THE PRIZE CROSSWORD WIN

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, March 29 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, April 14. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across 11

Wingless bloodsucking insect that lays eggs in human hair (4,5)

12 French author of the novels

Nana and Germinal (5,4)

13 Powerful drug made from the juice or sap of a type of poppy (5)

14 Yellowish, viscous substance extracted from wool, used in some ointments (7)

15 Venomous snake found

mainly in Europe (5)

16 A person who carries out

menial tasks for others (8)

18 Polish astronomer best known for his theory that the sun is at the centre of the universe (10)

22 British entertainer who presented the children’s series Record Breakers for over 20 years (3,6)

24 A whitish, ant-like social insect of warm and tropical regions (7)

27 A three-pronged spear associated with the god Poseidon or Neptune (7)

28 An early type of modern human who lived in

Europe during late Palaeolithic times (3-6)

30 The world’s largest artificial lake and reservoir by volume, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe (4,6) 32 Explore a region for gold or other valuable minerals (8) 35 In Spanish cuisine, light snacks or appetisers, usually eaten with drinks (5)

37 Anonymous Old English epic poem in alliterative verse, dating from around the 8th Century (7)

38 Male member of the lowest

rank of the British nobility (5) 39 Island republic in the

Atlantic off the coast of

West Africa (4,5)

40 Customers collectively (9) Down

1 Garments or pieces of cloth

used to wrap dead bodies (7) 2 18th-Century English actor and theatre manager buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey (5,7)

3 Professor ---, character in the

board game Cluedo (4)

4 Greek mathematician, referred to as the Father of Geometry, famous for his Elements (6)

5 A reddish dye, obtained from the powdered leaves of a lythraceous plant (5)

6 Actress who starred in films including The Dark Angel and Wuthering Heights (5,6) 7 Symbol of the zodiac

sign Leo (4)

8 The basic SI unit of thermodynamic temperature, named after a British physicist (6)

9 A raised structure at the stern of a vessel, especially a sailing ship (4) 10 A lawyer who has been called to the bar, qualified to plead in the higher courts (9)

17 A river in the Eastern

Republic of Ireland, the banks of which were the scene of a 1690 battle (5)

19 In cricket, a run not scored from the bat, such as a wide, no-ball or bye (5)

20 Small, rough-haired breed of dog originally from Scotland (5,7)

21 A person who buys and sells securities on a commission basis for customers (11)

23 John Jacob --- IV, American business magnate who died in the sinking of the Titanic (5)

25 The characters of an ancient

Germanic alphabet (5)

26 Track and field

events collectively (9)

29 The capital of the

Falkland Islands (7)

31 Landlocked country in

Southeast Europe (6)

33 Madagascan palm tree, the leafstalks of which yield a fibre used for weaving (6)

34 A mixed drink usually containing fruit juice and alcohol, served in a wide bowl (5)

36 --- dream, a fanciful or

impossible plan or hope (4)

37 Lionel ---, creator of the book, music and lyrics of the musical Oliver! (4)

38 James ---, fictional spy created

by Ian Fleming in 1953 (4)