Michael Caine’s song, dubious art and pesky crabs – take the Thursday quiz

A coin mosaic for Michael Caine by the artist Ed Chapman. But who had a hit single in the UK called Michael Caine? Photograph: Ed Chapman/PA

What would you say to 15 questions on quirky topical news, general knowledge, with a few silly in-jokes thrown in? Yes? Yes! YES!! Then you are in luck, because once again it is Thursday and the ramshackle quiz that goes with it is all present and correct. There are no prizes, it is just fun. You could let us know how you get on in the comments though, and you might even score some bonus points for being funny or spotting hidden references to children’s tea-time favourite Doctor Who. Enjoy!

The Thursday quiz, No 130

1. 

   Which country is lamenting the loss of the longest-running radio programme in its history – the official time signal?

   1. Australia

   2. Singapore

   3. Uruguay

   4. Canada

2. 

   UK regulators have approved Microsoft's £57bn deal to buy the company that makes the games Call of Duty and World of Warcraft among others. Who are they?

   1. Ubisoft

   2. Larian Studios

   3. Activision Blizzard

   4. Ultimate Play the Game

3. 

   Thorpe Park theme park in Chertsey, Surrey has had to apologise after what …?

   1. It accidentally blared Halloween sound effects at full volume all night

   2. Every firework in a planned display was accidentally triggered at the same time causing hundreds of 999 calls

   3. It accidentally used a picture of a group of nudists riding one of its rollercoasters in a promotional brochure

   4. It employed a Liz Truss lookalike at a fancy dress party who accidentally added £150 to the mortgage payments of everybody attending

4. 

   This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She knows a football team walked on at the weekend with 11 rescue dogs as mascots, all of whom needed new forever homes. But where?

   1. RCD Espanyol in Spain

   2. Cremonese in Italy

   3. AEK Athens in Greece

   4. Harchester United in England

5. 

   A French train carrying who got diverted to Disneyland by mistake owing to a signalling error?

   1. The French national football team heading to their friendly match against Scotland in Lille

   2. A group of French MEPs heading to the European parliament building in Strasbourg

   3. The touring entourage of Taylor Swift who is shortly starting the European leg of her Eras tour in Paris

   4. 30-50 feral hogs just hanging out on the train and having a ball

6. 

   Scientists in the UK have had to build traps to manage the rising number of which type of crab?

   1. Japanese glove crabs

   2. Vietnamese gauntlet crabs

   3. Chinese mitten crabs

   4. Australian macra crabs

7. 

   Which famous work of conceptual art (not pictured) have experts revealed may have been actually made by the German Dada artist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven?

   1. René Magritte's The Treachery of Images – with its famous "ceci n'est pas une pipe" legend

   2. Salvador Dalí's Lobster Telephone – a telephone with a lobster for a handset

   3. Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain – a signed urinal

   4. Russell Mael's The Wedding of Jacqueline Kennedy to Russell Mael – a short answerphone message

8. 

   It is the anniversary of the death of King John of England (pictured, but it is an engraving from 500 years later so YMMV). Sorry to remind you about that John. Hashtag awkward. Anyway he was succeeded by his nine-year-old son who went on to rule for some 56 years. Who?

   1. Edward I known as Edward Longshanks

   2. Henry III known as Henry of Winchester

   3. Richard I known as Richard the Lionheart

   4. Hermann I known as Dogface Hermann Dingbat

9. 

   In what year did Napoleon (not pictured) retreat from Moscow (also not pictured)?

   1. 1792

   2. 1802

   3. 1812

   4. 1822

10. 

    Is it Karl Wallinger's birthday today? It is! Happy birthday, Karl! He is the (quite badly cropped) mastermind behind which band?

    1. World Party

    2. The The

    3. Spear Of Destiny

    4. Thompson Twins

11. 

    Bruce Robinson is adapting for the stage which cult film that he wrote and directed?

    1. The Wicker Man

    2. Don't Look Now

    3. The Breakfast Club

    4. Withnail & I

12. 

    What has the value 6.62607015 multiplied by 10 to the power of -34?

    1. Boltzmann constant

    2. Planck constant

    3. Von Klitzing constant

    4. Stahlman constant

13. 

    Japan Airlines laid on extra flights after concluding that planes were at risk of exceeding their weight limits because they would be carrying what?

    1. A family of elephants being rehoused from a zoo in Osaka to one with more space in Niigata

    2. The touring equipment of Taylor Swift who is shortly starting the Japanese leg of her Eras tour in Yokohama

    3. Sumo wrestlers heading to a sports festival in Amami Oshima

    4. A significant number of very naughty miniature dachshunds

14. 

    Which desperately unpopular and apparently unwatchable eggchasers are now the only northern hemisphere representative and remain the only unbeaten side among the last four at the 2023 Rugby World Cup?

    1. Ireland

    2. France

    3. Wales

    4. England

15. 

    Michael Caine has retired from acting at the grand old age of 90. But who had a hit in 1984 with a song called Michael Caine

    1. Bananarama

    2. The Clash

    3. Madness

    4. Kate Bush

Solutions

1:D - After 84 years, Canada’s public broadcaster announced the termination of its official time signal. Since 5 November 1939, CBC Radio One has broadcast the National Research Council time signal once a day, advising listeners “the beginning of the long dash” would mark the beginning of the hour. But increasing internet distribution means it had become an unreliable way of setting clocks., 2:C - The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had moved to block the deal in April, citing concerns that Microsoft – the maker of the Xbox gaming console – would dominate the nascent cloud gaming market. Last month, however, the watchdog said a revised deal that included selling cloud gaming rights outside Europe to Activision’s French rival Ubisoft had substantially addressed its concerns, indicating the tie-up would be approved., 3:A - The eery racket prompted complaints from locals who said the “bloody annoying” clamour kept them from sleeping until the early hours of Monday morning. The Thursday quiz believes that Halloween is great and there should more all-night spooky noise extravaganzas., 4:A - Espanyol players aimed to raise awareness of stray dogs in Barcelona by taking 11 furry mascots on to the pitch prior to their win over Real Valladolid. They were all very good boys. Winning 2-0. The dogs were well behaved too., 5:B - You can insert your own Mickey Mouse politicians joke here., 6:C - Classified by conservationists as one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world, they have distinctive furry claws and can grow to be bigger than a 10-inch dinner plate., 7:C - “This changes the history of art, and has huge implications for the contemporary art market, and the millions that have been invested in it,” said someone about a signed urinal., 8:B - It was actually a bit of a mess because some people recognised Louis VIII of France as the king of England but eventually everyone agreed to pretend they hadn't done that and Henry III got the top nepo baby job., 9:C - And that's why Tchaikovsky wrote that song about it., 10:A - He "formed" World Party – essentially a solo project – after a stint in the Waterboys., 11:D - The Thursday quiz would happily go and see all of these films adapted for the theatre but please please please let them cast either Richard E Grant or Paul McGann as Uncle Monty in the Withnail & I production., 12:B - A photon's energy is equal to its frequency multiplied by the Planck constant which sounds like lots of quite difficult arithmetic to the Thursday quiz., 13:C - Concern over fuel capacity emerged when staff learned that the passenger lists included sumo wrestlers, who they estimated weighed an average of 120kg – far more than the 70kg average they allow for people., 14:D - The Thursday quiz has no further comment to make, although suspects it won't be able to be this smug about it after South Africa have had their say in Paris on Sunday., 15:C - It got to number 11 in the UK charts and actually featured Michael Caine on it.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun and the quiz has spread some sunshine into your life

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 and things can only get better.