The questions
1 Who wrote the UK’s three bestselling books of the last decade?
2 Which footballer was known as the non-flying Dutchman?
3 What was last held in London in the winter of 1814?
4 Which seabird is named from a French form of William?
5 Eileen Collins was the first woman to command what craft?
6 What starts with H and ends in Og?
7 A rock off County Cork is the midpoint of which yacht race?
8 Where did pilgrims eat on the Street of Bad Cooking?
What links:
9 Angus/Laura; Bernard/Lydia; Carrie/Hamish; Charles/Henrietta; Gareth?
10 Cardiac; smooth; skeletal?
11 Ain’t Misbehavin’; Blueberry Hill; The Twist; Praise You?
12 Pie; Oreo; Nougat; Marshmallow; Lollipop; Cupcake?
13 Sirius; Canopus; Rigil Kentaurus; Arcturus; Vega?
14 Buckingham; Regent’s; BPP; Arden?
15 Portugal; South Korea; Ghana; Egypt; Peru?
The answers
1 EL James (Fifty Shades trilogy).
2 Dennis Bergkamp.
3 Frost fair on the Thames.
4 Guillemot (Guillaume).
5 Space shuttle (Columbia, 1999).
6 Periodic table (hydrogen and oganesson).
7 Fastnet race.
8 Medieval Jerusalem (Rue de Malquisinat).
9 The titular four weddings a funeral, in the 1994 film.
10 Types of muscle in the human body.
11 Hits for stoutly-named musicians: Fats Waller; Fats Domino; Chubby Checker; Fatboy Slim.
12 Versions of the Android smartphone operating system.
13 Brightest stars in the night sky.
14 Private universities in Britain.
15 Home countries of recent UN secretaries general: António Guterres; Ban Ki-moon; Kofi Annan; Boutros Boutros-Ghali; Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.
