Roman numerals, wastes of space, and Taylor’s little green dress – take the Thursday quiz

Here is Taylor Swift at the Golden Globes – but how much did a little Scottish green dress she wore last week cost? Photograph: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Everybody gets excited when it is a “theme week” on the Thursday quiz. And this is the first theme week of several theme weeks planned for this year – numbers week! Yes, according to the one great big quiz spreadsheet to rule them all, in today’s Thursday quiz everything is coming up numbers. Remember there are no prizes and it is just for fun. Let us know how it all added up for you in the comments!

The Thursday quiz, No 143

1. 

   Which band with a number in their name are celebrating having a UK No 1 album for the first time, a mere 29 years after their very first album charted?

   1. Maroon Five

   2. Shed Seven

   3. UB40

   4. Nine Inch Nails

2. 

   Denmark has a new king, but which Roman numeral will Frederik be using in his title?

   1. I

   2. V

   3. X

   4. L

3. 

   Talking of kings, how much money has the British government decided to squander on sending "free" pictures of King Charles III to public buildings?

   1. £2m

   2. £4m

   3. £6m

   4. £8m

4. 

   Every fan of Sapphire & Steel knows "all irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life." But what atomic number is Uranium?

   1. 92

   2. 96

   3. 102

   4. 106

5. 

   Thursday quiz favourite Taylor Swift stunned the Perth-based fashion house Little Lies by unexpectedly stepping out in style wearing one of their green dresses (not pictured). How much did it cost?

   1. £5.80

   2. £58

   3. £580

   4. £5,800

6. 

   Several Led Zeppelin albums are famously known only as numbers because they didn't have individual titles. But can you put Led Zeppelin's first four albums in the correct order?

   1. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin 2, Led Zeppelin 3, Presence

   2. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin 2, Led Zeppelin 3, Houses of the Holy

   3. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin 2, Led Zeppelin 3, Physical Graffiti

   4. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin 2, Led Zeppelin 3, Led Zeppelin 4

7. 

   How many women have been appointed to the 28-person organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit in Azerbaijan (not pictured) in December?

   1. None

   2. One

   3. Two

   4. Three

8. 

   "Daya, biyu, uku, huɗu" is "one, two, three, four" in which language?

   1. Hausa

   2. Swahili

   3. Yoruba

   4. Traken

9. 

   One question about every country taking part in the Euro 2024 finals this summer. This week, on the Croatian flag, how many full or partial red chequers are there in the main shield on display in the coat of arms in the middle of the flag?

   1. 9

   2. 11

   3. 13

   4. 15

10. 

    Kraftwerk pretty much always open their amazing 3D concerts with the song Nummern, or Numbers, which features an electronic voice counting in various different languages as the lyrics. But which Kraftwerk studio album is it from?

    1. Computer World

    2. Electric Café

    3. The Man-Machine

    4. Radioactivity

11. 

    In Scrabble, only one letter scores five points. Which letter?

    1. F

    2. W

    3. J

    4. K

12. 

    In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, what number did Douglas Adams say was the answer to life, the universe and everything?

    1. 32

    2. 42

    3. 52

    4. 1,057

13. 

    How many landlocked countries are there in Europe that start with the letter S?

    1. Two

    2. Three

    3. Four

    4. Five

14. 

    This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, reflecting sadly that Bobi the Portuguese mastiff has been stripped of his world record for being the oldest ever dog pending investigations. How old did Bobi's owners say he had been when he died?

    1. 26

    2. 31

    3. 36

    4. 41

15. 

    And finally, in 2019 Willie McNabb became an internet legend by inquiring how rural Americans would be able to defend against "the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard while my small kids play" if there was a ban on assault weapons. But what was the timespan that McNabb specified in the iconic tweet?

    1. "Legit question for rural Americans - How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 1-2 mins while my small kids play?"

    2. "Legit question for rural Americans - How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 2-4 mins while my small kids play?"

    3. "Legit question for rural Americans - How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?"

    4. "Legit question for rural Americans - How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 5-10 mins while my small kids play?"

Solutions

1:B - The group’s album A Matter of Time marks the longest gap between debut and first No 1 LP for a British rock band., 2:C - He will be Frederik X, and it will be quite annoying if he posts on what used to be Twitter as you will have to write: "Frederik X said on X (formerly known as Twitter)" and life is too short to be honest., 3:D - The Cabinet Office announced last year that it had set aside funds to offer every public body – local councils, courts, schools, police forces, and fire and rescue services – a free portrait of King Charles. Eight million pounds. Eight. Million. Pounds., 4:A - Every fan of Sapphire & Steel also knows that neither sapphire nor steel is an element, so please don't bring this up in the comments, we've already been arguing about its meaning since 1979., 5:B - The Scottish fashion designer behind it, Jade Robertson, said she was "just completely gobsmacked at first. We had no idea she even had the dress." When she checked the stock of the dress on the Thursday morning after Swift had been seen in it, it had already sold out. Taylor Thrift more like, etc etc, 6:D - It was the first four that didn't have different titles, but then they got bored of that, although some people do call the fourth one "four symbols" or "zoso" or "that one with the bloke carrying the bundle of twigs what has Stairway to Heaven on it"., 7:A - None. Thankfully it is well known that the climate doesn't affect any women, and women don't go to events or conferences., 8:A - There are are an estimated 77 million Hausa speakers, and now you know how to count with them., 9:C - It is a five-by-five grid on the shield, so three rows have three red chequers and two rows have two red chequers, leading to their football team wearing that distinctive chequered kit. There are some red stripes and even some red hooves and horns in the crown bit above the shield, but we specifically excluded them., 10:A - It is on side one of the 1981 album. And that is the last music-related question this week, honest., 11:D - It is kicking K., 12:B - In the book, the supercomputer Deep Thought points out that the answer seems meaningless because the beings who instructed it never really knew what the question was … you can insert your own punchline about the Thursday quiz here., 13:C - Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland are all landlocked, as is tiny little San Marino embedded inside Italy. , 14:B - You can't blame Bobi, he was never known to comment on his age in public., 15:C - Yes, everybody knows that it takes three to five minutes for 30 to 50 feral hogs to infiltrate a yard in the rural US. Feral hogs are genuinely a problem in several states, causing millions of dollars of damage each year by digging stuff up and eating it or just trashing things for the LOLs.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun – let us know how you got on in the comments while also complaining there were too many music questions this week

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers – and can show your working – feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com, but remember the quiz master’s word is final and he bets you can’t wait for Pokémon week in August.