1. 

   Singer. Songwriter. Philanthropist. Icon. We lost Dolly Parton. Which song did she famously also write on the same day that she wrote Jolene?

   1. 9 To 5

   2. Coat of Many Colors

   3. Daddy Come And Get Me

   4. I Will Always Love You

2. 

   Who is having an exhibition at the V&A dedicated to them, titled Splendid Things?

   1. Elton John

   2. Freddie Mercury

   3. George Michael

   4. Ron from Sparks

3. 

   Organisers of the Sydney Marathon admitted an 'unfortunate error' on the finisher’s participation medal. What wrong landmark was mistakenly etched on to the design?

   1. The Eiffel Tower in Paris

   2. The Wembley Stadium arch

   3. The Allianz Arena in Munich

   4. The Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth

4. 

   Stage three of the Vuelta a España had to be abandoned in the French Pyrenees with 15km remaining. What caused race organisers to stop the stage?

   1. A sudden and severe hailstorm

   2. A flash flood washing away the finish line

   3. Protesters blocking the summit pass

   4. 30-50 feral hogs on the road

5. 

   Which leader hit back on Instagram after a cosmetic surgeon offered to 'fix' her appearance on her return from Ukraine?

   1. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen

   2. The prime minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni

   3. The prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen

   4. The former chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel

6. 

   A UK-settled woman was left stranded at an airport in Spain because the Home Office eVisa system suffered a technical glitch. What was the cause of the mix-up?

   1. She shared a full name and birth date with an international fugitive

   2. Her passport photo was mistaken for a young Liz Truss

   3. Her passport had been digitally marked in error that she had been born in the 18th century

   4. Her digital profile was linked to her identical twin sister's details

7. 

   First Bus is introducing a ban for under-16s travelling without an adult after 6pm following a wave of antisocial behaviour. Where?

   1. Aldershot

   2. Gosport

   3. Stoke-on-Trent

   4. Kingston upon Hull

8. 

   It is Glen Matlock's birthday today. Happy birthday Glen! Anarchy! Don't feel pretty vacant today! Which instrument did/does he play in the Sex Pistols?

   1. Lead guitar

   2. Drums

   3. Bass guitar

   4. Kazoo

9. 

   A recent Star Trek episode saw some of the characters replaced by muppets due to a transporter malfunction. In which series?

   1. Star Trek: Lower Decks

   2. Star Trek: To Boldly Go

   3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

   4. Star Trek: May The Force Be With You

10. 

    This week's guest canine is Slinky, who the Thursday quiz met in Gosport when Slinky was very very sleepy. Slinky knows a man was reprimanded after leaving his also sleepy seven-year-old son on the side of a mountain with some snacks and a soft drink while he carried on climbing up it. Where?

    1. Mount Fuji, Japan

    2. Ben Nevis, Scotland

    3. Mount Rigi, Switzerland

    4. Mount Niedzdrow, Syldavia

11. 

    In a completely unworrying development, a humanoid robot (pictured) broke Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint world record by running it in 9.32 seconds at a test event in Beijing. What is its name?

    1. Nimble

    2. Presto

    3. Lightning

    4. T-1000

12. 

    A Maine Coon kitten from Wisconsin (not pictured) has broken a 24-year-old world record for 'the most toes on a cat'. They really will make a record out of anything these days, eh? Anyway, how many toes is the new record?

    1. 29

    2. 32

    3. 35

    4. 39

13. 

    Japan enlisted 1,800 people to drag a 360-tonne castle keep to a new spot using ropes and rollers. Why?

    1. To expand the traditional cemetery that it guards which had become full

    2. Its foundations had been undermined by a huge badger sett

    3. To make room for a new high speed train line

    4. To repair a wall that was damaged in a major earthquake

14. 

    On this day with Brian May! And his badger! 27 August is the anniversary of the most significant eruption of Krakatoa, destroying over 70% of the island and its surrounding archipelago. The Thursday quiz imagines Queen's legendary guitarist wants you to tell him – and his badger – in which year …

    1. 1733

    2. 1783

    3. 1833

    4. 1883

15. 

    And finally … a 15ft reticulated python at Chester Zoo (pictured) made history by becoming the first snake to undergo electrochemotherapy to treat a jaw tumour. Who is the python named after?

    1. Natalie Portman

    2. Jodie Foster

    3. Nicole Kidman

    4. Mollie Sugden

Solutions

1:D - The fact that she could knock out two of the biggest selling and memorable hits of the last few decades in one day makes sitting in the pub late on a Wednesday afternoon banging out 15 quiz questions seem even less impressive than usual. Rest well, Dolly, 2:B - It is being curated by Mercury’s former fiancee and close friend Mary Austin, 3:C - Ooops, 4:A - Nobody wants to cycle through that, do they?, 5:C - She revealed a message that someone had offered to 'fix that little spot on your nose'. Her retort was rightly swift and pointed: 'Oh no. I’m happy with my body – I really don’t need a male plastic surgeon to have an opinion about it!', 6:D - My how she no doubt laughed, 7:C - Presumably the same people complaining about these kids using buses are also complaining that children don't go out and about and play in the streets with freedom like in the olden times and are just stuck at home playing their new-fangled video games, 8:C - Of course, although he got yeeted from the band quite early on and replaced by Sid Vicious, though Matlock plays bass with them again on their current gigs, 9:C - Angel did it first, Angel did it first, 10:A - In the man's slight defence, his other elder son had already gone up ahead when the seven-year-old said he was too tired to continue, putting him in something of a dilemma, 11:C - Developed by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, Lightning also won the Beijing half marathon in April in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the men’s world record, 12:A - Erebus’s unprecedented wealth of toes is evidently attributed to a genetic trait, polydactyly, that causes some cats to be born with extra phalanges, 13:D - In order to preserve the historic structure, a technique known as hikiya – whereby buildings are put on rollers and moved rather than dismantled – was used. It looks like hard work, to be honest, 14:D - The eruption lasted months but the third explosion of that day remains the loudest-known sound in history, 15:B - It is not known how Foster (the human) feels about the situation

Scores

1. 0 and above.

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