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, January 26 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, February 11. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across

10 Colin ---, English crime writer who created Inspector Morse (6)

11 Knockout rugby league cup competition held annually since 1896 (9,3) 12 Small dishes served as hors d’oeuvres in Turkey, Greece and the Middle East (4)

13 The language of a region of north-east Spain, closely related to Spanish and Provençal (7)

14 David ---, Australian cricketer and opening batter (6)

15 Frankie ---, Italian jockey; three-times flat racing Champion Jockey (7)

16 Anthropoid apes inhabiting forests in central west Africa (11)

20 To open the mouth wide

and take in air deeply (4)

21 Port and industrial city in south-west England, on the River Avon (7)

22 Bing ---, American crooner and actor who sang White Christmas in the 1942 film Holiday Inn (6)

23 An elasticated corset extending from waist to thigh (6)

25 A crisp, lustrous, plain-weave silk or rayon fabric (7)

27 A period of high

economic growth (4)

28 Harmful or injurious (11) 29 Blake ---, Oscar-winning American film director, screenwriter and producer whose movies include Breakfast At Tiffany’s (7)

32 Hard quartz gemstones consisting of banded chalcedony (6)

35 Horizontal bars attached to the front or rear end of a car (7)

36 Protective layer on the outside of the stems of woody plants (4)

37 Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south-west of Java; a Territory of Australia (5,7)

38 Aidan ---, Irish horse racing trainer who trained Istabraq to three Champion Hurdle victories (6)

Down

1 Of a disease or condition that

gets steadily worse (12)

2 Michael ---, cricketer who first captained England’s

Test side in 1993 (8)

3 A projectile that can be observed when in flight by the burning of chemical substances in its base (6)

4 --- Morrison, the prime minister of Australia

2018-22 (5)

5 A circular or leaflet sent by post to a large group of people at one time (8)

6 American big band musician and bandleader who received RCA’s first gold record award for his Chattanooga Choo Choo (5,6) 7 To bite or chew constantly so as to wear away little by little (4)

8 A floor or wall finish made by setting marble or stone chips into a layer of mortar and polishing the surface (8)

9 A person who is

easily deceived (4)

17 The capital city

of Ghana (5)

18 Pieces of decorative needlework, often incorporating a picture or pattern (12)

19 Native American chief who led the Sioux tribes against the US Army in the Great Sioux War (7,4) 21 Freshwater cyprinid fish with a compressed body covered in silvery scales (5)

24 The length of time that something lasts or continues (8)

26 A piece broken off

or detached (8)

27 Ray ---, American writer whose works include the novel Fahrenheit 451 (8) 30 An absolute or

tyrannical ruler (6)

31 --- of burden, animal such as a donkey or ox, used for carrying loads (5)

33 The --- Life, 1970s sitcom starring Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal (4)

34 Any of the four sets in a

pack of playing cards (4)