The questions
1 Where does the Yule Cat devour people who don’t have new clothes?
2 Who successfully answered the radio advert: “Astronauts wanted, no experience required”?
3 Which story popularised the eating of turkey at Christmas?
4 Who signed his letters to Queen Elizabeth I as “007”?
5 What is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust?
6 Which Olympic athletics record is still standing from 1968?
7 Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur is the smallest of which order of mammals?
8 Where do the Rockettes dance each Christmas?
What links:
9 Alps in Slovenia; dates after 45BC; month of Quintilis; 42% of English births?
10 Taylor Swift; Friedrich Heyser; John Everett Millais?
11 Killed Baldr in Norse myth; Harry Potter’s wand; annual commemoration of Parnell?
12 MLA; MP; MS; MSP?
13 Stan Laurel; Mick McCarthy; Paul Raymond; Martin Sixsmith; Tony Wilson?
14 M (3); V (6); E (8); M (13); J (43); S (80); U (160); N (240)?
15 Ballgames; carpet tiles; gold chains; David Bowie LPs; Trevor Francis tracksuits?
The answers
1 Iceland.
2 Helen Sharman (first Briton in space).
3 Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
4 John Dee.
5 Aluminium
6 Long jump (Bob Beamon).
7 Primate.
8 New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
9 Named/renamed after Julius Caesar: Julian Alps; Julian calendar; July; by caesarean section.
10 Inspired by Ophelia: Fate of O song; their O paintings inspired video and album cover.
11 Festive plants: mistletoe; holly (made of); ivy (day).
12 Abbreviations for elected members: Member of the Legislative Assembly, Northern Ireland; Member of Parliament; Member of the Senedd, Wales; Member of the Scottish Parliament.
13 Played in films by Steve Coogan.
14 Planets (approximate number of minutes for sunlight to reach).
15 For sale in Hooky Street (Only Fools and Horses closing song).
