GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Across

1. Current F1 driver who is the youngest to take part in a F1 race, aged 17, and the youngest to win a Grand Prix, aged 18 (10)

6. Record the time of finishing work (5,3)

10. One who intrudes on the privacy of another (10)

11. Dynasty which ruled China for around 600 years (3)

12. Slang for a nickname on CB radio (6)

15. Thinking __ ___, song released by Ed Sheeran in 2014 (3,4)

18. The father of Odysseus (7)

19. ___ Spencer, actress who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 2011 film The Help (7)

20. Genus of flowering plants whose common names includes the snow poppy or dawn poppy (7)

22. ___ Beach, Queensland town which is a jump-off point for the Whitsunday Islands (6)

25. Tax paid by property owners (5)

27. Spanish painter, born 1599, a leading figure in the Baroque period (9)

31. In the military, a defined period of time spent in combat or in a hostile setting (4)

32. Amount equal to 20 quires (4)

33. Blemish on the skin associated with ageing (5,4)

35. Planet which is home of the Ewoks in the Star Wars films (5)

38. Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation who won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize (6)

41. Victorian term for any nervous disorder (7)

44. Daughter of Titus Andronicus, in a Shakespeare play (7)

45. Open vessels of earthenware, china, glass or metal, used for holding flowers (5)

46. One of the rarest and most valuable precious metals, used in catalytic converters in cars (7)

49. Cooking that mixes ingredients and styles from different cuisines (6)

52. Simplified and traditional Chinese word for tea (3)

53. A person who studies the supposed effects of the stars and planets on human affairs (10)

54. Carnivorous mammal such as the weasel or ferret (8)

55. Fictional Royal Navy officer in a series of novels by C.S. Forester (10)

Down

1. Great hall in Norse mythology which heroes who die in battle travel to after death (8)

2. Large animal, Rangifer tarandus, found in northern Europe, Siberia and North America (8)

3. Small but interesting piece of gossip (6)

4. “The __ of our lives is to be happy”: Dalai Lama (7)

5. Country which has the world’s only non-quadrilateral flag (5)

6. Second largest of the Ionian Islands, a naval power in ancient Greece, whose capital is enclosed by two castles (5)

7. Large, rare fish found in deep ocean waters, also known as a moonfish and sunfish (4)

8. Title used by Ottoman sultans, also by rulers or senior officials in Muslim countries of central Asia (4)

9. Titular character in a British animated children’s series set in the fictional village of Pontypandy (7,3)

13. Wealthy American family which married into Britain’s aristocracy and provided Britain’s first female MP (5)

14. Small crane on a ship used for lowering and raising lifeboats (5)

16. Male cat (3)

17. English poet and Anglican cleric best known for the quotation ‘No man is an island’ (5)

21. Large diamond which was part of the Imperial Sceptre of Russian ruler Catherine the Great (5)

23. In music, a very slow tempo (5)

24. “Ignorance, the root and stem of all __”: Plato (4)

26. Large artery which carries blood from the heart’s left ventricle (5)

28. Masked vigilante played by Antonio Banderas in a 1998 film (5)

29. Word which precedes hand and case (5)

30. Sixth letter of Greek alphabet (4)

31. Collective name for Glasgow football clubs Celtic and Rangers (3,3,4)

34. Alloy of iron and nickel used in the making of scientific instruments (5)

36. Birds in the title of a 1984 song by Prince (5)

37. Beatle who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 (5)

39. New Zealand hip hop band whose biggest hit spent 23 weeks in the charts in 2003 (4,4)

40. Person who has written and executed a Last Will (8)

42. Sub-machine gun which was the world’s biggest selling from the 1960s to 1980s (3)

43. 2000m Swiss mountain pass which also has a 20km rail tunnel, opened in 1906 (7)

45. Tracy brother and pilot of Thunderbird 2 (6)

47. A collection of valuable items, hidden or stored for future use (5)

48. Type of courage gained from alcohol (5)

50. Title of 2003 song released by 39D (1,3)

51. Waste-piece of fibre left over from combing wool or spinning silk (4)