Royal arms, traffic jams and plastic bans – take the Thursday quiz

A traffic jam during early evening congestion on an LA freeway, but which is the most congested city in Europe? Photograph: Dan Chung/The Guardian

Welcome once again to the Guardian Thursday quiz, a test of the little grey cells and how much useless information they have retained from the week’s news, as well as a smattering of general knowledge and pop culture questions. It is like a pub quiz, but without any feedback from the mic or drunk heckling about the answers in the background. Although we do sometimes get that in the comments. We hope you enjoy it – and let us know how you get on …

The Thursday quiz, No 192

1. 

   Justin Trudeau (pictured) is to step down as prime minister of Canada. When did he first take up the role?

   1. 2013

   2. 2015

   3. 2017

   4. 2019

2. 

   Which royal family (not pictured) changed their coat of arms this week, and what did they alter?

   1. The king of Denmark added a larger polar bear and ram

   2. The king of Spain removed an allusion to bull-fighting

   3. The king of Sweden added a bear and a herring

   4. The king of Syldavia added a very naughty miniature dachshund

3. 

   Which city has been announced as Europe's most congested, with drivers sitting in traffic an average 101 hours last year?

   1. London

   2. Rome

   3. Paris

   4. Madrid

4. 

   Which country, a leading destination for plastic waste produced in Europe, has introduced a ban on its import this month?

   1. Singapore

   2. Thailand

   3. Papua New Guinea

   4. Malaysia

5. 

   Residents on a Nottinghamshire road in Beeston have been left perplexed as to why what keeps appearing there?

   1. Boxes and boxes of shoes

   2. Plates of peeled bananas

   3. Small piles of carefully balanced stones

   4. Chris Martin falling through a trapdoor

6. 

   Which Conservative party political figure sparked much mirth last week by insisting on LBC radio that they had visited and seen a wall built by Italian authorities on Italy's non-existent land border with Turkey

   1. Short-term prime minister Liz Truss

   2. Former education secretary Gavin Williamson

   3. Former home secretary Suella Braverman

   4. Reality TV wannabe Jacob Rees-Mogg

7. 

   This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, looking pensive because she has forgotten what symbol appears on the flag of Ghana. What is it?

   1. One black star

   2. Two red stars

   3. Three green stars

   4. Four gold stars

8. 

   On Tuesday Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook's parent company Meta is going to get rid of …

   1. The angry reaction emoji

   2. Marketplace

   3. Factcheckers

   4. Nick Clegg

9. 

   Brigitte Bardot has joined a petition to save the life of an adorable orphaned wild boar (not the actual one in the picture) who is threatened with death by the authorities in Aube, eastern France. What is the boar's food-related name?

   1. Soufflé

   2. Gougère

   3. Brandade

   4. Rillette

10. 

    What is the name of the Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls documentary about staging a Shakespeare play inside the world of Grand Theft Auto?

    1. Grand Theft Macbeth

    2. Grand Theft Othello

    3. Grand Theft Hamlet

    4. Grand Theft Henry VI, Part III

11. 

    Which British drama school (not pictured) has announced that due to funding constraints it will not be accepting new people on to undergraduate courses in 2025?

    1. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

    2. Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

    3. Bristol Old Vic

    4. The Ronald Mael Theatrical School of Performance Art

12. 

    It's scores on the doors with Swindon’s Diana Dors! This week the statue wants to ask you about taekwondo, a sport people suddenly become expert on once every four years. How many points do you get in taekwondo for a valid kick to the head?

    1. Two points

    2. Three points

    3. Four points

    4. Five points

13. 

    It's Karl-Heinz and his opening lines! This week the Thursday quiz imagines the German soccer legend wants you to tell him which film starts with the line "Next subject, Kowalski, Leon, engineer, waste disposal"?

    1. Blade Runner

    2. Total Recall

    3. The Fifth Element

    4. Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings

14. 

    Child darts protege Luke Littler won the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. Who did he beat in the final?

    1. Jeffrey de Graaf

    2. Wessel Nijman

    3. Michael van Gerwen

    4. Graff Vynda-K

15. 

    And finally, which legendary artist has done a bit of the Hokey Cokey and flipped from announcing they were pulling out of headlining Glastonbury to confirming they actually would be headlining Glastonbury after all?

    1. Bob Dylan

    2. Van Morrison

    3. Neil Young

    4. Kate Bush

Solutions

1:B - He has been PM for nearly a decade, and his predecessor, Stephen Harper, lasted a similar amount of time, meaning that bizarrely thanks to Conservative party leadership shenanigans, the UK has had approximately 1,057 prime ministers over the same period, 2:A - It is intended to give greater prominence to Greenland and the Faroe Islands within the kingdom of Denmark, 3:A - Lucky old London, 4:B - Thai customs officials said more than 1.1m tonnes of plastic scraps were imported between 2018 and 2021, with Japan being one of the biggest sources, 5:B - The bananas – about 15 to 20 are left each time – are placed on a plate opposite a church, 6:C - It was Braverman, but maybe, since last week the Thursday quiz got the capital of Nigeria wrong in a question, it should refrain from throwing stones in this particular greenhouse, 7:A - The flag of Ghana is a horizontal triband of red, gold, and green with a black five-pointed star in the middle of the gold stripe, and that is why their men's football team is known as the Black Stars, 8:C - He said Meta will get rid of factcheckers, “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship”, and recommend more political content on its platforms. It was last week that the UK's former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg headed for the lucrative door at Meta marked exit, 9:D - Yes, somewhat oddly she is named after a type of potted meat. A bit like adopting a chicken and then calling it KFC, 10:C - It is Hamlet that they make happen inside the game, a play on the play's structure which includes a play-within-a-play, 11:C - Alumni include Patrick Stewart, Daniel Day-Lewis and Olivia Colman, but there will be no class of 2025 as it works towards creating what it described as "a long-term sustainable future", 12:B - You get three points for a valid kick to the head. If you put a bit of spin on it, you can score five points for a valid turning kick to the head. Make sure you do it in the competition area though, in other places you can get sent down for three months for delivering a kick to the head, even with a valid reason, 13:A - Kowalski is about to undergo a Voight-Kampff test, and then the fun begins …, 14:C - A man who a few years ago won nine of the 10 major titles got absolutely demolished by the 17-year-old, 15:C - He said he had received “an error in information” which led to him announcing he wasn't going to do it. He's 79, you know

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 Dissolution by the Young Knives instead?

Dissolution by the Young Knives