Lost dogs, lost titles and something harder than diamond – take the Thursday quiz

This humungous stone was from the collection of Elizabeth Taylor – but which naturally occurring substance is thought to be harder than diamond? Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

We are back once again for the weekly event that makes sure you read every single Guardian website story that features a cute animal as you know it is likely to crop up in the quiz at some point. You face 15 questions of varying levels of difficulty, topicality, seriousness and obscurity, and also a picture of Liz Truss again. There are no prizes, but do let us know how you get on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 146

1. 

   Who is the new first minister of Northern Ireland?

   1. Aisling Reilly

   2. Emma Little-Pengelly

   3. Naomi Long

   4. Michelle O'Neill

2. 

   The Oglala Sioux tribe have banned the Republican governor Kristi Noem from visiting one of the US’s largest reservations in which US state?

   1. Texas

   2. South Dakota

   3. New Mexico

   4. Minnesota

3. 

   Which Ukrainian-born woman has had to give back her beauty pageant title (not pictured) after it was revealed she was having an affair with a married man?

   1. Miss South Korea

   2. Miss Poland

   3. Miss Japan

   4. Miss Hungary

4. 

   One question about every country taking part in the Euro 2024 finals this summer. This week: future disappointed losing semi-finalists England. Which of these places is farthest north?

   1. York

   2. Blackpool

   3. Preston

   4. Leeds

5. 

   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'. Diamond can be assigned. Some scientists have argued that diamond (not pictured) is NOT the hardest naturally occurring substance on earth. Which of these is a naturally occurring substance believed to be harder?

   1. Zircate boron nitride

   2. Wurtzite boron nitride

   3. Flurtate boron nitride

   4. Ferallic hoggite nitride

6. 

   What was the name of the first episode of Terry Nation's gritty 1970s space drama Blake's 7?

   1. Mission to Destiny

   2. Redemption

   3. Warlord

   4. The Way Back

7. 

   It would have been Jules Verne's birthday today. When was he born?

   1. 1798

   2. 1828

   3. 1858

   4. 1888

8. 

   You've always wanted to pass GCSE media studies, right? Try this one. A survey asking people if they watch Doctor Who is an example of …

   1. A quantitative survey

   2. A qualitative survey

   3. Secondary research

   4. The Thursday quiz studiously avoiding making all the questions be about its favourite things

9. 

   OK, that is more than enough science fiction and fantasy for now. Instead, it is time for jazz club. Nice. What instrument is Charles Mingus best known for playing?

   1. Trumpet

   2. Drums

   3. Bass

   4. Kazoo

10. 

    Thursday quiz favourite Taylor Swift has announced she will release her 11th studio album in April. What will it be called?

    1. The Ghost Monument

    2. The Tortured Poets Department

    3. It Takes You Away

    4. Resolution

11. 

    Playing nonstop since September 2001, avant-garde composition Organ²/ASLSP As Slow as Possible is set to run during a performance in a German church until the 2600s. It just had its first new note play since 2022, and people were very excited about it. Who composed it?

    1. John Cage

    2. Brian Eno

    3. Karlheinz Stockhausen

    4. Steve Reich

12. 

    Kwasi Kwarteng, having put the Thursday quiz's mortgage up during his chaotic stint as Liz Truss's chancellor, has decided being an MP after the next election to try to put things right is far too much effort, and he is standing down. How long was he chancellor for?

    1. 28 days

    2. 38 days

    3. 48 days

    4. 58 days

13. 

    Thursday quiz favourite Liz Truss was also in the news this week after helping to launch the seemingly 1,057th splinter group of rightwing Tory MPs. What is the new group called?

    1. ConFront

    2. ForwardRight

    3. PopCons

    4. DingBats

14. 

    This good girl was found as a stowaway in a shipping container by the US Coast Guard at the Port of Houston after they heard barking amid 10,000 containers. What have they called her?

    1. Taylor

    2. Lucky

    3. Connie

    4. Ron

15. 

    This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, relieved that Honshu the Japanese macaque, who was on the run in Scotland, was found safe and well. Which leftover food appeared to have lured him into Stephanie Bunyan's garden?

    1. Yorkshire pudding

    2. Bread and butter pudding

    3. Black pudding

    4. Rice pudding

Solutions

1:D - Northern Ireland’s devolved government has reconvened and appointed Michelle O’Neill as first minister, the first non-unionist executive leader since the partition of Ireland in 1921. Emma Little-Pengelly, a Democratic Unionist, was nominated for deputy first minister. Naomi Long (Alliance) and Aisling Reilly (Sinn Féin) also have roles in the new executive., 2:B - The Oglala Sioux tribe president said Noem’s ban from the Pine Ridge reservation resulted from the fact that many arrivals at the US border with Mexico are Indigenous people from places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, who come 'in search of jobs and a better life', after Noem spoke this week about wanting to send razor wire and security personnel to Texas to deter immigration., 3:C - Karolina Shiino drew praise and criticism last month after she won the Miss Japan title, an event that apparently still continues in the 21st century, becoming the first woman of European descent to receive the accolade. Obviously somebody had it in for her though as a magazine has exposed the fling., 4:A - York is at 53.96°N, a little farther towards the pole than Blackpool, which is 53.81°N., 5:B - Despite sounding like it released novelty hit singles in the 70s, wurtzite boron nitride is formed during volcanic eruptions that produce very high temperatures and pressures. Theoretical calculations suggested in 2009 that it would be 18% harder than diamond, but the Thursday quiz understands there hasn't been enough of it found or synthetically made to date to test this., 6:D - It cheerily starts with the hero being framed for child abuse by the government and being sentenced to the prison colony on Cygnus Alpha – and the Thursday quiz doesn't care how obscure this question is., 7:B - He was born in Nantes, died aged 77 in 1905, and in between wrote a series of brilliant science fiction and fantasy books., 8:A - Yes. You are measuring the quantity of something. Well done if you picked this option – you've got one point towards your fictitious media studies GCSE., 9:C - Mingus was an American jazz upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist and author who was known as a major proponent of collective improvisation., 10:B - The hugely popular and successful 34-year-old singer and/or FBI psyops manifestation used her acceptance speech at the 2024 Grammys to reveal that the album is on the way., 11:A - It was written in 1985 and consists of eight pages of sheet music. Cage died in 1992 before this performance began., 12:B - The second shortest-serving chancellor in history, although possibly the one who single-handedly put up mortgages the most, Kwarteng was chancellor from 6 September 2022 to 14 October 2022, which is 38 elapsed days (or 39 calendar days if you are a pedant). The other week he told GB News the only thing he'd change about his time in office was that he should have announced massive public spending cuts at the same time as he crashed the markets with his gleeful tax cuts for the wealthiest., 13:C - It stands for 'Popular Conservatism', at a time when Conservatives don't seem to be all that popular in the polls. An event featuring Tory MPs this week used the slogan 'The fight back starts Tuesday!', which has confused the Thursday quiz because it seems to recall that they have been the government for the last 14 years., 14:C - Coast Guard officials would later determine that the canine – since nicknamed Connie the container dog – had been trapped for at least eight days, with no food or water. A rescue group has taken her in and is working to get her healthy and ready for adoption. What a good girl., 15:A - Bunyan left the Yorkshire pudding out on Wednesday night, and on Thursday morning Honshu appears to have returned on the off-chance there would be more.

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 – feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com, but remember the quiz master’s word is final so why not read this by Laura Snapes instead, as he certainly wouldn’t be talking about himself in the third person on a national newspaper website if he hadn’t grown up reading Tom Hibbert in Smash Hits.