GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

ACROSS

8 ____ Springs, city in New York state noted for its mineral waters (8) 9 ____ Napier, Downton Abbey aristocrat played by Brendan Patricks (6) 10 A lotion applied to the skin to reduce bleeding from minor abrasions (10) 11 Murray, actor and singer noted for the song One Night In Bangkok (4) 12 To speak at length in a vague or trivial manner (6) 14 A wide-sleeved, long loose vestment worn by deacons and bishops (8) 15 A deterioration in health after a temporary improvement (7) 17 An informal term for a prison (7) 20 Evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret (8) 22 Number represented by XC in Roman numerals (6) 24 Large brown seaweed with a tough stalk (4) 25 Having powers above and beyond those of normal people (10) 27 ____ Barber, soap actress who also played a title role in Dempsey And Makepeace (6) 28 Tottenham Hotspur defender who joined Bayern Munich on loan in 2024 (4,4)

DOWN

1 ____ Thomason, actress who plays DS Jenn Townsend in TV crime drama The Bay (6) 2 Liz, comedian and disability rights activist, born in 1972 (4) 3 A ball game played with a cylindrical wooden bat, mainly in schools (8) 4 Nick, singer-songwriter who is lead vocalist of rock band Cutting Crew (3,4) 5 ____ care, maintenance of hygiene relating to teeth (6) 6 Fictional chess prodigy played by Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit (4,6) 7 One who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury (8) 13 An almond-flavoured cream or paste (10) 16 Actor who played Jay Pritchett in TV sitcom Modern Family (2,6) 18 Grassland bird with chestnut markings on its wings, with the binomial name Crex crex (8) 19 A plug for sealing a hole, especially in the neck of a bottle (7) 21 Italian city noted for its annual Calendimaggio festival (6) 23 ____ Valley Police, force that oversees three south east English counties (6) 26 An Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia (4)

SOLUTION TOMORROW