THE PRIZE CROSSWORD

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, September 22 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, October 8. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across

1 Market town in Derbyshire, England, home to a famous 14th-Century church with a twisted spire (12)

8 and 33 Down The capital of

Trinidad and Tobago (4,2,5) 11 The name of Augustus, founder of the Roman Empire, before he became emperor (8)

12 and 37 Japanese tennis player who has won four Grand Slam singles titles (5,5)

13 Simon ---, UK cabinet secretary and head of the home civil service since 2020 (4)

14 A military body with a

specific function (5)

15 American writer who is the world’s bestselling living author (8,5)

17 A noble or gracious act, especially a meaningless one (4,5)

19 A sturdy, short,

vertical post (7)

23 Loch ---, lake in the

Great Glen of Northern Scotland (4)

24 Plant of the genus Aquilegia, the flowers of which have five spurred petals (9)

25 Speed of movement, especially of walking or running (4)

26 Small, delicate stalks growing at a flower’s centre and bearing anthers in which pollen is produced (7) 28 Official documents issued by a government, allowing individuals to travel abroad (9)

31 Italian fashion designer who

died in Florida in 1997 (6,7) 34 A soft, fine-grained, white

sedimentary rock (5)

36 Racing toboggan on which

riders lie on their backs (4) 37 See 12

38 Able to fulfil a need or requirement without being abundant (8)

39 Something handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor (6) 40 French co-creator of the

Asterix comic series (4,8)

Down

2 In classical mythology, a son of King Priam of Troy, who was killed by Achilles (6)

3 Inland port in Gloucestershire, on the River Severn (9)

4 and 30 Children’s writer who created Noddy and the Famous Five (4,6)

5 Soft, membranous gap between the bones of the skull in a baby (10)

6 A feeling of listlessness and general dissatisfaction resulting from lack of activity or excitement (5)

7 A shape or picture

drawn aimlessly (6)

8 Composure or

dignity of manner (5)

9 A musical performance

by a soloist (7) 10 The branch of medicine concerned with pregnancy and childbirth (10)

16 King murdered by Macbeth in the tragedy by William Shakespeare (6)

18 Port and resort in West Florida, on a bay of the same name (5)

20 Feline mammal with a dark-spotted coat, native to Central and South America (6)

21 A machine that rotates very quickly to separate liquids from solids or dispersions of one liquid in another (10)

22 Island in the Firth of

Clyde, colloquially known as ‘Paddy’s Milestone’ (5,5)

25 Asiatic tree, the leaves of which yield a heavy fragrant oil (9)

27 Nelson ---, the president of South

Africa 1994-99 (7)

29 To restore something damaged or broken to good condition or working order (6)

30 See 4

32 Hard, smooth variety of dentine that makes up a major part of elephant and walrus tusks (5)

33 See 8 Across

35 Small barrels with a capacity of between five and ten gallons (4)