Distant moons, hidden portraits, and one miniature dachshund – take the Thursday quiz

Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, is setting all the questions this week Photograph: Martin Belam/The Guardian

A very special week, this one, as it is one long celebration of Willow, the official dog of the Guardian’s Thursday quiz. Every one of the 15 questions comes equipped with a picture of the little pup, alongside her latest thoughts, questions and queries. They will be about topical news, general knowledge, and she has even taken time to put in a hidden Doctor Who reference for you to spot. Best of luck – and let Willow know how you get on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 119

1. 

   LITTLEST REBEL: Willow loved listening to Sinéad O'Connor, and was sad to hear about her death last week. But she can't remember where Sinéad was born. Can you?

   1. Cork

   2. Limerick

   3. Dublin

   4. London

2. 

   BLINDNESS: Willow was also sad to hear that one of the UK's most beloved national treasures of stage and screen has announced they "can’t see on a film set any more" because of age-related macular degeneration. Who?

   1. Sheila Hancock

   2. Patrick Stewart

   3. Ian McKellen

   4. Judi Dench

3. 

   BAD NEWS GIRL: Here is Willow dressing up as a courtly medieval lady. On a train. She wants to know which of Henry VIII's many wives was Anne Boleyn, who no doubt often wore similar garb, although probably not on a train?

   1. First wife

   2. Second wife

   3. Third wife

   4. Fifth wife

4. 

   INSULT SONG: Willow knows that a city has banned artists from singing misogynist lyrics that promote violence against women. Which city?

   1. The Brazilian city of Belém

   2. The Cuban city of Camagüey

   3. The Costa Rican city of Limón

   4. The Mexican city of Chihuahua

5. 

   A FIGURE WALKS: Willow was very surprised to learn that a zoo in Hangzhou, China, has had to issue a denial about what?

   1. That its sun bears are humans dressed in bear suits

   2. That its pandas are humans dressed in panda suits

   3. That its gorillas are humans dressed in gorilla suits

   4. That its elephant is 30-50 feral hogs cunningly disguised in an elephant suit

6. 

   GOD-BOX: Willow has never been to church, but she knows that scientists have been visiting Canterbury and Rochester Cathedrals to do what?

   1. Look for cosmic dust on the roof

   2. DNA test all the remains of bishops buried there

   3. Search for a rare orchid that only seems to grow near graveyards

   4. Interrupt services by shouting that science doesn't support the concept that God exists

7. 

   PAY YOUR RATES: The cosmetics chain Lush paid its managers £5m in bonuses last year. Willow wants to know if you can remember how much the company claimed in government support during the same year?

   1. £5.10

   2. £5,100

   3. £510,000

   4. £5.1m

8. 

   PROLE ART THREAT: A portrait of a woman – possibly the artist's wife – has been found underneath the famous painting La Cinquième Saison. Willow doesn't know who painted La Cinquième Saison. Do you?

   1. Emile Fabry

   2. René Magritte

   3. Edgar Degas

   4. Paul Cézanne

9. 

   PETTY THIEF LOUT: Willow was horrified to hear that a miniature dachshund was stolen by a masked man during a burglary in Essex. Thankfully the dog has been returned to its owners. Willow wants to know its name.

   1. Twiglet

   2. Twix

   3. Twirl

   4. Telos

10. 

    HOSTILE: Willow is not a fan of the cold. And the dwarf planet Pluto is very cold. But she wants to know what is the name of the first moon to be identified orbiting Pluto. It was discovered in 1978.

    1. Charon

    2. Larissa

    3. Triton

    4. Proteus

11. 

    ATHLETE CURED: Willow has been enjoying the Fifa Women's World Cup. Or at least not barking to interrupt all the way through it. She can't remember what first Morocco’s Nouhaila Benzina achieved though. What was it?

    1. She became the first woman to score four goals in a single World Cup match

    2. She became the first player to collect three yellow cards in one World Cup match

    3. She became the first player to wear a hijab at a World Cup

    4. She scored the fastest goal in the history of the women's World Cup

12. 

    GREENWAY: Rishi Sunak has announced the approval of about 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences. Willow takes a keen interest in the future of the environment, and wonders if you can remember where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in 2010?

    1. The Bering Strait

    2. The Gulf of Mexico

    3. The Cook Strait

    4. The Gulf of Oman

13. 

