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, February 23 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, March 11. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across

10 The action of going through a neighbourhood at regular intervals for security observation (6)

11 Spirits believed to engage in acts of mischief and noise-making (12)

12 A vehicle on runners, for transporting people or goods over snow (4)

13 A hat with the brim folded up against the crown to form three sides (7)

14 Jean-Luc ---, French film director and writer associated with the New Wave of the 1960s (6)

15 General lawlessness and disorder (7)

16 People who show an exceptional interest in or admiration for their own self (11)

20 See 9 Down 21 17th-Century French playwright, real name JeanBaptiste Poquelin (7)

22 The dry dehiscent fruit produced by podbearing plants (6)

23 Black-and-white beagle in the comic strip Peanuts (6)

25 Run away secretly, especially to avoid prosecution or punishment (7)

27 Thomas ---, German-born American political cartoonist who created the Republican Party’s symbol of the elephant (4)

28 Superhero created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G Peter in 1941 for DC Comics (6,5)

29 Skilled worker or craftsperson (7)

32 Lengths of hair or fabric that have been plaited (6)

35 Margaret ---, Labour MP who became Britain’s first female foreign secretary in 2006 (7)

36 Stimulating beverage made from the dried leaves of a South American evergreen tree (4)

37 Janet --- ---, British broadcaster and journalist (6-6)

38 Plant and animal life, as distinct from human beings and their creations (6)

Down

1 American actor who won Academy Awards for Best Actor in 1954 and 1972 (6,6)

2 --- X, King of Denmark who acceded in January 2024 (8)

3 A salted and cured side of pork (6)

4 A shoot, twig or sprout of a tree or shrub (5)

5 To assign or allot for a particular purpose (8)

6 US secretary of state 1949-53, who helped create Nato (4,7)

7 Highly impatient, eager or curious (4)

8 Material for starting a fire, such as dry wood or straw (8)

9 and 20 Across US sciencefiction franchise created by Gene Roddenberry (4,4)

17 A dish of raw or cold vegetables (5)

18 Scottish brimless wool caps with a bobble in the centre (3-1-8)

19 British actress who appeared in the 1960s films Alfie and Women In Love (7,4)

21 Louis B ---, Russianborn US film producer who co-founded a film studio in 1924 (5)

24 Harold Pinter play, first performed by England’s RSC in 1971, directed by Peter Hall (3,5)

26 Musical term describing notes which are short, clipped and separate (8)

27 James ---, Canadian sportsman and coach who invented basketball (8)

30 The light-sensitive membrane forming the inner lining of the posterior wall of the eyeball (6)

31 Mary ---, British classicist, writer and TV presenter (5)

33 Cesar ---, Swiss hotelier, founder of famous establishments in Paris and London (4)

34 In the Old Testament, Adam’s third son, given by God in place of Abel (4)