The biggest earners in the archive

Some of the answers were huge at the box office, the kind of film that broke records on its way out of cinemas. Here are a couple, by number.

#0042, from 1997, held the title of highest-earning film ever made for more than a decade. Nobody expected a three-hour period romance to manage that, which is part of why it is still talked about.

#0015, from 2015, was the return of a long-dormant space saga, and it broke records on release, reaching a billion dollars faster than any film before it. If the year and the sheer scale point you somewhere very famous, trust the instinct.

Big earners make for a particular kind of puzzle. The box-office clue, usually a helpful nudge, becomes a giveaway once the number is large enough, so these tend to fall earlier than most. Half the skill is noticing when a figure is doing the work for you.