The questions
1 According to a 13th-century song, what “is icumen in”?
2 Which bear is classed as a marine mammal?
3 The Maestro Rhythm King was an early form of what device?
4 Whose trousers were censored by North Korean TV earlier this year?
5 Which city hosted the highest-altitude Summer Olympics?
6 What is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere?
7 Who had a brief fling with the Australian surfer Blaine Gordon?
8 Which giant of Russian literature had African ancestry?
9 Who got married on 3 June 1937 at Château de Candé?
10 What is TikTok’s parent company?
11 Which perennial Christmas hit was recorded in the July heat of New York?
12 Which national epic was compiled by the doctor Elias Lönnrot?
13 What waxwork display began as Madame Tussaud’s Separate Room?
14 Half of Scotland’s whisky distilleries are located in which region?
15 Whose ancestral home was Hell Hall?
16 Which confectionary is named after Hans Riegel
and his birthplace, Bonn?
What links:
17 Bob Willis; Robert Allen Zimmerman; Dylan Thomas; Dylan ail Don?
18 Cinnamon; cloves; fennel seeds; pepper; star anise?
19 Singaporean beer; sugared cornflakes; Standard Oil’s petrol?
20 English; Dutch; field; Huntingdon; wych?
21 Ebrahim Raisi; Lech Kaczyński; Cyprien Ntaryamira; Juvénal Habyarimana; Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq?
22 Derby County (formerly); Kilmarnock FC; Wrexham FC?
23 Angela Hewitt; Glenn Gould; Oscar Peterson; Charles Richard-Hamelin?
24 Archery; bungee jump; log flume; paddleboard; rollercoaster; Zumba?
25 Vivian or Nimue; Empress Matilda; Florence Nightingale?
26 Raleigh; Bismarck; Columbia; Pierre; Charleston?
27 Cloak, or responsibility; mourn; of the mind; Wolf Hall?
28 Challenger; Factorian; Litke; Milwaukee; Sunda?
29 Benedict of Nursia; Robert of Molesme; Bruno of Cologne; Francis of Assisi; Dominic of Caleruega?
30 Stray dogs and cats; Only Fools uncle; Chopper’s Blues; Duke of Westminster; Astra car?
The answers
1 Sumer (Summer).
2 Polar bear.
3 Drum machine.
4 Alan Titchmarsh.
5 Mexico City (1968).
6 Titan (Saturn).
7 Barbie.
8 Alexander Pushkin.
9 Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
10 ByteDance.
11 Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody.
12 The Kalevala (Finland).
13 Chamber of Horrors.
14 Speyside.
15 Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians).
16 Haribo.
17 Former named in honour of the next: cricketer Bob Dylan Willis; singer Bob Dylan; poet Dylan Thomas; character in the Mabinogion.
18 Chinese five-spice ingredients.
19 Tiger mascot/branding: Tiger beer; Frosties’ Tony the Tiger; Esso tiger.
20 Elm tree varieties.
21 Presidents who died in plane or helicopter crashes: Iran; Poland; Burundi; Rwanda; Pakistan.
22 Misnomer football stadiums: Baseball Ground; Rugby Park; Racecourse Ground (Y Cae Ras).
23 Canadian pianists.
24 Ed Davey photo ops in the 2024 election campaign.
25 Lady of/with the … : Lady of the Lake in myth; given title Lady of the English; Crimean War’s Lady with the Lamp.
26 Capitals of compass-point US states: North Carolina; North Dakota; South Carolina; South Dakota; West Virginia.
27 Anagrams: mantle; lament; mental; Mantel.
28 Names given to deepest points of oceans: Pacific; Southern; Arctic; Atlantic; Indian.
29 Founders of monastic and mendicant orders: Benedictine; Cistercian; Carthusian; Franciscan; Dominican.
30 Thames bridges, going east: Battersea (animals home); Albert (Trotter); Chelsea (Ron Harris’s team); Grosvenor (family name); Vauxhall (car marque).