The questions
1 1816 is known as the year without what?
2 Which university is based at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes?
3 Who was the only woman to rule the Habsburg dominions?
4 Which Hitchcock film climaxes at a South Dakota landmark?
5 What national newspaper launched in February and closed in May?
6 Hydrated magnesium silicate is better known as what?
7 “Hilltop” was a 1971 advert for what?
8 Whose assassination sparked off the Great Terror in the USSR?
What links:
9 Haim; Kings of Leon; Bee Gees; Hanson; the Beach Boys?
10 Melange; Soma; Moloko Plus; DMZ; Ephemerol?
11 Caerdydd; Abertawe; Casnewydd; Tyddewi; Llanelwy?
12 John Hannett; Tim Roache; Dave Prentis; Len McCluskey?
13 Oma; Nonna; Abuela; Babushka; Yaya; Mémé?
14 Kingsholm; The Stoop; The Rec; Welford Road; Sixways?
15 Judith Kerr; TS Eliot; Jim Davis; Kathleen Hale?
The answers
1 A summer.
2 Open University.
3 Empress Maria Theresa.
4 North By Northwest (Mount Rushmore).
5 The New Day.
6 Talc/talcum powder.
7 Coca-Cola.
8 Sergei Kirov.
9 Bands with three siblings.
10 Fictional drugs: Dune; Brave New World; Clockwork Orange; Infinite Jest; Scanners.
11 Welsh names of Welsh cities: Cardiff; Swansea; Newport; St Davids; St Asaph.
12 Leaders of UK’s biggest unions: USDAW; GMB; UNISON; Unite.
13 Words for grandma: German; Italian; Spanish; Russian; Greek; French.
14 English Premiership rugby grounds: Gloucester; Harlequins; Bath; Leicester; Worcester.
15 Created fictional cats: Mog; Practical Cats; Garfield; Orlando.
