THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
WIN €2,000
There’s an amazing €2,000 prize for the first correct solution drawn at random in our general knowledge Prize Crossword. Entries must arrive by Friday, October 18 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, November 3. you must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRiD for details on how to enter – and good luck!
Across
1 Device used to aid sound and picture synchronisation during the shooting of a film (12) 8 Tall tropical plant of the grass family with hard, hollow stems (6) 11 Keyed woodwind instrument with a cylindrical bore and a single reed (8) 12 Science fiction horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan (5) 13 See 17 14 The largely underground railway system in Paris (5) 15 US politician who ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president (6,7) 17 and 13 London landmark building providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall and Trafalgar Square (9,4) 19 To make a final or supreme effort (2,2,3) 23 A person who is easily deceived (4) 24 A fairground ride consisting of an open gondola which sways a pair of riders back and forth (9) 25 In music, the final part of a fairly long piece which is added in order to finish it off in a pleasing way (4) 26 ––– War, 1853-56 conflict between Russia on one side and an alliance of Turkey, France, Sardinia and Britain on the other (7) 28 Caroline of –––, Queen consort and wife of George IV (9) 31 British Labour MP made shadow chancellor of the exchequer in 2015 (4,9) 34 A backless sofa or couch, designed to be set against a wall (5) 36 A university examination in which a student answers questions verbally (4) 37 The former central administrative department of the Soviet security service, which maintained prisons and labour camps (5) 38 William –––, made British home secretary in 1979 (8) 39 A tract of swampy, low-lying land (6) 40 Comic actor who appeared in The Goon Show and the Pink Panther films (5,7)
Down
2 Dennis –––, Australian cricketer who took 355 wickets in 70 Test matches from 1971-84 (6) 3 Non-migratory, groundnesting game bird (9) 4 Another name for the European sea eagle (4) 5 20th Century American actress who won Oscars for her performances in Dangerous and Jezebel (5,5) 6 The criminal act of intentionally setting fire to another’s property or burning one’s own property for an improper reason (5) 7 Short, stabbing weapon with a pointed blade (6) 8 A port in South East Iraq, on the Shatt-al-Arab river (5) 9 A curve or bend in a river (7) 10 Irish writer and wit who wrote the play The Importance Of Being Earnest (5,5) 16 A Hungarian hunting dog with a smooth, rusty-gold coat (6) 18 Large Asian feline with a tawny yellow coat with black stripes (5) 20 The capital of Canada, in East Ontario (6) 21 An unincorporated territory of the US situated in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean (6,4) 22 Tall, annual plant, usually with bright blue flowers (10) 25 Crimson food colouring, derived from certain insects (9) 27 A state of the Western US, the capital of which is Helena (7) 29 Informally, a cigarette made by hand from loose tobacco and cigarette paper (4-2) 30 A market in a Middle Eastern country (6) 32 Enclosures made with bars or wire, for keeping birds or animals in (5) 33 Strangers In The –––, 1966 N01 single for Frank Sinatra (5) 35 American coin worth 10 cents (4)