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, April 5 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, April 21. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across

1 A violin manufactured by a famous Italian family of stringed instrument makers (12)

8 Deputises for (4,2)

11 American animator and director who created Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny (3,5)

12 --- Rose, name sometimes given to the fairy tale character Sleeping Beauty (5)

13 A principal water pipe, conduit or duct (4)

14 The back of a sheet of

printed paper (5)

15 The 28th President of the United States, in office 1913-21 (7,6)

17 American puppeteer best remembered for creating The Muppets (3,6)

19 A small bird with a brown or grey plumage, feeding on seeds or insects (7)

23 Material made of a network of wire or thread (4)

24 Failure to meet a goal or a requirement (9)

25 Family ---, 1980s American sitcom starring Michael J. Fox (4)

26 The structural rules of a language (7)

28 --- --- day, a memorably important or happy occasion (3-6)

31 Muhammad Ali’s opponent in 1974’s Rumble in the Jungle (6,7) 34 The capital of Vietnam, on the Red River (5)

36 A room or hall in which martial arts are practised (4)

37 Traditional dresses worn by Indian and Pakistani women (5)

38 Inflammation of the mucous membrane that lines the nose (8)

39 George ---, 20th-Century novelist and essayist who wrote Animal Farm and 1984 (6)

40 A type of bird trained to return to a particular place (6,6)

Down

2 and 16 1978 Booker Prize-winning novel by Iris Murdoch (3,3,3,3)

3 18th-Century Scottish philosopher and economist (4,5)

4 Genus of plants which includes the hollies (4)

5 British aviator; the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (3,7)

6 The third-largest city of Jordan, south of the Syrian border (5)

7 Miss ---, stage musical first performed in 1989, based on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (6)

8 See 25

9 A flat-bottomed drinking glass with no handle or stem (7) 10 British architect who brought Italianate Renaissance architecture to England (5,5)

16 See 2 18 See 25

20 Pontius ---, according to the New Testament, the official who was the judge at the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion (6)

21 Butter heated until brown or black, often flavoured with vinegar or lemon juice (6,4)

22 Chief justice of the United States 1953-69, who led the commission that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (4,6)

25, 18 and 8 Comedy by William Shakespeare featuring the characters Petruchio, Bianca and Katherina (3,6,2,3,5)

27 Christopher ---, Elizabethan dramatist and poet whose plays include Tamburlaine and Edward II (7)

29 The --- estate, journalists or the press collectively (6)

30 Fats ---, American singer and pianist, a pioneer of rock ’n’ roll music (6)

32 A frame used for supporting or displaying an artist’s canvas (5)

33 Surrey racecourse where the Derby is run every June (5)

35 To speak or pronounce imperfectly or haltingly (4)