A beach mystery, a much-loved drummer and chatbots galore – take the Thursday quiz

If this was the White Stripes’ drum kit, who would be sitting behind it? Photograph: -M-I-S-H-A-/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Today is the 100th edition of the Guardian Thursday quiz, and to honour this great event we asked ChatGPT to write a celebratory centenary poem about it. Here it is.

On Thursday’s eve, a challenge begins,
A quiz that’s tricky, full of twists and grins,
From politics to culture, and all in between,
The Guardian’s quiz, a true mental scene.

With a love for the game, and a mind that’s keen,
We’ll tackle the quiz, like a true trivia machine,
And as we finish, with a sigh of relief,
We’ll feel accomplished, and filled with belief.

So let us embrace, the Guardian’s Thursday quiz,
A challenge of knowledge, that’s hard to dismiss,
A test of our smarts, and a showcase of skill,
The Guardian’s quiz, a thrill that we’ll never fill.

Who among us hasn’t felt accomplished as they finished with a sigh of relief, eh? Anyway, there were several more verses of it, but you get the gist – on with the quiz!

The Thursday quiz, No 100

1. 

   OOOH LA LA: Emmanuel Macron's government used special powers to force through pension reforms without a vote last week, raising the pension age in France from 62 to 64. What article of the constitution did they invoke to pass the measure?

   1. Article 19.3 of the constitution

   2. Article 29.3 of the constitution

   3. Article 39.3 of the constitution

   4. Article 49.3 of the constitution

2. 

   PROPAGANDA: That is the title track of the fourth Sparks album. Home secretary, Suella Braverman, was accused of rewarding favourable coverage by excluding left-leaning and liberal news outlets from her taxpayer-funded government business trip to Rwanda. Which of these TV channels did she take?

   1. Russia Today

   2. GB News

   3. TalkTV

   4. OANN

3. 

   NID YW CYMRU AR WERTH: Welsh first minister, Mark Drakeford, spoke of his emotion upon seeing a letter written to the king of France, Charles VI, in 1406 asking for help in the Welsh fight against English rule. Who sent it?

   1. Goronwy

   2. Owain Glyndŵr

   3. Cynan Dindaethwy

   4. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn

4. 

   I'LL DRINK TO THAT: Campa Cola is returning to supermarket shelves after being a successful replacement for Coca-Cola and Pepsi during the 1970s and 1980s. Where?

   1. Vietnam

   2. South Africa

   3. Angola

   4. India

5. 

   CHOO-CHOO! Great British Railways is due to take over from Network Rail in the confusing mish-mash that passes for a train system in Great Britain these days. This week its new HQ was announced (not pictured). Where?

   1. Crewe

   2. Derby

   3. Doncaster

   4. Birmingham

6. 

   DOER-UPPER: A man renovating his kitchen (not pictured) has found a 400-year-old wall painting of “national significance” in which English city?

   1. York

   2. Canterbury

   3. Winchester

   4. Chichester

7. 

   YOU CAN'T WATCH THAT: Hong Kong has cancelled a screening of a British slasher movie featuring which beloved childhood character?

   1. Peter Pan

   2. Paddington Bear

   3. Winnie The Pooh

   4. Doctor Who

8. 

   HEADLESS: An appeal has been launched to recover the head of what after it was discovered washed up on a Hampshire beach (not pictured)?

   1. The figurehead from a Napoleonic-war era British navy ship

   2. A smalltooth sand tiger shark

   3. A statue thought to be of the emperor Claudius from around the time of the Roman invasion

   4. Thor the Walrus

9. 

   I WILL HAVE THAT, THANKS: On this day Waltham Abbey was the last monastery in England to surrender to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Which year?

   1. 1340

   2. 1440

   3. 1540

   4. 1640

10. 

    OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM, AI AI OH: Not only does ChatGPT write terrible poetry, but it has a new rival from Google. What is Google's new AI chatbot, which launched Tuesday, called?

    1. Bard

    2. Opal

    3. Tay

    4. Wotan

11. 

    ON THIS DAY (SLIGHT RETURN): On this day two years ago the world watched agog as a massive container ship got hilariously stuck in the Suez Canal. What was she called?

    1. Ever Relentless

    2. Ever Ready

    3. Ever Green

    4. Ever Given

12. 

    IT'S A DOG'S LIFE: This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She is wondering whether a fossil will ever be named after her like the fossil plesiosaur now on display at the Charmouth Heritage Coast centre which was found by a dog in Dorset. What is the name of the fossil – and the dog?

    1. Edwina

    2. Raffles

    3. Buddy

    4. Luna

13. 

    GCSE SCIENCE CORNER: 2.0 A current flows through a 0.5 Ω resistor. What is the potential difference across the resistor?

    1. 1.0 V

    2. 1.5 V

    3. 4.0 V

    4. 30-50 feral hogs

14. 

