CROSSWORD OF THE YEAR
A
ACROSS
1 K-pop band who were made honorary MBEs by King Charles in November (Picture A) (9)
6 Daniel, 2023 BAFTA TV Award Male Performance in a Comedy Programme nominee for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (9)
11 The _, Netherlands garage band who released 2023 album Unknown Affairs (5) 14 Alex, Williams-Mercedes
F1 driver (5)
15 2023 sitcom starring Catherine Tate as Princess Georgiana (5,2,2)
16 Team event at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships won by Hungary men and the Netherlands women respectively (5,4)
17 Manuel, 2016-23 West Ham United midfielder resigned by River Plate (7) 18 Udo, actor who portrayed Adolf Hitler in 2023 Amazon Prime Video series Hunters (4)
19 2023 UK No.2 album by
rapper NF (4)
20 Something decided by
chance (7)
22 London auction house that sold a bottle of Macallan Valerio Adami 60 Year Old for £2,187,500 in November, the most expensive whiskey ever (8) 24 Canadian province that reelected Danielle Smith of the UCP as their premier in 2023 (7)
26 Channel 4 series hosted by Claudia Winkleman featuring Lang Lang and Mika as judges (3,5)
31 and 52 Down Danish cyclist; 2023 Tour de France winner (5,10)
32 City home to 2023-24 La Liga football club
RCD Mallorca (5)
33 Character as which
Charlie Simpson won Series 4 of UTV’s The Masked Singer (5)
34 Character played by
Joe Alwyn in Aneil
Karia’s Hamlet, currently filming (7)
36 British artistic gymnast; winner, with Olivia Smart, of the 15th series of UTV’s Dancing On Ice (4,6)
38 2023-24 Premier League football club managed by Thomas Frank (9) 39 UTV series for which Maxine Peake was a
2023 British Academy Television Awards Leading Actress nominee (4)
42 Emily, Australian Olympic swimming multiple gold medallist; contestant on Paramount+ series The Challenge: World Championship (7)
43 Department of France whose 2023 Ronde de l’_ cycling stage race was won by Frank van den Broek (4)
44 Symbol such as that of green and black with a red triangle adopted by Martinique in 2023 (4)
45 Character played by Jamie Wilkes in a Gregory Doran production of Cymbeline at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2023 (7)
48 and 13 Down BBC TV drama starring Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph (Picture B) (4,5) 49 See 25 Down
50 Thomas Halliday nonfiction book subtitled A World In The Making, Foyles Non-Fiction
Book of the Year 2022, recently published in paperback (10)
53 Maria, Greek singles tennis player; 2023 Guadalajara Open Akron tournament winner (7)
54 Cody, Netherlands midfielder signed by Liverpool on New Year’s Day from PSV (5)
55 and 68 Star of 2023 Netflix film Luther: The Fallen
Sun (5,4)
56 Henrik, author of the play Ghosts, currently playing at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe (5) 58 Wiebke, German contralto who sang Voice of Erda in Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Royal Opera House in 2023 (8) 60 Olivia, American singersongwriter whose studio album Guts was a UK No.1 in September (7)
61 London home of the British Summer
Time series of concerts, including, in 2024,
Andrea Bocelli (4,4)
66 and 57 Down 2023
OMD album (7,9)
68 See 55 70 Home in India of the
Taj Mahal (4)
71 Ed, singer whose album Autumn
Variations was a UK
No.1 in October (7)
74 2006-17 Turkey midfielder appointed manager of TFF First League club Eyupspor in April (4,5)
75 Girl group whose Natalie Appleton sang as Fawn on Series 4 of UTV’s The Masked Singer (3,6)
76 Run The _, annual
Half Marathon and Marathon run in San Antonio, Texas (5)
77 Sebastien, 2023 Rally
Japan winner (5)
78 Late stand-up comedian, first celebrity eliminated from the 2004 opening series of Strictly Come Dancing (5,4)
79 Unmarried women (9) DOWN
1 The _, band whose song Now And Then was belatedly released in November (7)
2 Amanda, 2023 Strictly Come Dancing contestant (9)
3 _ Burruss, US producer
and actress; 2023 Tony
Award nominee for August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson (5)
4 Hearing, such as the
2023 UK Covid-19 _ (7)
5 Brooks, 2023 PGA
Championship winner (6) 6 Bobo in 2023 film comedy The
Retirement Plan (3,7)
7 Anne-Marie, 2023 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress winner for her role as Grace Williams in
Bad Sisters (4)
8 Singer whose About Damn Time was
Record of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards (5)
9 Rickie, US golfer; 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament winner (6)
10 Nickname of the late Barcelona football club manager Terry Venables (2,3)
11 Max, 2023 F1 World Championship winner (10)
12 Infectious disease that saw a worldwide upsurge in 2023 (7)
13 See 48 Across 21 Steven, manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq FC since July (7)
23 Clint, director of forthcoming film
Juror #2 (8)
25 and 49 Across 2023 Cesar Awards Best Foreign Film nominee featuring Woody Harrelson (8,2,7)
27 Channel 4 sitcom starring Sinead Matthews and Leah Brotherhead whose second series was aired in 2023 (11)
28 Nickname of Osvaldo Ardiles, part of the 2024 Tottenham Legends tour celebrating their 1984 UEFA Cup Final win (5)
29 2023 UK chart album by
Freya Ridings (5,6)
30 Band behind 2023 album But Here
We Are (3,8)
31 Toby, actor who played Alan Bates in UTV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office (5)
32 Singer whose album
The Glorification Of Sadness is to be released in 2024 (6,5)
35 2023 studio album by
Kylie Minogue (7) 37 Host of UTV game show
The 1% Club (3,4)
40 US rapper whose 2023 album debut was Weedkiller (8)
41 Lizzy, US singer whose Ceilings was a UK Top 10 single (8)
46 Elizabeth, Candy Montgomery in HBO Max series Love & Death (5) 47 Painter whose 1947 oil Beach Scene, Lancashire, was sold at auction last November for £1.2m (1,1,5)
48 Home of the 2023 Swiss Indoors men’s singles tennis tournament, won by Felix Auger-Aliassime (Picture C) (5)
51 2023 Channel 4 TV series won by Sam Campbell (10)
52 See 31 Across
57 See 66 Across
59 South Korean motor company who announced in 2023 that a new plant will be built in the US to produce flying taxis (7)
62 Restaurant chain whose owner was bought by Zensho Holdings for $621m in June (2,5) 63 Burgh south of Perth, Scotland, whose _ Show was held in August, 2023 at RSBP Loch Leven (7) 64 Les, 2023 Strictly Come
Dancing contestant (6) 65 Film festival whose
77th edition will take place from 14 to 25
May next year (6)
66 The _, comic which celebrated the 70th anniversary of character Minnie the Minx in 2023 (5)
67 Mohammed, India bowler; 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup losing finalist (5)
69 2023 Disney+ series hosted by Keanu Reeves subtitled The Impossible Formula 1 Story (5)
72 Elfyn, Welsh driver; runner-up in the
2023 World Rally Championship (5)
73 Highest adult male voice;
countertenor (4)