Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The nut behind a classic filling

Frangipane is an almond-based cream used in tarts, galettes and pastries, and its name is often linked to a 16th-century Italian nobleman, Marquis Muzio Frangipani, who is said to have scented his gloves with a bitter-almond perfume. Whether or not the pastry was named after him, the association stuck. In French baking, frangipane usually combines ground almonds, butter, sugar and eggs, sometimes lightened with pastry cream. It is the filling that gives the galette des rois its distinctive texture.

One range, many borders

The Alps form a single mountain system, but they are shared by eight countries, which is why a road trip through the region can cross several languages and cuisines in a day. The chain stretches in a broad arc from the Mediterranean coast to the edge of the Pannonian Basin. Its peaks and passes have long shaped trade, tourism and even military history, from Hannibal's crossing to the tunnels that now carry trains and cars beneath the rock.

A word for the careful collector

A numismatist studies or collects coins, currency and sometimes medals. The word comes from the Latin numisma, meaning coin, and the field overlaps with history, economics and archaeology. Coins are useful to scholars because they carry dates, portraits and symbols that can help pin down political changes and trade routes. The hobby also has a practical side: condition, rarity and provenance can make a single coin extraordinarily valuable.

Chekhov's three sisters

In Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters, the title characters are Olga, Masha and Irina. The drama follows the Prozorov family in a provincial Russian town, where the sisters long to return to Moscow and feel their lives slipping into routine. Chekhov wrote the play in the early 20th century, and it remains a staple of theatre repertoires because its blend of comedy and quiet despair feels remarkably modern.

A river with a long journey

The Danube begins in the Black Forest of Germany and flows east across Central and Southeastern Europe before emptying into the Black Sea. It passes through or borders ten countries, more than any other river in the world, which has made it a historic corridor for trade, empires and migration. Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Belgrade all sit on its banks, and its delta is one of Europe's most important wetland habitats.