Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A border shaped by history

Poland shares frontiers with seven countries, and the Czech Republic lies to its south-west, along a border that runs through the Sudetes mountain range. That line has shifted repeatedly over the centuries, particularly during the twentieth century, when Central Europe's map was redrawn more than once. Today it is an internal border of the European Union, crossed daily by commuters and freight.

Mozart's busy year

Mozart composed "The Marriage of Figaro" in 1786, and it premiered in Vienna that same year. Its libretto, by Lorenzo Da Ponte, was based on a French play that had been banned in some cities for its satirical bite against the aristocracy. Rossini later wrote his own operatic version of the same story, which is why two famous Figaro operas exist.

When the Mark gave way to the euro

Germany's currency before the euro was the Mark, introduced in 1948 and for decades a symbol of the country's post-war recovery. When euro notes and coins arrived in 2002, the Mark was exchanged at a fixed rate and eventually ceased to be legal tender. The Schilling, by contrast, belonged to Austria, which is why it appears as a tempting wrong answer.

Rosin and the sound of strings

Rosin is a solid resin rubbed onto the bow hair of instruments such as the violin, viola and cello. The slight stickiness it creates lets the bow grip the string and set it vibrating, which is what produces the tone. Without it, the bow tends to slide and the sound becomes thin and glassy.

Pasta with a filling

Ravioli are stuffed pasta parcels, typically filled with cheese, vegetables or meat and sealed between two layers of dough. They belong to a broader Italian tradition of filled pasta that also includes tortellini and agnolotti. Spaghetti and fusilli, by contrast, are shapes rather than stuffings, which is what separates them from ravioli.