TV figures, chess shenanigans and Shakespeare’s wife – take the Thursday quiz

These chess pieces have questions for you … Photograph: John Robertson/The Guardian

Welcome to the first Thursday quiz of 2025. For those of you new to the feature, every Thursday we set 15 questions that are based on topical events from the week before, mixed with a few questions on general knowledge and pop culture. Think of it like a pub quiz, except it appears at lunchtime in the UK and everybody is meant to be relatively sober. It isn’t entirely serious, and there are always a few jokes along the way. Do let us know how you get on in the comments.

The Thursday quiz, No 191

1. 

   The former US president Jimmy Carter passed away at the weekend aged 100. Of which state was he governor between 1971 and 1975?

   1. Texas

   2. Massachusetts

   3. New Hampshire

   4. Georgia

2. 

   Nasa's Parker spacecraft has made the closest ever pass to what?

   1. The sun

   2. Mercury

   3. Venus

   4. Uranus

3. 

   The chess legend Magnus Carlsen was excluded from one round of the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York for what reason?

   1. He swore at an opponent

   2. His phone went off during a contest

   3. He was wearing the wrong trousers

   4. He brought with him an entourage of 30-50 feral hogs

4. 

   The National Library of Wales has opened a groundbreaking exhibition devoted exclusively to Welsh art, as Wales does not have a national gallery. Where is the National Library of Wales?

   1. Bangor

   2. Aberystwyth

   3. Swansea

   4. Cardiff

5. 

   The former and soon-to-be-again US president Donald Trump has been banging on about the Panama canal. When did it open?

   1. 1814

   2. 1844

   3. 1884

   4. 1914

6. 

   In the latest news from the "'I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces party", Republican book-banning laws in which US state led to a school district briefly removing the Bible from libraries?

   1. Florida

   2. Texas

   3. Georgia

   4. Arizona

7. 

   It's scores on the doors with Swindon’s Diana Dors. This week, to start the year off right, the statue wants to know: if you are playing snooker, how much is it worth to pot the pink?

   1. Four points

   2. Five points

   3. Six points

   4. Seven points

8. 

   It's Karl-Heinz and his opening lines. This week the Thursday quiz imagines the German soccer legend would like you to point out which Quentin Tarantino movie opens with the line: "No, forget it, it's too risky. I'm through doin' that shit."

   1. Reservoir Dogs

   2. Pulp Fiction

   3. Jackie Brown

   4. Logopolis

9. 

   The Gavin and Stacey finale was the most watched thing on British TV on Christmas Day. How many people watched it?

   1. 16.3 million

   2. 12.3 million

   3. 8.3 million

   4. About 1,057 people

10. 

    The nimbys who look after the cottage that Shakespeare's wife (not pictured) was born in are taking legal action against a nearby restaurant, saying it has breached planning permission. But what was Shakespeare's wife called?

    1. Arabella Stuart

    2. Anne Hathaway

    3. Margaret Douglas

    4. Perpugilliam Brown

11. 

    This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, opening her present on Christmas morning. She wants to know in which corner of Nigeria is Lagos …

    1. Lagos is in the south-east of Nigeria

    2. Lagos is in the south-west of Nigeria

    3. Lagos is in the north-east of Nigeria

    4. Lagos is in the north-west of Nigeria

12. 

    And this is Myrtle, a lovely guest dog that the quizmaster met in the pub while writing the quiz. She knows 1,300 members of an endangered species have been released back into the wild on the mountainous island of Deserta Grande near Morocco. Which type of animal?

    1. Snails

    2. Crabs

    3. Bees

    4. Very naughty miniature dachshunds

13. 

    Willem Dafoe, Bill Skarsgård and Lily-Rose Depp (not pictured) are among those starring in a 2024 remake of Nosferatu. But who was the main star of the 1922 silent German Expressionist vampire film Nosferatu directed by FW Murnau?

    1. Max Gülstorff

    2. Max Schreck

    3. Max Orlok

    4. Max Verstappen

14. 

    Given that the Thursday quiz is often written in the pub in haste on a Wednesday evening, it was dismayed to hear that the number of pubs in England and Wales continues to fall. How many are there?

    1. 38,989

    2. 48,989

    3. 58,989

    4. 68,989

15. 

    Who won the battle to be the No 1 single for Christmas in the UK?

    1. Mariah Carey with All I Want for Christmas Is You

    2. Tom Grennan with It Can't Be Christmas

    3. Wham! with Last Christmas

    4. Sparks with Thank God It's Not Christmas

Solutions

1:D - Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, 2:A - It was on a solar mission, and came within 3.8m miles of the sun's surface, experiencing temperatures of up to 982C (1,800F), 3:C - Apparently he wasn't dressed smartly enough for chess bigwigs, 4:B - More than 250 works from well-known artists and from amateurs are being presented there until September, 5:D - After several previous attempts had failed, the US eventually built and opened the canal in 1914. It ceded full control to Panama's government in 1999, 6:B - It was taken off shelves in an effort to comply with a controversial new state law that bans sexually explicit materials in schools, 7:C - It certainly is, unless you are playing in black and white, in which case nobody has a scooby doo, 8:B - The line is said by Pumpkin as he and Honey Bunny work themselves up into robbing the diner, with Honey Bunny uttering the immortal line "Any of you [REDACTED] pricks move, and I'll execute every mother[REDACTED]ing last one of you". And then the fun begins …, 9:B - If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all – that is what the Thursday quiz's mum always taught it, 10:B - Not to be confused with the American actor of the same name, Hathaway was born in 1556 and married Shakespeare in 1582, 11:B - It is a port city and is on the west of Nigeria's Gulf of Guinea coast, 12:A - The Desertas Island land snails had not been recorded for more than 100 years, but after a few were found a zoo breeding programme has helped boost their numbers, and now 1,300 of them have been released in the wild, which sounds like a lot of snails to be honest, 13:B - Born in 1879, his film career lasted from 1920 to 1936, and he was best known for the lead role that bankrupted its production company after it had to pay copyright damages to the Bram Stoker estate because Count Orlok was just too similar to Count Dracula. Presumably the lawyers for the remake have cleared all that up, 14:A - The number of pubs has fallen below 39,000 for the first time, as 412 were demolished or converted for other uses in the year to December, according to an analysis of government figures by the property data company Altus Group, 15:C - It was the second year in a row it had topped the chart, mainly propelled there by streaming, although there was also a 40th-anniversary physical reissue too

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun – let us know how you got on in the comments!

If you 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 are not attempting to factcheck a joke – you can complain about it in the comments below. Why not watch Loveshot by Gia Ford instead?

Loveshot by Gia Ford