Friday quiz · week 41 · the news of 2–8 October
Friday quiz, week 41, 2026: the week's news, with answers
20 questions on the news of 2–8 October, with four options each. Read them here, or play them with the room: the question on a shared screen and everyone answering on their own phone. The answers are at the bottom of the page, behind a click.
Play this one as host →Free · no account · everyone answers on their own phone
The questions
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Sport
Lionel Messi said goodbye to Argentina's national team on Tuesday at a packed Monumental in Buenos Aires. Who were the opponents?
- A Brazil
- B Spain
- C Norway
- D Benin
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Sport
Sunday's Formula 1 race was officially the Bahrain Grand Prix. In which country did the cars actually line up on the grid?
- A Bahrain
- B Saudi Arabia
- C Malaysia
- D Norway
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Sport
The Tour de France was founded in 1903 to boost sales of something. What?
- A Bicycles
- B A newspaper
- C Car tyres
- D Chocolate
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Sport
Eliud Kipchoge ran the marathon distance in under two hours at a specially staged event in 2019. In which city?
- A Vienna
- B London
- C Berlin
- D Monza
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Entertainment and celebrities
The thriller Verity, starring Anne Hathaway, topped the US box office last weekend. Who wrote the novel it is based on?
- A Stephen King
- B Jo Nesbø
- C Colleen Hoover
- D Agatha Christie
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Entertainment and celebrities
Hollywood got a new giant on Tuesday when Paramount swallowed Warner Bros. Discovery. What is the new company called?
- A Warnermount
- B ParaWarner
- C Skydance
- D HBO Max
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Entertainment and celebrities
Which bear got his very first book on 14 October 1926?
- A Winnie-the-Pooh
- B Paddington
- C Baloo
- D Rupert Bear
-
Entertainment and celebrities
Which company launched World of Warcraft on 23 November 2004?
- A Funcom
- B Riot Games
- C Blizzard
- D Valve
-
World news
Saudi Arabia is shelving one of its stadiums for the 2034 World Cup. Where was it supposed to be?
- A 350 metres above ground
- B On the floor of the Red Sea
- C On top of a pyramid
- D Inside a giant oasis
-
World news
A medieval ruler who died in 1014 finally came home this week after 60 years of negotiations. Which country got Tsar Samuel back?
- A Romania
- B Switzerland
- C Bulgaria
- D Serbia
-
World news
Argentina wants to sell citizenship to wealthy foreigners. What does it cost as a payment you never get back?
- A 3,500 dollars
- B 350,000 dollars
- C 35 million dollars
- D A signed Messi scarf
-
World news
South Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011. What record does it hold as of 2026?
- A World's smallest state
- B World's oldest state
- C World's longest state
- D World's newest state
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Science and technology
This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine went to a method for switching nerve cells on and off. Using what?
- A Sound
- B Magnets
- C Light
- D Coffee
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Science and technology
The physics prize went to the man behind IceCube, a cubic-kilometre detector that catches 'ghost particles'. Where is it?
- A In the ice at the South Pole
- B On the far side of the Moon
- C Under the Eiffel Tower
- D At the bottom of the Mariana Trench
-
Science and technology
The first ISS module, Zarya, launched in 1998. What does the name mean?
- A Sunrise
- B Star
- C Peace
- D Tomorrow
-
Science and technology
The world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela, is named after whom?
- A An American aviator
- B An angel from a legend
- C A Venezuelan president
- D A Spanish missionary
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Odd news
A famous lava sea arch in Hawaii has collapsed into the Pacific. Roughly how old was it?
- A 55 years
- B 550 years
- C 5,500 years
- D 55,000 years
-
Odd news
The very first YouTube video was uploaded on 23 April 2005. Which animals appear in it?
- A Elephants
- B Cats
- C Penguins
- D Giraffes
-
Odd news
The world's first webcam was set up at the University of Cambridge in 1991. What did it film?
- A An aquarium
- B A coffee pot
- C A car park
- D A cat
-
Odd news
The Ig Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1991. Who is it named after?
- A A fictional cousin of Nobel
- B Alfred Nobel's dog
- C A Swedish comedian
- D Nobel's grandchild
The answers
The answers are at the bottom, so you can read the questions without seeing them.
Show the answers
- D. Benin Argentina beat Benin 3–0. Messi scored a penalty and set up two goals – cap number 208 and goal number 126.
- C. Malaysia Unrest in the Middle East moved the Bahrain race to Sepang in Malaysia. Max Verstappen won in the rain – his first win of 2026.
- B. A newspaper The newspaper L'Auto created the race to sell more copies – and Maurice Garin won the first one.
- A. Vienna 1:59:40 in Vienna – but with rotating pacers and bike-delivered drinks it doesn't count as a record.
- C. Colleen Hoover Colleen Hoover published Verity in 2018. The film opened with about 32 million dollars in North America.
- C. Skydance The 110-billion-dollar deal puts HBO, CNN, CBS and Paramount under one roof – and the name became Skydance.
- A. Winnie-the-Pooh A. A. Milne's Pooh sold 150,000 copies before the year was out. Honey for everyone.
- C. Blizzard Blizzard released it on the Warcraft series' tenth anniversary. Many said goodbye to sleep.
- A. 350 metres above ground The stadium was to hang 350 metres above the ground in The Line, a planned city of glass and steel. The city has been deprioritised, and now the stadium goes too.
- C. Bulgaria The remains were found in Greece in 1965, and Bulgaria has tried to bring them home ever since. Greece got almost 50 church relics back in return.
- B. 350,000 dollars 350,000 dollars straight to the treasury, or an 800,000-dollar government bond. It is South America's first scheme of its kind.
- D. World's newest state As of 2026 South Sudan is the newest widely recognised state – the youngest in the UN class.
- C. Light Optogenetics uses a light-sensitive protein from a green alga. The prize is shared by Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel.
- A. In the ice at the South Pole Francis Halzen proposed in 1988 to use the clear ice under the South Pole as a detector. IceCube was completed in 2011.
- A. Sunrise Zarya is Russian for sunrise – fitting for a station that sees about 15 of them a day.
- A. An American aviator Jimmie Angel flew over the falls in 1933 – no angels involved.
- B. 550 years The Hōlei Sea Arch was formed by lava about 550 years ago. It fell while the park was closed for storm Nolo, so nobody saw it happen.
- A. Elephants 19 seconds in front of the elephants at San Diego Zoo, with a remark about their long trunks.
- B. A coffee pot It showed whether the pot was empty – so nobody walked over for nothing.
- A. A fictional cousin of Nobel Ignatius Nobel does not exist – and the name is a pun on 'ignoble'.
Published 9 October 2026 · a new quiz every Friday