Orwell’s coin, brightest stars and lynx on the loose – take the Thursday quiz

One of the things we like to do from time to time at the Thursday quiz is have a themed edition, and every January we enjoy a special numbers week. It’s the same mix of topical news, general knowledge and pop culture questions, but with a twist – every question and answer somehow revolves around numbers, however tenuous. You will soon get the hang of it. Do let us know how you get on in the comments!

The Thursday quiz, No 192 – numbers week

1. How many lynx were on the run in the Scottish Highlands last week?

   1. Two

   2. Three

   3. Four

   4. It is a trick question because the story happened somewhere else in the UK.

2. The Maha Kumbh Mela began in India this week, for the first time in how many years?

   1. 72

   2. 112

   3. 144

   4. It's a trick question. The festival takes place every year.

3. Just Stop Oil sprayed '1.5 is dead' on whose grave this week?

   1. Charles Dickens

   2. Charles Darwin

   3. Charles II

   4. Charles Bronson

4. Lauren Laverne is to step down from her regular radio breakfast slot after six years. She is a broadcaster on which station?

   1. Radio 2

   2. Radio 5 Live

   3. Radio 6 Music

   4. Radio 1,057

5. Spain has announced plans to impose a tax on property bought by non-residents from outside the EU – such as the UK – in an aim to tackle the country's housing crisis. How much did the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, say the tax could be?

   1. Up to 33%

   2. Up to 50%

   3. Up to 75%

   4. Up to 100%

6. It's scores on the doors with Swindon’s Diana Dors. The statue wants to take part in the numbers special too. How many points does a rider score when they win a Speedway heat?

   1. One point

   2. Three points

   3. Five points

   4. Nine points

7. It's Karl-Heinz and his opening lines. This week the Thursday quiz imagines the German soccer legend would like to ask you what number completes the opening line of George Orwell's novel 1984: 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking …?'

   1. Six

   2. Nine

   3. Eleven

   4. Thirteen

8. Talking of George Orwell, the Royal Mint has announced he would be honoured on a coin. Which coin?

   1. 50p

   2. £1

   3. £2

   4. £5

9. It is the unexpected return of 'higher or lower with Tony Yeboah'. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Is its apparent magnitude higher or lower than zero?

   1. Lower than zero – it has an apparent magnitude of -1.46.

   2. Higher than zero – it has an apparent magnitude of 1.46.

10. Chemistry! What is the atomic number of the metal cobalt, which hilariously appears to have got its name from German miners calling it 'goblin ore'?

    1. 27

    2. 47

    3. 67

    4. 87

11. Even more hilariously, last week Liz Truss tried to deflect attention from people repeatedly saying she crashed the economy by sending a legal letter asking Keir Starmer not to say she crashed the economy. That always works. Truss spent 49 days in No 10, building her terrible legacy as prime minister. But for how long was Rishi Sunak prime minister?

    1. 419 days

    2. 519 days

    3. 619 days

    4. 719 days

12. This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz. She wants you to tell her where the book of Numbers fits into the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments.

    1. It is the fourth book, after Leviticus.

    2. It is the fifth book, after Deuteronomy.

    3. It is the sixth book, after Judges.

    4. It's a trick question because variations in the Old Testament across the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches mean it doesn't appear in the same place in all of them

13. Customer service experts Ryanair are calling for a limit on passengers having how many alcoholic drinks at EU airports before boarding flights?

    1. None

    2. One

    3. Two

    4. 30-50

14. In most weeks 'Lazio fire far-right eagle mascot handler over his social media penis posts' would have been a Thursday quiz question shoo-in, but there isn't a number angle, so instead how much is a ridiculous Norwich pizzeria attempting to charge people for pizza with pineapple on it (not pictured)?

    1. £100

    2. £1,000

    3. £10,000

    4. £100,000

15. And finally … who had a UK hit single in 1983 with a song called Numbers?

    1. Soft Cell

    2. Erasure

    3. Kate Bush

    4. Eurythmics

Solutions

1:C - Sadly one of them died after being recaptured, which, experts said, showed how dangerous it had been for the animals to be released into the wild in the first place., 2:C - The rarer grand 'Maha' version of the 12-yearly Kumbh Mela Hindu pilgrimage is expected to draw more than 400 million devotees and will be held over 45 days in Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh., 3:B - Two women were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after the protest at Westminster Abbey in London., 4:C - She has not been presenting the show since August when she announced she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Laverne will move back to a daytime slot when she returns to work., 5:D - Another great Brexit dividend on the cards here, although analysts have suggested the announcement was more about cooling the market than a serious attempt to pass legislation., 6:B - Each heat has four riders and the winner gets three points. There are two points for second, one point for third, and everyone shouts 'loser!' at the person in last place and they score nothing. That is how the quiz remembers it anyway., 7:D - It is intended as a sign that we are in the future – relative to when the novel was published – and that the UK, or Airstrip One as we will discover it is called, has switched to a 24-hour clock. And then the fun begins …, 8:C - A £2 coin bearing the motto 'Big Brother is watching you' will delight conspiracy theorists who think people are being pushed into using digital money for nefarious surveillance purposes., 9:A - By the way the quiz dropped this feature because somebody complained that the rhyme only works if you pronounce his name in the way 90s football commentators did, which wasn't the correct pronunciation, so it was disrespectful. Let us hope nobody notices Karl-Heinz barely rhymes with 'opening lines' …, 10:A - Although it had been used since ancient times to colour things blue, the chemist Georg Brandt of Stockholm proved it was actually a 'new' metal in 1739, according to the Royal Chemistry Society., 11:C - After Liz's 49-day debacle, Rishi Sunak was PM from 25 October 2022 to 5 July 2024. Truss also said this week she will continue to take on media outlets that 'do not like free speech', including the Guardian in that list. To date she is believed to be the first ever former UK prime minister to threaten legal action over someone saying they crashed the economy., 12:A - The Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox versions of the Old Testament do contain different contents, but the first five books do not diverge., 13:C - The airline company, which is in the middle of trying to sue a passenger to recover the costs of having to divert a flight last year, complained: 'During flight delays, passengers are consuming excess alcohol at airports without any limit on purchase or consumption.', 14:A - Pineapple on pizza is an abomination against God, and has been priced accordingly in a publicity stunt by Lupa Pizza in Norwich., 15:A - It was by the duo consisting of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, and was taken from their second album The Art of Falling Apart.

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. Alternatively, why not enjoy The Number One Song in Heaven by Sparks instead?