The questions

1 Which US state was once an independent monarchy?
2 What cold spell lasted from circa 1300 to 1850?
3 Which bestselling book series is abbreviated as Acotar?
4 What word meaning haughty comes from the Latin for eyebrow?
5 Which pop compilation series was launched in November 1983?
6 What is the most visited museum in the UK?
7 Who described herself in a 2026 memoir as “the original nepo baby”?
8 Which saint is often depicted writing, with a lion at his feet?
What links:
9 Scotland (7, 10, 12, 14); Rwanda (15); England (the rest)?
10 Checkmate; Job; The Haunted Ballroom; The Rake’s Progress?
11 Mariner 10; Messenger; BepiColombo?
12 Evie and Ossie; Gladstone; Larry; Palmerston?
13 Phil Chisnall; Paul Ince; Thomas McNulty; Michael Owen?
14 Death From Above 1979; Royal Blood; the Black Keys; the Kills; the White Stripes?
15 Inertia (1); acceleration/force (2); action and reaction (3)?

The answers

1 Hawaii (it became the 50th US state in 1959).
2 The Little Ice Age.
3 A Court of Thorns and Roses – the fantasy romance series by American author Sarah J Maas.
4 Supercilious.
5 Now That’s What I Call Music!
6 The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London.
7 Liza Minnelli, in Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!
8 St Jerome.
9 Birthplaces of the Doctor actors in Doctor Who.
10 Ballets choreographed by Ninette de Valois.
11 Missions to explore planet Mercury.
12 Whitehall cats.
13 Played for both Liverpool and Manchester United football teams.
14 Rock duos.
15 The subjects of Newton’s three laws of motion.