Thursday news quiz: Pokémon, a ‘Pastafarian’ and Cheggers plays population!

This rabbit has got some posers for you … Illustration: Anaïs Mims/The Guardian

Thursday rolls around once again and this week’s quiz – thanks to Anaïs Mims’ whimsical illustration – asks whether you really followed the news, or whether you disappeared down a few particularly strange rabbit holes during the week. Fifteen tests of your topical, general and pop culture knowledge await you, including an exciting new round featuring the legendary Keith Chegwin, which definitely did not just get made up in the pub after too many drinks on a Monday night. There are no prizes, but we enjoy seeing how you got on in the comments. Allons-y!

The Thursday news quiz, No 237

1. 

   A sinkhole that opened up on a golf course has exposed a wine cellar abandoned for more than a century. Where?

   1. Ashgrove Park golf club in Keswick

   2. Stonemere Park golf club in Gosport

   3. Westbrook Park golf club in Amersham

   4. Davyhulme Park golf club in Trafford

2. 

   Which famous nightclub in Paris, where Grace Jones, Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Marley, Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol were legendary performers or guests, is set to reopen?

   1. Le Mirage

   2. Le Paradis

   3. Le Palace

   4. Le Derek

3. 

   The Telegraph has been censured after it ran a story which turned out to be completely fictional claiming what?

   1. We earn £310k, but inheritance tax means the children may have to sell one of the cottages

   2. We earn £345k, but soaring private school fees mean we can’t go on five holidays

   3. We earn £295k, but rising energy costs mean the pony may have to go

   4. Our £345k income should be comfortable, but the thing beneath our Innsmouth holiday home hungers constantly

4. 

   Who won best band (not pictured) at the Brits?

   1. Wolf Alice

   2. The Last Dinner Party

   3. Sleep Token

   4. Wet Leg

5. 

   Firefighters where have rescued about 400 rare books from a library that hangs on the edge of a mudflow, after a devastating landslide in January tore away an entire slope of the town?

   1. Corsica

   2. Malta

   3. Sardinia

   4. Sicily

6. 

   The US women’s ice hockey team will be honoured at a Las Vegas event in July hosted by whom?

   1. Billie Jean King

   2. David Copperfield

   3. Megan Rapinoe

   4. Flavor Flav

7. 

   A 'Pastafarian' in rural Queensland has vowed to fight to keep his driving licence featuring a photo of him wearing what on his head?

   1. A traffic cone

   2. A paper party hat

   3. A colander

   4. An escaped macaque

8. 

   This week's guest canine is Mr Foxy of Walthamstow, who got very very close to letting the Thursday quiz stroke him the other night. He knows England's women's team got off to a cracking start to their World Cup qualifying campaign by spanking someone 6-1 the other night. Who?

   1. Iceland

   2. Ukraine

   3. Estonia

   4. Syldavia

9. 

   Jack Dorsey cited AI as the driving force behind cutting 40% of his company’s employees. What is the company called?

   1. Block

   2. Mesh

   3. Node

   4. Chungus

10. 

    Here is Karl-Heinz, with his opening lines, which almost rhymes. This week the Thursday quiz imagines the German soccer ace would like to know which Eminem song opens its first verse with 'His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti'?

    1. The Real Slim Shady

    2. My Name Is

    3. Lose Yourself

    4. Logopolis

11. 

    Which member of the Beckham clan has gone on tour with their new band the Breakers?

    1. Brooklyn Beckham

    2. Cruz Beckham

    3. Romeo Beckham

    4. Peckham Beckham

12. 

    We lost Rob Grant (pictured), who co-created which TV series with Doug Naylor?

    1. Sapphire and Steel

    2. Blake's 7

    3. Red Dwarf

    4. The Tomorrow People

13. 

    The Thursday quiz fondly remembers Keith Chegwin, and in his honour introduces a new round: Cheggers plays population! What is the population of Andorra?

    1. 25,266

    2. 55,266

    3. 85,266

    4. 105,266

14. 

    On this day with Brian May! And his badger! 5 March is the anniversary of the launch of the ZX81 computer. The Thursday quiz imagines Queen's legendary guitarist wants you to tell him – and his badger – how much memory it had?

    1. 1 KB

    2. 4 KB

    3. 8 KB

    4. 16 KB

15. 

    This is the Pokémon Mamoswine in a park in Manchester. He wants you to tell him what is the name of the new Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch 2 that has just been announced?

    1. Pokémon Winds and Waves

    2. Pokémon Frost and Flame

    3. Pokémon Dusk and Dawn

    4. Pokémon Ron and Russell

Solutions

1:D - The Thursday quiz was dismayed to hear there was no actual wine there, 2:C - French producer Mickael Chétrit bought the building last year and wants to revive Le Palace as a popular venue and breathe some of the spirit of the era back into it, 3:B - After suggestions the whole article was generated by AI, Press Gazette revealed it was written by a real journalist, based on a real telephone interview with a man who appears to have deceived the reporter and given them a fake name. There but for the grace of God goes the Thursday quiz, 4:A - Formed in 2010 as an acoustic duo made up of singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, Wolf Alice have also featured drummer Joel Amey and bassist Theo Ellis since 2012, 5:D - 'It was like pulling off a bank heist,' said Salvatore Cantale, the provincial commander of the fire brigade in Caltanissetta. 'We had to be quick and try to take away as much as we could', 6:D - The 66-year-old artist is a longtime supporter of women’s sports and has also launched a GoFundMe campaign to back US women’s Olympic medallists, 7:C - Syaban Shadikillah said he converted from Islam to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in 2021 while a university student. The state government has told him he must hand it in and get a new one, as it was issued 'in error'. He says it was a matter of principle and freedom of expression, and that it was a violation of his right to wear religious headgear. The Thursday quiz bets he is fun at parties, 8:B - It was the unfortunate Ukrainian team who had a bad day at the office as England scored six, 9:A - It used to be called Square. The Thursday quiz read the company's Wikipedia entry and is still none the wiser as to what it does, 10:C - He drops this lyric after an opening monologue which says 'Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?', 11:B - You can insert your own punchline here, 12:C - Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast, 13:C - That is according to the archived version of the CIA World Factbook, which was discontinued by the Trump administration in February 2026, 14:A - Just the one. Just the one. Understandably, buying a memory expansion was a popular option, 15:A - The game will be released in 2027 and the three new starters are Browt, Pombon and Gecqua

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 Stamina by Pixel Grip instead?

Stamina by Pixel Grip