# Saturn’s moons, royal songs and sporting politicians – take the Thursday quiz

Questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a few jokes, every Thursday. How will you fare?

The Thursday quiz was all set to announce a massive expansion, which would have, no doubt, generated a huge number of jobs and benefitted the whole economy of the UK. Sadly, despite almost certainly being more profitable than many a faded football club currently languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League, the Thursday quiz has been quite unable to convince the government to also stump up a load of taxpayer cash as part of the deal to regenerate the neighbourhood. So we will just have to stick to the tried and trusted format of 15 topical, general knowledge and pop culture questions laden with a few jokes, however shabby the surroundings are. Let us know how you got in the comments …

## The Thursday quiz, No 201

1. **Who is replacing Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal party in Canada?**
   - **Answer: Dominic LeBlanc**
   - **Explanation:**
     - Dominic LeBlanc is the new leader of the Liberal party.
     - He became the leader in 2024 after a successful campaign against Justin Trudeau.
     - The Canada election was held in 2023.

2. **Which European nation's postal service has said letters can 'do one', and in future it is only going to deliver parcels?**
   - **Answer: Denmark**
   - **Explanation:**
     - PostNord, the postal service of Denmark, said they will cut 1,500 jobs and remove 1,500 red postboxes.
     - They are announcing this because the society's letters are being widely distributed, which is contrary to their expectations.

3. **This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She knows a religious TV channel has been fined £150,000 for giving UK airtime to an evangelist selling which clearly misleading product …?**
   - **Answer: "The Jesuscoin cryptocurrency"**
   - **Explanation:**
     - Willow is a dog, not a product.
     - The Jesuscoin cryptocurrency is a misleading product.
     - The Netflix service contains it.

4. **Art boffins think they have found the only known portrait of Lady Jane Grey, who was bullied into declaring she was queen, lasted less time in post than Liz Truss, and ended up executed within a year. Ooops. Which year did Lady Jane Grey try to claim the throne?**
   - **Answer: 1453**
   - **Explanation:**
     - Lady Jane Grey was tried for her claims to be queen in 1453 and executed four years later.
     - The year she tried to claim the throne is 1453.

5. **BBC boffins, meanwhile, have announced who will be representing the UK at Eurovision this year. Who is it?**
   - **Answer: Happy Mondays**
   - **Explanation:**
     - Happy Mondays is one of the UK's main competing teams.
     - They will be representing the UK at Eurovision.

6. **Talking of music and royalty, you don't get much more pop royalty than Kylie Minogue. Which of her tracks did King Charles III put on his recent playlist claiming to be his favourite songs?**
   - **Answer: The Loco-Motion**
   - **Explanation:**
     - The Loco-Motion is a song by Kylie Minogue that King Charles III put on his recent playlist.
     - The playlist is a humorous response to the public's enquiring behavior about the lyrics.

7. **Which country has suspended a ski jumping coach and an equipment manager after a cheating scandal erupted at the ski jump world championships?**
   - **Answer: Austria**
   - **Explanation:**
     - The Austrian national team suspended a ski jumping coach and equipment manager after a cheating scandal.
     - The team is accusing of modifying suits, which led to the sanctions.

8. **It's scores on the doors with Swindon’s Diana Dors. This week the statue wants to ask you about Olympic judo. How many points do you get awarded for an ippon (一本)?**
   - **Answer: Two points**
   - **Explanation:**
     - An ippon is the judo equivalent of a red card and is a penalty for an incorrect move.
     - The statue is asking about judo points, not points in a soccer game.

9. **It is the anniversary of astronomer William Herschel first having a peek at Uranus through his telescope in 1781, and initially thinking it was a comet. Once he was convinced it was a planet, what did he initially seek to name it?**
   - **Answer: Georgium Sidus**
   - **Explanation:**
     - Georgium Sidus was the name given to the planet when William Herschel first described it.
     - Herschel initially believed it was a comet.

10. **Talking of Uranus, its neighbour Saturn is showing off after astronomers discovered a huge number of previously undiscovered moons of the planet. How many moons do astronomers now think Saturn has?**
    - **Answer: 274**
    - **Explanation:**
      - Saturn now has 274 moons, suggesting a long history of moons.
      - The number is likely because of the large number of moons discovered in recent years.

11. **This week's geography topic is Thailand. Spot the odd one out – which of these countries does NOT border Thailand?**
    - **Answer: Myanmar**
    - **Explanation:**
      - Thailand's borders are with Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
      - The odd country is Myanmar, which does not border Thailand.

12. **It is Neil Sedaka's birthday today. Happy birthday, Neil! Breaking up is hard to do! One of his early hits was written about someone destined to become a star in their own right. Which of these was it?**
    - **Answer: Laura about Laura Nyro**
    - **Explanation:**
      - Laura was one of Neil Sedaka's early hits, written about someone destined to become a star.

13. **A man in which US state has been charged with repeatedly carrying out heists of Lego from Target stores?**
    - **Answer: California**
    - **Explanation:**
      - The man in California has been charged with repeated thefts of Lego from Target stores.

14. **Greenland's centre-right Democrat party became the largest party in its Inatsisartut after the election this week. Leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen (pictured) is a former champion in which sport?**
    - **Answer: Curling**
    - **Explanation:**
      - Curling is a sport played with bobs and stones.

15. **And finally, fashion brand Boohoo is rebranding itself as what?**
    - **Answer: C & A**
    - **Explanation:**
      - C & A is a clothing brand.

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  by Anika instead?
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