Quiz of The Week: 16 - 22 September

Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?

Russell Brand performing on stage
The allegations against comedian Russell Brand, which he denies, have prompted a cultural reckoning
(Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty)

British popular culture has been facing a reckoning this week, amid the growing fallout from sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand.

The Essex-born comedian was a mainstay of the country’s mainstream media in the 2000s, so the continuing spate of claims about him has prompted a re-examination of the cultural excesses of the era – and the celebrity scene in which Brand played a central role.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to the latest news and global events, put your knowledge to the test with our Quiz of The Week.

1. According to a newly published study, British parents increasingly view what as socially acceptable? 

  • Taking schoolchildren on holiday during term time
  • Children swearing in public 
  • Bringing children to work events
  • Accompanying children to festivals

2. A priest was accused of desecration after he set up what in a 600-year-old church in Cornwall?

  • TV display screens
  • Karaoke machine
  • Beer pumps
  • Juke box

3. Who ended Max Verstappen’s 10-race winning streak by claiming victory at the Singapore Grand Prix?

  • Charles Leclerc
  • Lewis Hamilton
  • Lando Norris
  • Carlos Sainz Jr

4. British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful will be replaced by who after stepping down next year?

  • Sarah Harris
  • Mark Holgate
  • Chioma Nnadi
  • Mark Guiducci

5. Which national leader claimed the UN was “losing credibility” as the intergovernmental organisation’s annual assembly kicked off in New York City?

  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 
  • Michael D. Higgin
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Alexander Lukashenko

6. The total number of women on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist is fewer than the tally of male nominees who share which first name? 

  • Paul
  • Jonathan
  • Martin
  • Thomas

7. Newly released Metropolitan Police figures show that one in every how many officers in the force are currently suspended or on restricted duties?

  • 1 in 16 
  • 1 in 25 
  • 1 in 34 
  • 1 in 52 

8. Latest polling suggests that Labour and the Tories are "neck and neck" in the upcoming by-election in which constituency? 

  • Tamworth 
  • Mid Bedfordshire
  • Uxbridge
  • Somerton and Frome

9. Which car company has publicly criticised Rishi Sunak’s decision to delay the UK’s 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars?

  • Aston Martin
  • Rolls-Royce
  • Land Rover
  • Ford 

10. An activist is to be prosecuted for contempt of court for holding up a sign outside the trial of protesters from which climate group?

  • Just Stop Oil
  • Insulate Britain
  • Extinction Rebellion
  • The Climate Coalition

Tile reading: How did you do? Scroll down for this week's answers


1. Taking schoolchildren on holiday during term time
Research by Public First found that parental attitudes to school attendance had undergone a "seismic shift" since the pandemic. According to the consultancy firm, term-time holidays are increasingly viewed as "socially acceptable", as price hikes make summer breaks unaffordable for families hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

2. Beer pumps
Rev Dr Nick Widdows defended the decision to install a mini bar in St Ia's Church ahead of the town’s annual September festival, saying that “this is just part of our way of welcoming all sorts of people into the church”. For more odd new stories, subscribe to our Tall Tales newsletter.

3. Carlos Sainz Jr
The Spanish racing ace claimed victory for Ferrari by narrowly beating his close friend and former McLaren teammate Norris to the finish line in the streets of Singapore on Sunday. Verstappen trailed in fifth position, behind Leclerc and Hamilton. 

4. Chioma Nnadi
Following months of speculation, Condé Nast has confirmed that London-born Nnadi, currently editor of the US Vogue website, will take the reins of the UK magazine from next March. The 44-year-old will be the publication’s first black female editor.

5. Michael D. Higgin
Ireland's president took aim at the UN as political leaders including his taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, gathered in New York for the organisation’s 2023 General Assembly. The annual event got under way on Tuesday with an address from Joe Biden, but the leaders of the other four veto-wielding, permanent members of the UN Security Council – Britain, France, Russia and China – were conspicuously absent.

6. Paul
Paul Harding, Paul Lynch and Paul Murray are among six authors nominated for Britain’s top literary prize. Jonathan Escoffery is also a finalist, with only two women on the shortlist, Sarah Bernstein and Chetna Maroo.

7. 1 in 34 
The Met has a total of around 34,000 officers, 201 of whom are suspended, while 860 are on restricted duties. The London force said that 450 officers were under investigation for alleged sexual or domestic violence, and that 275 were already awaiting gross misconduct hearings, amid a crackdown on rogue officers.

8. Mid Bedfordshire
The Survation poll, commissioned by the Labour Together group, found that the Labour and Conservative candidates for the previously safe Tory seat were level-pegging on 29% each. But pundits said that with the Lib Dems candidate on 22%, a split “progressive” vote could spell victory for the Tories in the October by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of Nadine Dorries.

9. Ford 
The company’s UK chair, Lisa Brankin, said the 2030 target had been a "vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future“. Pushing back the non-electric car ban to 2035 would “undermine” the government’s “ambition, commitment and consistency”, Brankin warned.

10. Insulate Britain
Civil liberties campaigners said the decision to prosecute retired social worker Trudi Warner for holding up a sign allegedly directed at jurors was part of the government's crackdown on the right to protest. Find out more with The Week Unwrapped podcast.

Explore More

Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.