio has caused a scene with his new book España Fea. What does the title mean in English?

   1. Ugly Spain

   2. Fearful Spain

   3. Smelly Spain

   4. Selfish Spain

5. 

   SHIVER ME TIMBERS BUT IN CHINA: The Easter special of the long-lived children's TV show Doctor Who featured an appearance by Zheng Yi Sao, reputedly the most famous of all female pirates. Also known as Ching Shih and Madame Ching, when did she sail the South China seas?

   1. Mid-16th century

   2. Late 17th century

   3. Early 19th century

   4. Early 20th century

6. 

   GCSE SCIENCE CORNER: Biology mixed with maths mixed with obscure measurements this week. If you are measuring things contained within a cell, then you would most likely be measuring in micrometres. How long is one micrometre?

   1. One billionth of a metre

   2. One millionth of a metre

   3. One hundred thousandth of a metre

   4. One thousandth of a metre

7. 

   HAPPY BIRTHDAY: It was artist Rachel Whiteread's birthday yesterday. Happy birthday, Rachel! In 1993 she made history by becoming the first woman to win the Turner prize. With which work?

   1. House

   2. Ghost

   3. Untitled (One Hundred Spaces)

   4. The Armageddon Factor

8. 

   MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU: The late Jeremy Bulloch appeared in the Star Wars movies and amassed a huge collection of memorabilia that is being auctioned next month. It includes a lifesize statue of his character. Which character did he play?

   1. Lando Calrissian

   2. Admiral Ozzel

   3. Wedge Antilles

   4. Boba Fett

9. 

   SECRETS OF THE STARS: The constellation of Gemini is one of the signs of the zodiac, and its two brightest stars are named after which twins from mythology?

   1. Apollo and Artemis

   2. Romulus and Remus

   3. Castor and Pollux

   4. Luke and Leia

10. 

    FIBONACCI NUMBERS: First described in Indian mathematics, and forming a sequence where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, F₉ is 34. 34 is a semiprime number. What is the definition of a semiprime number?

    1. Any number that cannot be written as a fraction

    2. A natural number that is the product of exactly two prime numbers

    3. Numbers that equal the product of a real number and the square root of -1

    4. All of the above

11. 

    MYSTERY BADGE: Known affectionately as 'the Iron', and playing in claret and blue, which English football club has this badge?

    1. Scunthorpe United

    2. West Ham United

    3. Aston Villa

    4. Burnley

12. 

    WHY THE LONG FACE?: Which talking horse (not pictured) was owned by Wilbur Post in the US sitcom that ran from 1961 to 1966 and bore the horse's name?

    1. Mister Ned

    2. Mister Ted

    3. Mister Fred

    4. Mister Ed

13. 

    CONGESTION CHARGE BUT FOR PEOPLE: Which European city has announced that from June it will carry out a six-month pilot of charging day-trippers up to €10 to visit?

    1. Athens

    2. Barcelona

    3. Naples

    4. Venice

14. 

    AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS: The website Wikivoyage lists 23 locations visited by fictional Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's novel, none of them by hot air balloon. No 12 is Shanghai, China. But, reputed to be the fastest regular passenger train service in the world, how many stations does the Shanghai maglev train serve?

    1. Two

    2. Three

    3. Five

    4. Seven

15. 

    MUSIC: Who had a hit in the UK in 2010 with a cover version of an Elton John song that also featured in a John Lewis TV advert?

    1. Sinéad O'Connor with Sacrifice

    2. Katy Perry with Candle in the Wind

    3. Ellie Goulding with Your Song

    4. Kate Bush with Rocket Man

Solutions

1:B - They want to send aliens simple principles for communication, some basic concepts in maths and physics, the constituents of DNA, information about humans and Earth, and a return address. Stephen Hawking would not approve. He once famously said: 'If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans', 2:A - The Polish ophthalmologist LL Zamenhof first described the language in Dr Esperanto's International Language, which he published under the pseudonym 'Doktoro Esperanto'. You can tell by his face that Ron from Sparks thinks you should have known that, 3:D - They found a body-shaped lead sarcophagus, as well as parts of the original Notre-Dame rood screen and some surviving fragments of sculpture. Of course they are going to open the cursed sarcophagus, aren't they? Of course they are, 4:A - It is the cumulation of 20 years of looking at photographs of beautiful and historic places in Spain scarred by images in the background of towering megahotels, the skeletal remains of half-built buildings or jarring blocks of apartment buildings. I'm sure everyone was thrilled, 5:C - She married Zheng Yi in 1801 and by the end of that decade was leading a confederation of pirate ships believed to be made up of about 600 ships and as many as 40,000 pirate crew. We doubt she ever actually said 'shiver me timbers' though, 6:B - Also commonly known as a micron, it is indeed 1×10⁻⁶ metre or one millionth of a metre, 7:A - It was House, a concrete cast of the inside of an entire Victorian terraced house that was put back by Whiteread at 193 Grove Road after the council had demolished the housing. The council then demolished House as well in 1994, 8:D - He played Boba Fett, who became an iconic character despite having very little screen time or dialogue in the original movies. Jeremy Bulloch's memorabilia collection features more than 1,000 items, many of them given to him by fans. Bulloch died in 2020 and part of the proceeds from the auction will go to the charity Parkinson’s UK. And you can tell by his face that Darth Vader thinks you should have known that, 9:C - Gemini lies between Taurus to the west and Cancer to the east. Castor is actually a sextuple star system that appears as a blue-white star to the unaided eye. Pollux is an orange-hued giant star with at least one planet spinning around it, 10:B - Because there are infinitely many prime numbers, there are also infinitely many semiprimes. The lowest semiprimes are 4 (2x2), 6 (2x3), 9 (3x3), 10 (2x5) and so on. Any number which cannot be written as a fraction is called an irrational number. Numbers that equal the product of a real number and the square root of −1 are known as imaginary numbers. To be honest, I've got enough problems understanding the numbers that actually exist, let's not add more, 11:A - It is League Two's Scunthorpe United, who were founded in 1899 and joined the Football League in 1950, but who will be playing non-league football next year, having been relegated over Easter weekend after failing to beat Leyton Orient, 12:D - The horse was Mister Ed. The show never really explained why the horse could talk or why only Wilbur Post could hear him. If you made it now you'd have to make a whole spin-off prequel explaining all this or be accused of 'lazy writing' by moaning fans, 13:D - Authorities in Venice are pushing ahead with a plan to charge day-trippers up to €10 to enter the lagoon city as they scramble to gain control of tourism after visitor numbers hit pre-pandemic levels over the Easter weekend. Those who stay overnight will be exempt as they already pay a tourist tax, 14:A - The Shanghai metro system has nearly 400 stations overall, but the maglev is a separate shuttle service between Longyang Road and Pudong international airport. The train can reach speeds of up to 268 mph (431kph) when in service. Woooooosh, 15:C - It was Ellie Goulding. Kate Bush released a cover of Rocket Man in 1991 as part of an Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album, and even performed it on Wogan. Sinéad O'Connor's version of Sacrifice was from the same project. We don't think Katy Perry ever recorded Candle in the Wind; she is more of a fireworks person than candles

Scores

1. 0 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 he is probably too busy eating leftover Easter eggs to reply anyway.