GENERALKNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

Across

1. English biscuit named after the county town of Shropshire (10)

6. Fictional sea captain in a novel byHerman Melville (4)

9. Chemical element with the symbolTc (10)

10. Major river of China, 1100km in length (4)

12. Welsh song and military march, said to be about the seven-year siege of aWelsh castle (3,2,7)

15. Greek poet who, according toAristotle, was the first actor in Greek drama (7)

16. Subtitle of a 2019 Avengers film (7)

17. Someone who makes mistakes because of incompetence (7)

19. French author whowas nominated for the 1948Nobel Prize in literature (7)

20. The art of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries (12)

23. “It is better to be healthy alone than ___ with someone else”: Phil McGraw(4)

24. Cocktail consisting of vodka, spicy ginger beer and lime juice, often served in a copper mug (6,4)

25. Ladder crosspiece (4)

26. Phrasewhichmeans‘with some difficulty, by making a special effort’(2,1,7)

Down

1. Wife of the Hindu god Rama (4)

2. In rugby, loose scrum formed around a playerwith the ball on the ground (4)

3. Official residence of Russia’s emperors, 1732-1917 (6,6)

4. Character in the Cinderella pantomime (7)

5. NZandAustralian slang for an outsider in a horse or dog race (7)

7. Social networking service, launched 2016, which enables group video chat (10)

8. Art Garfunkel song, the UK’s biggest selling single in 1979 (6,4)

11. Party held for awomanwho is about to be married (6,6)

13. Additive to food which helps to preserve its structure (10)

14. Anative or inhabitant of theUSA’s fifth largest state by area (3,7)

18. Commonyellow-headed wild plant, toxic to livestock if consumed in quantity (7)

19. “Necessity is the mother of taking ___”: MarkTwain (7)

21. Large container for storing rainwater (4)

22. In the bible, Jacob’s first wife (4)