h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think these are the unclaimed ones:

5. Desirable barge
7. Engineer obtains auras
9. I await pantie
14. National sieve
16. On a rainy bike

"don't tell me that's obscure. The Paris to Dakar rally is one of the most famous off-road races in the world." [Gnomon]

Obscure to me in particular, or obscure to the world at large? The world at large can go jump off a cliff if it's going to pay much attention to off-road races. But Dakar is not obscure to me, since it turns up fairly often in the crossword puzzles I do.

I'd like to avoid having to feel bad about being interested in things that the rest of the world might not care about.

I didn't mean to offend you, paulh. I was just defending Icy's quiz from your charge of being too obscure.

I never feel bad about being interested in things that the rest of the world might not care about.

9 = Taipei, Taiwan

14 = Vientione, Laos. Not sure of the spelling of this one.

Oh, I mixed up my a's and o's in the anagram. It must be Vientiane.

16 = Nairobi, Kenya

"I never feel bad about being interested in things that the rest of the world might not care about"

We agree on that. Thanks, Gnomon.

I've figured out 5, but only by googling a list of countries and their capitals, so I won't post it. Can I just say it's ex-Warsaw Pact? (I think)

I'm much happier with my approach relating the anagrams to Prince Harry's wedding.

5 = Belgrade, Serbia

Just one to go, then

7. Engineer obtains auras

I can see Nigeria, Tonga and Bosnia in there, but it is none of those. I've also considered Oubangui and Guinea-Bissau as near misses.

I give up. I've gone through all the countries in the world in my head and can't find one that matches. It's either something blindingly obvious or some Pacific island that I've never heard of.

It's the blindingly obvious, unfortunately.

Let Oedipus Rex solve it, then.

7 = Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I'm glad that's over.

The City of Fenwick is the capital of Grand Fenwick.

Maytag is the capital of Erewhon

I need not mention the land of which Emerald City is the capital

Mildendo is the capital of Lilliput