The questions
1 Who were paid for the first time in 1911?
2 What is burned at Shetland’s Up Helly Aa festivals?
3 China’s DJI dominates the world market for what devices?
4 Who unwisely sued the Marquess of Queensberry for libel?
5 Which countries share the longest international border?
6 Ophiuchus is said to be a 13th what?
7 Who is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qur’an?
8 “Songs by Jim Steinman” is on the cover of what 70s album?
What links:
9 Müller-Lyer lines; Rubin’s vase; Jastrow’s duck-rabbit?
10 Natalie Portman; Katie Holmes; Jodi Balfour?
11 House of Fraser; Fayed brothers; Qatar Holdings?
12 Brown; mountain; Irish?
13 Albertine Simonet; Rudolf Rassendyll; Number Six; Sirius Black?
14 Southern Death Cult; Pogue Mahone; Dixie Chicks?
15 Saturn; Ariane; Long March; Falcon?
The answers
1 MPs (officially, at least).
2 Replica Viking longship.
3 Drones (civilian).
4 Oscar Wilde.
5 US and Canada.
6 Sign of the zodiac (serpent bearer).
7 Maryam (Mary, mother of Jesus).
8 Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf.
9 Optical illusions.
10 Played Jackie Kennedy on screen: Jackie; The Kennedys; The Crown.
11 Owners of Harrods (since 1959).
12 Types of hare in the UK.
13 Prisoners: The Prisoner (Proust novel); The Prisoner Of Zenda (Hope novel); Patrick McGoohan (in The Prisoner TV series); The Prisoner Of Azkaban (Rowling Harry Potter novel).
14 Groups that abbreviated their names: the Cult; the Pogues; the Chicks.
15 Space launch systems/rockets: Nasa; ESA; China; SpaceX.
• This article was amended on 17 August 2020 to change the answer to question 12 to refer to “types” of hare in the UK, rather than “species” because the Irish hare is a subspecies of the mountain hare.