    MATHS WITH GOTHS: Fields of the Nephilim want to know, if you have a triangle with a base of eight ancient Sumerian cubits, and it is six ancient Sumerian cubits high, how many ancient Sumerian square cubits is its area?

    1. 14 ancient Sumerian square cubits

    2. 24 ancient Sumerian square cubits

    3. 36 ancient Sumerian square cubits

    4. 48 ancient Sumerian square cubits

15. 

    ONE TWO THREE FOUR TAKE THE ELEVATOR: Jack White published a poem defending the White Stripes' drummer after a critic besmirched her playing style. Who was the White Stripes' drummer?

    1. Kristen White

    2. Nancy White

    3. Meg White

    4. Kate Bush

Solutions

1:D - The article allows the government to force passage of a bill without a vote unless the parliament votes a motion of no-confidence. Given that the quiz master is not expecting to be able to retire until he is 67 at the earliest on this side of the channel, it still seems quite generous. Maybe we should all move to Greece where the retirement age remains at 62 if you've paid enough years of insurance., 2:B - The charity Freedom from Torture labelled it a “showboat trip” after it emerged that the Guardian, the BBC, the Daily Mirror, the Independent and the i newspaper were not invited. The home secretary was accompanied by stenographers from organisations including GB News, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph. The BBC later requested and was given accreditation for journalists from the regional BBC bureau to attend on the ground. You can guess from the look on Ron's face how the Thursday quiz feels about it., 3:B - Drakeford was shown the original of the letter at the French national archive in Paris during a trip aimed at strengthening political, business, cultural and sporting links between Wales and France. In the letter, Glyndŵr said he wanted to create a Welsh church free from the authority of Canterbury and that clergy should be able to speak Welsh. He talked of founding two universities., 4:D - The drink became a household name in the second half of the 20th century, appealing to Indian patriotism as a homegrown soft drink made by an Indian company rather than an import from western multinationals. Its advertising tagline was “the great Indian taste”., 5:B - The Department for Transport said Derby would “become the heart of Great Britain’s rail industry”, after beating five other shortlisted locations in the Midlands and northern England in a public vote and the government’s own assessment process. Provided you aren't trying to use Avanti West Coast to reach it., 6:A - Parts of the friezes, dating back to about 1660, were found by kitchen fitters in Luke Budworth’s flat on Micklegate in York city centre and are based on scenes from the 1635 book Emblems written by the poet Francis Quarles. Budworth, a medical researcher at the University of Leeds, said it was “bonkers” to think the painting was there before historical events such as the Great Fire of London, which famously did not take place in York., 7:C - Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey inexplicably recasts the main characters as serial killers. Chinese censors have in the past targeted the film’s main character, originally conceptualised by the English author AA Milne, due to memes that compare the bumbling bear to President Xi Jinping. It was due to be shown in Hong Kong, but now it won't be. To be honest, they may have been done a favour by the sounds of it, Peter Bradshaw gave it one star and said it featured "a terrifying combination of not-scary and not-funny"., 8:B - The 2m (6ft / 3.8 ancient Sumerian cubits) long shark was initially found on Lepe beach on Friday. In an unexpected turn of events made for the Thursday quiz, Dan Snow, the historian, was enlisted to secure and examine the creature. However, before he arrived, the head, tail and fin had been cut off and taken., 9:C - The dissolution of the monasteries began in 1536 under Henry VIII, following the Act of Supremacy, passed by parliament in 1534. While there was widespread dissatisfaction with religious orders across western Europe during the 16th century, Henry VIII had the unique distinction of deciding "I'll have all their stuff instead" as the solution., 10:A - You can join the waiting list for Bard, and the Thursday quiz is eagerly awaiting its sign-up being processed so that we can all enjoy more AI-based chatbot "fun" in the quiz soon., 11:D - The ship was called the Ever Given. The company operating her was called Evergreen Marine, which is why you might remember that was painted in huge letters on her side. Traffic in both directions ended up being blocked for just over six days. And it wasn't *that* hilarious if you work in shipping or supply chains to be honest., 12:B - After 16 years of painstaking work, extracting, cleaning and piecing together the 750 fossilised bones that were eventually found on the spot, the plesiosaur has been put on display at Charmouth Heritage Coast centre. Sadly, Raffles was nine when he found the first fossilised bone, and did not live to see it all recovered. But we are sure he was a very good boy., 13:A - You multiply the current by the resistance to get the potential., 14:B - It is 24 ancient Sumerian square cubits, as you multiply the base by the height and then divide that by two to get the area. "Moonchild... lower me down!" as the Nephilim would no doubt say., 15:C - Jack White’s second ex-wife, Karen Elson, also sprang to Meg White’s defence. “Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her. To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband’s ex wife name out of your f*cking mouth. (Please and Thank You).”

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun – let us know how you got on in the comments!

If you 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 final and he will probably just get ChatGPT to reply to you anyway.