JanIq's Fifth Common Bond Quiz

Answer: Michael Chang

Michael Chang was born in the USA in 1972. His professional career in tennis started in 1987 and stretched until 2003. In 1989 he competed in Paris at the French Open, at the tender age of 17. After three easy victories (one over Pete Sampras), Chang faced in the fourth round the Czech Ivan Lendl, a terrific serve and volley player. In his most memorable match, Chang defeated Lendl in five sets, although experiencing muscle cramps from the third set onwards. A week later, Chang defeated the Swedish Stefan Edberg also in five sets and won the Grand Slam tournament.
All in all, Chang played four Grand Slam finals, but won only his first final. At that time, he was the youngest player ever to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Chang also was instrumental in securing the Davis Cup victory for the USA in 1990.
Lendl (born 1960) won the Australian Open twice, the French Open thrice and the US Open thrice.
Becker (born 1967) won the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon thrice and the US Open once.
Edberg (born 1966) won the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon twice and the US Open twice.

Answer: Minerva

Sylvain de Jong (1868-1928) founded in Antwerp a bicycle company in 1897 under the name Minerva. In 1900 he added motorized bicycles to the assortment, and in 1902 followed the automobiles. Bicycle production halted in 1909 and by 1914 Minerva produced only automobiles.
Minerva cars were especially popular in the UK (where Charles Rolls was one of the main dealers) and in the USA. One source states that the Minerva reached the same quality standard as the Rolls Royce, but was a bit cheaper.
Imperia Automobiles was based in Ličge. It produced automobiles from 1906 until 1948, but the brand name was revived in 2005.
Gillet was another auto company from Belgium. It was founded in 1992 in Gembloux, a small town about 20km south-east of Brussels. The Gillet Vertigo was a hand-built sports car, and one of the fastest overall.
Edran was a small auto company in Leopoldsburg (Belgium), some 70 km east of Antwerp. It was founded in 1984 and produced sports cars.

Answer: Fudge

To make fudge, the basic ingredients are butter, milk and sugar. Mix these three while whisking and heat until above 100°C. Whisk firmly while cooling down. There are plenty of variations, with the addition of chocolate, nuts or dried fruit.
Nougat is made with egg whites and honey. It can be filled with nuts and dried fruits.
Marzipan is made with ground almonds and sugar.
Ganache is a sauce made by heating a mixture of chocolate and cream. It is mainly used to glaze or ice cakes or to enrobe pralines. 

Answer: Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park is a spectacular site of eroded stone amphitheatre shapes. It was a plateau that underwent erosion by wind and water, until there remained a number of high pinnacles in various shades (white to deep red). It is located in the southern part of Utah and was granted the status of a national park in 1923.
Rwenzori Mountains National Park is situated in Uganda, and gained the status of national park in 1991.
Kakadu National Park is situated in the Australian Northern Territory. It was declared a national park in 1979.
Loch Lomond is in Scotland. The full name of the national park created in 2002 is the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

Answer: Victor Laszlo

Humphrey Bogart played Rick Blaine, the owner of a bar in Casablanca in 1941. At one moment, his former beloved Ilsa Lund (role by Ingrid Bergman) walked into the bar, accompanied by her husband Victor Laszlo (played by Paul Henreid), a Czech resistance leader. Conrad Veidt impersonated Major Heinrich Strasser, the SS major trying to track down Victor Laszlo. And finally there was the police inspector Louis Renault (role by Claude Rains), the local underworld captain Signor Ferrari (played by Sydney Greenstreet) and the pickpocket Signor Ugarte (role by Peter Lorre). Ugarte stole papers allowing the bearers to travel all over Europe, including neutral countries as Portugal and Switzerland.

When Ugarte was arrested and died in jail, Rick Blaine decided to offer these papers to Ilsa and Victor, allowing them to travel to the USA and continue the resistance from abroad.

