Noisy neighbours, nasty plagues and a winning smelly penguin – take the Thursday quiz

1. 

   Which city has become the first in the world to ban outdoor adverts for fossil fuel firms?

   1. Antwerp

   2. The Hague

   3. Leipzig

   4. Metz

2. The shipbuilding firm Harland & Wolff is to go into administration. Where was the company founded by Edward James Harland and Gustav Wilhelm Wolff?

   1. Glasgow

   2. Belfast

   3. Portsmouth

   4. Swansea

3. Which recently re-formed band came to actual blows on stage in Boston this week?

   1. Jane's Addiction

   2. Smashing Pumpkins

   3. Linkin Park

   4. John Smith and the Common Men

4. Who, having once said "Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam", this week launched his own new cryptocurrency business?

   1. Elon Musk

   2. Jeremy Clarkson

   3. Nigel Farage

   4. Donald Trump

5. Residents of the south Wales village of Bettws, near Bridgend, have been blighted with a plague of what (not pictured) …

   1. Wasps

   2. Worms

   3. Flies

   4. Very naughty miniature dachshunds

6. Which Scottish city (not pictured) is stepping in to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games after the original host, the Australian state of Victoria (also not pictured), told everyone they weren't amused and wouldn't play any more?

   1. Dundee

   2. Edinburgh

   3. Aberdeen

   4. Glasgow

7. Madame Tussauds took their waxwork replica of which member of the British royal family to a pub in Peckham to celebrate their 40th birthday?

   1. Prince William

   2. Prince Harry

   3. Catherine, Princess of Wales

   4. Prince Louis

8. It is Nile Rodgers' birthday today. Happy birthday, Nile; le freak, c'est chic! What was the name of the first album by David Bowie that he produced?

   1. Let's Dance

   2. Lodger

   3. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

   4. Never Let Me Down

9. This week's geography question is about Egypt. In which quadrant of Egypt are the pyramids of Giza?

   1. The north-west

   2. The north-east

   3. The south-east

   4. The south-west

10. Which football club has had to pause all the planned concerts at its stadium because of residents complaining about the noise?

    1. Inter Milan

    2. Bayern Munich

    3. Real Madrid

    4. Melchester Rovers

11. A two-month-old baby pygmy hippo has become an internet sensation across Thailand and beyond. What is her name?

    1. Bark-Anurak

    2. Oink-Boonmee

    3. Meow-Chakrii

    4. Moo-Deng

12. GCSE statistics! In a class of children there are six kids whose height is between 140cm and 150cm, 16 kids whose height is between 151cm and 160cm, 21 kids whose height is between 161cm and 170cm, eight kids whose height is between 171cm and 180cm, and one lanky kid everybody bullies because they are 196cm. Which class interval is the mode?

    1. 140 cm to 150cm

    2. 151 cm to 160 cm

    3. 161 cm to 170cm

    4. 171 cm to 180 cm

    5. 196 cm

13. The BBC has announced it has commissioned two new series of which long-dormant beloved children's show?

    1. Balamory

    2. Rentaghost

    3. Grange Hill

    4. Tweenies

14. This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She feels a bit sorry for New Zealand's newly crowned bird of the year, which has been cruelly dubbed a "rare smelly penguin" in some quarters. Which bird?

    1. The Yoiyo

    2. The Poipo

    3. The Hoiho

    4. Derek

15. Which TV show swept the Emmy's, winning approximately 1bn awards at the ceremony this week?

    1. Shōgun

    2. The Bear

    3. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

    4. Fallout

Solutions

1:B - A law passed last week spells the end of publicly and privately funded advertising for petrol and diesel, aviation and cruise ships in the streets of the Dutch city, including on billboards and bus shelters, 2:B - It was as long ago as 1861 when the two got together. The Belfast shipyard built the Titanic and HMS Belfast, and more than 1,500 other ships over the years, 3:A - Veteran singer Perry Farrell punched guitarist Dave Navarro in scenes you hate to see on stage but also kind of enjoy seeing, 4:D - Well, well, well, imagine Donald Trump getting involved in some kind of financial shenanigans, eh?, 5:C - It actually sounds horrible, with residents complaining they can't open doors or windows without flies pouring in. The pub says it's been unable to put food out, and one resident said even putting food down for their dog was a problem, which has really worried the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz in case it happens near her, 6:D - Glasgow previously hosted it in 2014. Edinburgh hosted the games in 1986 and 1970, 7:B - It was Harry's 40th birthday at the weekend, and the waxworks of him and his wife, Meghan, were filmed being poured a pint for no readily apparent reason except to generate the kind of media publicity that the Thursday quiz has been suckered into here, 8:A - Bowie apparently showed Rodgers a picture of Little Richard in a red suit getting into a bright red Cadillac and told him: "That's what I want the album to sound like", 9:B - The pyramids of Giza are in the north-east, on the outskirts of Cairo. You know the old joke: "Why are the pyramids in Egypt? Because they were too heavy to take to the British Museum", 10:C - The Santiago Bernabéu stadium has been there since 1947, suggesting few residents can have moved in without knowing they were living next to one of the world's largest and most famous football stadiums, 11:D - Her fame stems from a TikTok account with 2.5 million followers dedicated to the hippos and other animals at Khao Kheow open zoo in Chonburi, Thailand, and she's gorgeous, 12:C - Yes the mode is the value that appears most frequently in a data set. Well done if you picked this option, you have one point towards your fictitious GCSE statistics qualification. That is Ed Davey taking his fictitious home economics GCSE in the picture, 13:A - What's the story in Balamory, wouldn't you like to know? It isn't clear yet whether Miss Hoolie, Archie et al will also be returning alongside the charming pastel houses of the Scottish harbour village, 14:C - The endangered yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho, is the largest of New Zealand’s mainland penguin species and is distinctive for the pale yellow band of feathers linking the eyes. Its name means “noise shouter” in Māori, 15:A - Apparently it won 18 awards, not 1bn. It just felt like 1bn if you were rooting for any other show

Scores

1. 0 and above.

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