The questions
1 Who opened a Fossil Depot in Lyme Regis in 1826?
2 Which galaxy is on a collision course with the Milky Way?
3 Which creatures make up a fifth of all mammal species?
4 Which sci-fi writer was the first person in Europe to buy a Mac computer?
5 What machine gun was named after a Czech city and London suburb?
6 At 410 miles, what is the UK’s longest road?
7 Which band did Quincy Jones call “the worst musicians in the world”?
8 Notker the Stammerer was an early biographer of which emperor?
What links:
9 Derwent, Derbyshire in 1944; Capel Celyn, Gwynedd in 1965?
10 Observatory Circle resident; reclusive New Hampshire author; Tim Martin’s pubs; Wardle and Makin’s shops?
11 Mijaín López (5); Vincent Hancock, Katie Ledecky, Carl Lewis and Michael Phelps (4)?
12 Cassandra in Troy; Martha Mitchell in Washington DC?
13 Annoy; computer glitch; minor illness; small insect; spying device?
14 Behind the Candelabra; Green Book, Impromptu; Ray; Rocketman; Shine?
15 French butterfly; German chess knight; H2O; Pulp singer; Restoration monarch?
The answers
1 Mary Anning.
2 Andromeda (in about 4.5bn years).
3 Bats.
4 Douglas Adams (Stephen Fry was the second).
5 Bren gun (Brno and Enfield).
6 A1.
7 The Beatles.
8 Charlemagne.
9 Villages “drowned” to create reservoirs.
10 JD: JD Vance; JD Salinger; JD Wetherspoon; JD Sports.
11 Consecutive golds by modern Olympians in one event: Greco-Roman wrestling; skeet; 800m freestyle; long jump and 200m medley.
12 Warnings/prophecies not believed: Trojan priestess in Greek myth; Watergate conspiracy.
13 Various definitions of bug.
14 Films about pianists: Liberace; Don Shirley; Chopin; Ray Charles; Elton John; David Helfgott.
15 Types of spaniel: Papillon; Springer; Water; (Jarvis) Cocker; King Charles (II).
