Pricey spices, morse code and a really salty rapper – take the Thursday quiz

This is salt, but can you remember who is who in Salt-N-Pepa? Photograph: unpict/Alamy

The quiz master is away but the moment has been prepared for, and the Thursday quiz and its childish summer of shrinkflation continues. This week’s theme is herbs and spices, but you’ll find the questions range across pop culture, history, sport and pretty much anything that could be tenuously linked to a herb or a spice. At least it isn’t Liz Truss again. Remember, it is just for fun, and since there are fewer questions than usual every answer carries a lot more pressure with it. Guess well!

The Thursday quiz, No 174 – herbs and spices week!

1. 

   Which is the world's most expensive spice (not pictured)?

   1. Juniper berries

   2. Sumac

   3. Saffron

   4. Green Cardamom

2. 

   Who had a hit with the song Jennifer Juniper (not pictured)?

   1. Pete Seeger

   2. Donovan

   3. Tim Buckley

   4. John Smith and the Common Men

3. 

   In football, if you perform a nutmeg, what have you done?

   1. Cheekily chipped a penalty right into the middle of the goal

   2. Fooled an opponent by having your kicking leg crossed behind the back of the standing leg when you strike the ball

   3. Played the ball in between an opponents' legs

   4. Curled a ball into the goal from a distance of over 30 yards

4. Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian", was Byzantine emperor when?

   1. 30-50 AD

   2. 667AD to 686AD

   3. 867AD to 886AD

   4. 1067AD to 106AD

5. 

   Which of these countries claims to have invented the cinnamon roll, and indeed celebrates Cinnamon Roll Day on 4 October each year?

   1. The Netherlands

   2. Sweden

   3. Italy

   4. Syldavia

6. 

   Lavender is a wonderful perennial herb beloved of grandmothers everywhere, but which role did Ian Lavender play in the sitcom Dad's Army?

   1. Private Joe Walker

   2. Private Charles Godfrey

   3. Chief ARP Warden William Hodges

   4. Private Frank Pike

7. 

   Hip-hop act Salt-N-Pepa (not pictured) originally consisted of Deidra Roper as DJ Spinderella, alongside Cheryl James and Sandra Denton as the eponymous condiments. But which was which?

   1. Cheryl James was Salt and Sandra Denton was Pepa

   2. Sandra Denton was Salt and Cheryl James was Pepa

8. 

   The Adventures of Parsley was first broadcast in 1970, and the show was written by Michael Bond and directed by Ivor Wood. But what was the name of Parsley's enthusiastic pet?

   1. Dill the Dog

   2. Dill the Duck

   3. Dill the Donkey

   4. Dill the Dodo

9. 

   The ITV detective series featuring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as the lead characters was called what?

   1. Rosemary & Thyme

   2. Rosemary & Sage

   3. Rosemary & Lavender

   4. Rosemary and the 30-50 feral hogs

10. 

    Cardamom is mostly grown in India and Indonesia, but one country on the other side of the world is one of the world's top three producers of it. Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, wants to know which one …

    1. Grenada

    2. Jamaica

    3. Guatemala

    4. Honduras

11. 

    Which of these is the correct morse code for 'sesame'?

    1. --- . --- .- -- .

    2. ... . ... .- -- .

    3. --- .. --- --.- -- ..

    4. ... .- ... ----. -- .-

12. 

    A famous historical figure is often associated with the Capitulare de villis, a document from about 800AD specifying a list of herbs that should be grown on large estates within their control. Who?

    1. Pope Urban II

    2. Martin Luther

    3. Charlemagne

    4. Ron from Sparks

Solutions

1:C - Apparently because it takes 75,000 saffron flowers to make one pound of saffron spice, 2:B - Apparently according to the lyrics she lives upon the hill and sits very still. Are you sure she is not a pebble, Donovan?, 3:C - The term apparently originates in the late 1800s as being "nutmegged" had become associated with being tricked or conned in the nutmeg export trade. Who knew?, 4:C - They all have great backstories. Apparently this one rose to power, was compelled by emperor Michael III to marry Michael's mistress, but in return was given Michael's sister. Basil obviously thought this all a bit weird, as he had Michael assassinated and took the throne himself, 5:B - The roll is said to have originated in Sweden after the first world war. Both Finland and Sweden celebrate the day, which was invented as a marketing gimmick in 1999, 6:D - "You stupid boy!", 7:A - Push it!, 8:A - He was always chasing after his own tail and barking too much, and was possibly related to a very naughty miniature dachshund, 9:A - Not to be confused with the Rosemary & Sage series which is US-based and features detective Reba Rosemary and FBI Agent Samantha Sage played by SJ Brady and Jill Symes, 10:C - Predictably, this trade has colonialist roots, with British and then German plantation owners cultivating the crop in Guatemala in an attempt to undercut the Indian market , 11:B - You know S is three dots from the SOS signal, so you were halfway there to start with …, 12:C - It was during Charlemagne's era, and is one of the few surviving documents about how estates were managed in the Holy Roman Empire at that time

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had a fun … thyme!

If you really do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers you will have to keep it to yourself, because the quiz master is away. Why not enjoy Juniper by Modern Woman instead? They are great.

Juniper by Modern Woman