Answer: Cilla Black

Cilla Black (1943-2015) was born as Priscilla White. She started her career in 1963 in Liverpool, and her recording contract was with Brian Epstein, also the manager to the Beatles. Cilla sang mostly covers of numbers by other singer-songwriters. Her first hit in the UK ("Anyone Who Had a Heart") covered a song by Dionne Warwick, while her other number one hit in the UK was a translation of the Italian song "Il mio mondo".
Cilla also had a television career, with a highlight being presenting "Blind Date" from 1985 until 2003.
Petula Clarke (born 1932) was best known for "Downtown" (1964). Sandie Shaw (born 1947) had to wait until 1967 for her greatest hit "Puppet on a String". Conny Froboess (born 1943) was a German singer, with as greatest hit "Zwei kleine Italiener" (1962).

Answer: Draco

Draco is the constellation we were looking for. It contains 14 major stars and is shaped as a serpent or a dragon (hence the name).
Orion contains 7 major stars, of which Rigel is the brightest and thus the best known.
Gemini contains 8 major stars, of which Castor and Pollux are the best known.
Ursa Minor contains 7 stars, with Polaris the best known (as it points to the north and thus is the best way to orient when at night).

Answer: Ann Granger

Patricia Ann Granger was born in 1939. She started working in various embassies before embarking on a writer's career. At first, she published some historical romances under the alias Ann Hulme. Since 1991 she wrote mystery novels in four different series. The Mitchell & Markby series concern crimes solved by Chief Inspector Alan Mitchell and his girlfriend Meredith Markby. Another series revolves around the unemployed amateur sleuth Fran Varady. The Lizzie Martin series was named after a companion of a rich widow in the Nineteenth Century. And then there is the Campbell and Carter series, with Inspector Jess Campbell and her superior, Superintendent Ian Carter.
The main sleuths in the novels by Agatha Christie (1890-1976) were the Belgian ex-policeman Hercule Poirot and the amateur sleuth Miss Jane Marple.
P.D. James (1920-2014) wrote about police commander Adam Dalgliesh.
Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) introduced to us Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford.

Answer: Ronald

Ronald McDonald was the clown advertising for McDonald's, the hamburger chain founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald but transformed into a worldwide conglomerate by Ray Kroc. Ronald McDonald was first named in some radio advertisements in 1963 and appeared on television from 1965 onwards. He also appeared in comic books, in animated movies and in video games.
As a result of a joint effort of hundreds of doctors, the Ronald McDonald persona was retired in 2016, as they found it inapt that a clown character would advertise for the (unhealthy) fast food.
Auguste is a typical clown's name, the dumber and happy-go-lucky antagonist of the sad white-faced clown.
Krusty the Clown is a character in the animated series "The Simpsons".
With Tony I didn't refer to a clown, but to Tony the tiger, mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and other cereals produced by the Kellogg's company.

Answer: Potter

Paulus Potter was the painter we were looking for. His most recognizable work was "The Young Bull" (1647), but he also left us paintings with horses, dogs or even pigs ("Two Pigs in a Sty", 1649). The common bond is Harry Potter (answer 10), and to be more specific characters from Harry's fourth adventure "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". Michael Chang (answer 1) refers to Cho Chang, the girl with whom Harry was briefly in love. Minerva (answer 2) is the first name of the teacher McGonagall, head of Gryffindor (the house to which Harry belongs). Cornelius Fudge (answer 3) was the minister of magic during this adventure. Bryce Canyon (answer 4) refers to Frank Bryce, the muggle (non-magic character) killed at the start of "The Goblet of Fire". Victor Laszlo (answer 5) refers to Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang student with whom Harry had to compete in magical tasks. Black (answer 6) was the family name of Harry's godfather Sirius, who was absent during most of the adventure but provided Harry with some good advice. Draco (answer 7) was the first name of Draco Malfoy, a student from the same year with whom Harry was on loggerheads since they first met. Ann Granger (answer 8) shares her surname with Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of her class and one of Harry's best friends. And Ronald (answer 9) is the name of Harry's best friend Ronald "Ron" Weasley, a true companion throughout all Harry's adventures.