The questions
1 Which 19th-century catastrophe was caused by Phytophthora infestans?
2 Which country house has a Brideshead Restored exhibition?
3 What is Neasden’s BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir?
4 Which ancient poem is recorded on 12 tablets in Akkadian?
5 Rebecca Romero won Olympic medals in which sports?
6 If Arrangement in Grey and Black No 2 was Thomas Carlyle, who was No 1?
7 The ampersand originated as a ligature of which two letters?
8 What is the longest numbered road in the UK?
What links:
9 Burgee; gonfalon; pennon; fanion; colour; ensign?
10 Kid Ory; Tommy Dorsey; Jack Teagarden; Chris Barber; Glenn Miller?
11 Zoey Bartlet; Offred; Robin Griffin; Peggy Olson?
12 St Kilda, Scotland; Tyneham, Dorset; Imber, Wiltshire; Tide Mills, Sussex?
13 G; c; h; k; R (in physics)?
14 Mary; William Donald; Gordon; Charles Lynton?
15 Lacerta vivipara; Anguis fragilis; Lacerta agilis?
The answers
1 Irish potato famine.
2 Castle Howard.
3 Hindu temple.
4 The Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia).
5 Rowing, 2004, and cycling, 2008.
6 Whistler’s Mother (painting).
7 E & T.
8 A1 (410 miles).
9 Types of flag.
10 Jazz trombonists.
11 Elisabeth Moss TV roles: The West Wing; The Handmaid’s Tale; Top Of The Lake; Mad Men.
12 Abandoned communities.
13 Symbols of constants: gravitational; speed of light; Planck; Boltzmann; gas.
14 PM’s middle names: May; Cameron; Brown; Blair.
15 UK lizards: common lizard; slow worm; sand lizard.