    KICKER CONSPIRACY: Willow sometimes goes to Wadham Lodge sports ground to watch Walthamstow FC play football and bark every time the ball or the players come near her in the stands. They've just released a new kit based on a design by which famous designer?

    1. Vivienne Westwood

    2. William Morris

    3. Stella McCartney

    4. Alliott Verdon Roe

14. 

    MUSIC SCENE: Willow wants to know whose concert in Seattle generated seismic activity equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake?

    1. Taylor Swift

    2. Guns N' Roses

    3. Foo Fighters

    4. Sparks

15. 

    WOLF KIDULT MAN: Willow is sleeping soundly as she knows that she no longer risks being caught and eaten by a wolf if she visits which Spanish region, where – sadly for the wolves but happily for miniature dachshunds – wolves have been declared extinct?

    1. Asturias

    2. Castilla y León

    3. Galicia

    4. Andalucía

Solutions

1:C - Sinéad was the third of five children, and was born in the Dublin suburb of Glenageary. She had such a beautiful voice, and was such an intelligent and fierce talent, both writing her own songs and interpreting the songs of other people. She will be very much missed., 2:D - Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, the actor, 88, said she was still trying to find workarounds, but “I can’t see on a film set any more” … “and I can’t see to read. But you just deal with it”., 3:B - She was his second wife. Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1 June 1533. On 7 September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was excommunicated as a consequence of his marrying shenanigans, and by the end of May 1536 Anne Boleyn had been executed and Henry was already on to the next one., 4:D - The municipality mayor, Marco Bonilla, said financial penalties would be imposed on “whoever [sings] songs that promote violence against women”. He called such violence a “pandemic”, with seven out of every 10 calls to city police related to violence within the family. Live music which objectified and sexualised women would be considered violence, said Bonilla., 5:A - Video of a sun bear standing on its hind legs had circulated on social media, with people noting that its slender legs and folds of fur made it look like a human was acting the part of the bear. Sun bears are the size of large dogs, standing at most 1.3 metres (50in) tall on their hind legs., 6:A - Dr Penny Wozniakiewicz and Dr Matthias van Ginneken plan to visit UK cathedrals in search of the exotic dust particles to understand how much material from space reaches Earth and becomes part of the planet or its atmosphere. Cathedral roofs are apparently good hunting grounds for cosmic dust because of their size and inaccessibility., 7:D - Ker-ching!, 8:B - The painting was discovered using infrared reflectography. The identity of the model is uncertain, but she resembles the artist’s wife and muse, Georgette. La Cinquième Saison depicts two bowler-hatted men – perhaps artists or collectors – holding framed paintings under their arms., 9:A - Officers in Essex launched a dog-hunt, releasing a video of the theft and appealing for information. According to the BBC, Twiglet’s owner, Jo Vindis, said they were “elated” to be reunited, adding that, “without the video, we probably would never have seen her again”. Twiglet sounds like a very good girl., 10:A - It is Charon. Pluto's moons also include Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. Your other three choices are all, as Willow is sure you realised, actually moons of Neptune., 11:C - The wearing of head coverings for religious reasons was authorised by Fifa in 2014 and Benzina wore a white headscarf for the match. The fastest goal in a women's World Cup was scored by Lena Videkull for Sweden after thirty seconds against Japan in 1991. English referee Graham Poll mistakenly issued three yellow cards to Croatian Josip Šimunić in the 2006 men's World Cup., 12:B - After approximately 36 hours, Deepwater Horizon sank on 22 April 2010, but the spill from the well it had driven continued until 15 July., 13:B - The club worked in partnership with the Walthamstow-based William Morris gallery. Morris was born in Walthamstow, and was a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement and an early socialist. And the quiz master would be very likely to end up buying one if they ever restock the required "extra large quiz master" size., 14:A - A local seismometer detected activity generated by dancing fans. Concerts have been known on occasion to register seismic activity, such as a 2011 Foo Fighters concert in New Zealand attended by 50,000 fans and a 2022 Garth Brooks concert at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Swift sold out both nights in Seattle, with 72,171 fans at the Saturday show breaking a venue record., 15:D - In a report, the Andalucian government’s environment department says that “since 2020 there has been no sign of the wolf being present in Andalucía”, in spite of it being a protected species. Up until at least 2010 it was estimated there were six to eight wolfpacks.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   Willow hopes you had fun – let her 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, feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com, but remember the quiz master’s word is final, and dogs can write questions but can’t answer email.