Dangerous birds, headless statues and rescues from space – take the Thursday quiz

This bald eagle has not been attacking anybody in the UK, but one bird has. Can you remember which one? Photograph: Alamy

Last week, the Thursday quiz idly speculated as to whether Lady Jane Grey, having been queen for less time than Liz Truss was in Downing Street, went on a similar book promotional tour. Many readers pointed out in the comments that in fact she was imprisoned and executed. May the quiz gently draw your attention to the rules about there being no need to factcheck obvious jokes. It is quite clear that Lady Jane Grey did not embark on such a venture. For a start, unlike Liz Truss, she did not write a hubristic book arguing she had been right all along, or issue legal threats to the powers that be insisting they refrain from saying she crashed the economy. Anyhoo, here is this week’s quiz. Enjoy!

The Thursday quiz, No 202

1. 

   The US social media influencer Sam Jones became public enemy No 1 in Australia after she posted a video of her snatching what from the side of the road?

   1. A baby koala

   2. A baby echidna

   3. A baby wombat

   4. 30-50 baby feral hogs

2. 

   The 90s singer Dawn Robinson was revealed to have been living in her car (not pictured), saying she had become devoted to the lifestyle. Which group did she sell millions of records with?

   1. TLC

   2. En Vogue

   3. Destiny's Child

   4. Blaque

3. 

   People in the village of Flamstead in rural Hertfordshire are being harassed by what, which keeps targeting taller men (pictured)?

   1. A barn owl

   2. A peregrine falcon

   3. A Harris's hawk

   4. A very naughty miniature dachshund

4. 

   While arguing about the precise definition of being stranded in space, you've had nine months to learn the names of the two people who went on an eight-day mission and then stayed in orbit for 286 days (not pictured). Who are they?

   1. Mark Strickson and Janet Fielding

   2. Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey

   3. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis

   4. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams

5. 

   Who unexpectedly welcomed the astronauts home on their splashdown from space?

   1. A pod of dolphins

   2. A lone orca

   3. A bloom of jellyfish

   4. Ron from Sparks

6. 

   The solid bronze head of Melbourne’s decapitated King George V statue appears to have briefly reappeared in public on stage during a performance by whom?

   1. Goldie Lookin Chain

   2. The Streets

   3. Kneecap

   4. Kate Bush

7. 

   The Thursday quiz seems ever closer to being ushered out of its day job by robots after a newspaper in which country claimed it had published an edition entirely generated by artificial intelligence?

   1. Italy

   2. France

   3. Spain

   4. Portugal

8. 

   What is the name of the Chinese film that has just broken the record for highest-grossing animation of all time, nicking the title from Inside Out 2?

   1. Wolf Warrior 2 (战狼2)

   2. Ne Zha 2 (哪吒2)

   3. The Wandering Earth 2 (流浪地球2)

   4. Chris Martin falling through a trapdoor 2 (克里斯馬丁從活板門掉下來 2)

9. 

   It is scores on the doors with Swindon’s Diana Dors. This week, with the chore of the Six Nations championship behind it, the statue wants to know all about drop goals in rugby union, a perfectly legitimate way to score points. How many points is a drop goal worth?

   1. One point

   2. Two points

   3. Three points

   4. Four points

10. 

    It's Karl-Heinz and his opening lines. This week the Thursday quiz imagines the German soccer legend would like you to point out which of these plays begins with someone exclaiming "Willy!", much to the amusement of smutty-minded schoolkids studying it throughout the years

    1. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    2. Happy Days by Samuel Beckett

    3. The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter

    4. Carry On Cleo by Talbot Rothwell

11. 

    This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. This week she wants to know which ocean Cape Verde is located in. Tell her.

    1. Pacific Ocean

    2. Atlantic Ocean

    3. Indian Ocean

    4. Southern Ocean

12. 

    Today is the anniversary of the founding of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie), set up to plunder resources from Asia. When?

    1. 1402

    2. 1502

    3. 1602

    4. 1702

13. 

    It is John de Lancie's birthday today. Happy birthday, John! That's not him in the picture. That is some Star Trek fans in Dundee. But anyway, which character did he memorably first play in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

    1. Q

    2. M

    3. X

    4. Derek

14. 

    Which UK city has caused a stir by commissioning a statue of a famous suffragist … from a male sculptor?

    1. Cardiff

    2. Manchester

    3. Belfast

    4. Edinburgh

15. 

    And finally … Malta's Miriana Conte (not pictured) has been forced to adjust her Eurovision song contest entry after the EBU decided her song Kant – the Maltese word for "singing" – was pronounced in a way that sounded a bit too saucy for a pre-watershed English-speaking audience. What is the song called now?

    1. Sunshine

    2. Serving

    3. Sliding

    4. Uranus

Solutions

1:C - It is not every day politicians threaten someone with being fed to a crocodile, but the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said she should have tried it with a baby crocodile to 'see how you go there'., 2:B - She said it wasn't a "woe is me" story, and that it was like being on a camping trip., 3:C - The perpetrator has been quietly stalking the streets of Flamstead for months but in the past fortnight has gone on a rampage, having bumped and slashed more than 20 men., 4:D - They were in orbit for about five-and-a-half Liz Truss prime ministerships., 5:A - They were seen swimming near the SpaceX capsule, possibly also arguing about the precise definition of being stranded in space., 6:C - A social media post by Northern Irish hip-hop trio showed what appeared to be the head on stage at Melbourne venue 170 Russell on Friday night., 7:A - But can an AI spell Guatemala wrong in three different ways during the course of one Olympic liveblog? If not, then maybe the quiz master's unique selling point is safe after all., 8:B - The plot, inspired by Chinese mythology, follows the story of Ne Zha, a demon child raised by humans who is on a quest to obtain a precious elixir to restore the physical state of his friend., 9:C - You get three points, plus a load of try-hards explaining to you that it isn't proper rugby to score this way, despite it quite clearly being included in the laws of the game that you can., 10:A - It is, of course, the doomed Willy Lomax's wife calling to him, and then the fun begins …, 11:B - The ten volcanic islands are off the west coast of Africa., 12:C - It was set up by the states general of the Netherlands, amalgamating several companies, and granted a 21-year monopoly on trade with Asia., 13:A - He subsequently reprised the role in various other Star Trek series., 14:D - Edinburgh’s Royal Mile will get a statue of Elsie Inglis, the Scottish suffragist and maternal health pioneer, but campaigners are disappointed the commission hasn't gone to a woman. The statue in the picture is Millicent Fawcett in London., 15:B - Do dig out the video of the original on YouTube because it is quite something …

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 Harbour by the wonderful Kathryn Joseph instead?

Harbour by Kathryn Joseph