GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

ACROSS

8 A hairstyle in which hair is gathered at the back and hangs down (8) 9 A young child who is poor

or raggedly dressed (6) 10 Ali, English snooker player,

nicknamed The Captain (6) 11 Without unnecessary extras or providing only the essentials (2-6) 12 Joseph, English clown and pantomimist of the Regency era (8) 13 Comic book character whose alter egos include Scott Lang (3-3) 14 ____ Almond, singer for the band Soft Cell, whose biggest hit was Tainted Love (4) 16 Nikolai, Russian writer noted for his play The Government Inspector (5) 17 ____ William, children’s book series by writer Richmal Crompton (4) 18 A member of the Germanic people who overran Gaul, Spain and North Africa, and sacked Rome in 455 (6) 20 A rough, yellow flour

made from maize (8) 23 The ____, post-apocalyptic TV series starring Pedro Pascal (4,2,2) 24 A language used by Travellers in the UK and Ireland (6) 25 Lee, songwriter and lead singer of the Merseyside rock band The La’s (6) 26 ____ Llewelyn-Bowen, interior designer and presenter of Changing Rooms (8)

DOWN

1 Empty and usually

boastful talk (3,3) 2 Describing conditions affecting the whole body rather than a single organ (8) 3 PAW ____, animated children’s TV series that premiered in 2013 (6) 4 Fictional seat of Lord Emsworth in comic novels by P. G. Wodehouse (9,6) 5 Giant ____, mushroom found in the UK in late summer and autumn (8) 6 The ____, Celtic soul band noted for their album Science & Faith (6) 7 J. P. R., late Welsh rugby union full back born in 1949 (8) 15 Substance obtained from red seaweeds used as a food thickener (4-4) 16 Small orange-red freshwater animal used as pond or aquarium pet (8) 17 ____ Curtis, actress who played Linda Drysdale in 2019 film Knives Out (5,3) 19 Sign on the ____ line, expression meaning ‘to agree formally’ (6) 21 International ____, topsecret organisation in Thunderbirds (6) 22 Mesoamerican people whose rain god was called Tlaloc (6)

SOLUTION TOMORROW