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Once upon a time the Thursday quiz got into a spat online with someone complaining that featuring the official dog of the quiz was irksome and twee. Look away now, sir – because it’s one of everybody’s favourite weeks of the year: Willow week! Our adorable but very naughty miniature dachshund has 15 vaguely topical and general knowledge questions in store, each accompanied by a cute picture of herself. There are no prizes, but you can let us know how you got on in the comments. Allons-y!
The Thursday news quiz, No 221 – Willow week!
- 1.This is Willow, the official dog of the Guardian Thursday quiz, who is asking all the questions this week. She wants to know who won Ireland's presidential election …
- 2.The former Labour leader and independent MP Jeremy Corbyn is to appear in a local pantomime. Willow wants to know who he will be playing …
- 3.Willow knows that a German firm whose furniture lift was used in the recent Louvre heist launched a cheeky ad campaign based on it. Which firm?
- 4.Willow and the Thursday quiz were devastated to lose Dave Ball of pioneering electronic duo Soft Cell last week. What was the name of the fictional club that was the setting for the band's classic Say Hello, Wave Goodbye?
- 5.Willow deserves her own statue, and here she is posing for it. But who will be immortalised in bronze in London's Leicester Square shortly?
- 6.Willow was shocked to discover the International Skating Union is investigating after two Chinese ice dancers were shown with what during a grand prix figure skating event?
- 7.Willow is hiding because she misheard about a new law in California that will allow year-round hunting and killing from next year, and thought it was about very naughty miniature dachshunds. What will people be allowed to hunt?
- 8.Willow is staring into the mid-distance here because she just heard that students at eight schools in Queensland had been taught the wrong topic for their final year 12 history exam due to bungling teachers. What should they have been studying?
- 9.The poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has sent Willow into a sulk by writing a poem about what instead of about her?
- 10.Here is Willow with her favourite Pokémon, Quaxly and Charmander. The three of them want to know who is sharing a posthumous byline with Roger Hargreaves on two new Mr Men and Little Miss books?
- 11.Willow knows that the Washington DC resident Sam O’Hara has filed a lawsuit alleging that his constitutional rights were violated when he was detained after doing what … ?
- 12.Here is Willow with her science fiction comics. She was sad to hear that June Lockhart, who starred in Lassie, had died. Lockhart also starred in Lost in Space. As whom?
- 13.Willow is quite suspicious of fruit, but at least – unlike a 13-year-old boy in New Zealand who had to have surgery as a result – she hasn't swallowed what?
- 14.Here is Willow recording her podcast. She loves technology. Remind her what reason Amazon gave for the massive AWS outage that crippled bits of the internet recently?
- 15.And finally … here is a bonus picture of Willow when she was a puppy. She is sad that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman are leaving Strictly. When did Strictly Come Dancing first hit our screens?
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 remember Dave Ball by watching Bedsitter instead?
