Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A capital on the Danube

Bratislava sits on the Danube, close to both the Austrian and Hungarian borders, which makes it one of the few capitals within easy day-trip distance of two other countries. It became the capital of an independent Slovakia in 1993, after the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia. For centuries before that, it was known as Pressburg and served as the coronation city of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Naming rights for new elements

Berkelium takes its name from Berkeley, California, home of the university and laboratory where it was first produced in 1949. It belongs to the actinide series and is entirely synthetic - no natural deposits exist. Its symbol, Bk, follows the same two-letter pattern as many other elements, which is exactly why "Be" and "Br" make such tempting wrong answers.

Fairy tales with a sting

Hans Christian Andersen published The Emperor's New Clothes in 1837, and its central trick - two weavers who claim their cloth is invisible to anyone unfit for his position - has outlived the story itself. The tale is often read as a satire of vanity and institutional silence, and "the emperor has no clothes" remains a common shorthand for collective denial. Andersen wrote it alongside other tales that rarely end in simple happily-ever-afters.

The Alps are not confined to one country

The Alps stretch across several countries, including France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany, where they form the country's highest terrain in the south. Germany's Zugspitze is the tallest peak in the German Alps. The range shapes local culture, from skiing and hiking to the transhumance traditions of moving livestock to high pastures in summer.

Two ranges, two very different histories

The Rockies and the Appalachians are the two largest mountain systems in the United States, but they formed in different eras and look nothing alike. The Appalachians are far older and heavily eroded, while the Rockies are younger and sharper. The Andes, sometimes offered as a distractor, run along South America's western edge.