The questions
1 Preached in 1631, Death’s Duel was whose last sermon?
2 When do US TV advertising rates reach $7m (£5.7m) for a 30-second slot?
3 Which country conducted 17 nuclear tests in Africa?
4 Which diarist was born on 2 April 1967?
5 What is a fer-de-lance?
6 Who is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques?
7 Which singer changed her name after an error in Mersey Beat paper?
8 Which British fabric pattern features a Persian teardrop motif?
What links:
9 Helen Mirren; Golda Rosheuvel; India Amarteifio?
10 Kun; sama; san; sensei; senpai?
11 Bashar al-Assad; Salvador Allende; Hastings Banda; Ewa Kopacz?
12 Bonnybridge, Falkirk, Scotland; Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk; Todmorden, West Yorkshire?
13 Julia by Sandra Newman; Beasts of England by Adam Biles?
14 Tennis (1988); skeleton (2002); rugby and golf (2016)?
15 Dorfman; Lyttelton; Olivier?
The answers
1 John Donne.
2 During the Super Bowl.
3 France (in Algeria).
4 Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole.
5 Snake.
6 King of Saudi Arabia.
7 Cilla Black (originally Cilla White).
8 Paisley.
9 Played Queen Charlotte: Madness of King George; Bridgerton; Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
10 Japanese honorifics.
11 National leaders who practised medicine: Syria; Chile; Malawi; Poland.
12 Locations of celebrated UFO sightings.
13 2023 retelling/sequel to Orwell novels: 1984; Animal Farm.
14 Sports returning to the Olympics.
15 Stages at the National Theatre.
