GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Across

1. Link which transmits visual information from the retina to the brain (5,5)

6. Dog featured in a series of children’s books by English author Eric Hill (4)

9. Adapted for grasping, especially by wrapping around an object (as in a monkey’s tail) (10)

10. Balance pose in yoga incorporating three lines of energy (Vrksasana) (4)

12. Capital city of Madagascar which means ‘city of the thousand’ (12)

15. Syncarpia hillii, Queensland hardwood used for flooring; also used in construction of the Suez Canal (7)

16. Anniversary celebrating fifteen years of marriage (7)

17. The __ __, novel by American writer and poet Sylvia Plath, published 1963 (4,3)

19. American comedian and actor, 18931980, remembered for his gravelly voice and prominent nose (7)

20. US city featured in the title of a 1967 hit by singer Scott Mckenzie (3,9)

23. River in the Canterbury region named after the Lieutenant-governor of New Munster (South Island), 1848-53 (4)

24. First names of former No. 1 professional tennis player, born Long Beach, California 1943 (6,4)

25. Leader of the ACT Party from 2004 to 2011 (4)

26. Doris Day song which featured in the 1953 musical Calamity Jane (6,4)

Down

1. __, I Did It Again: Britney Spears single and album from 2000 (4)

2. Wife of Sir Robert Muldoon, Dame __ (4)

3. Weightlifting movement in which the barbell is lifted to shoulder height and then above the head (5,3,4)

4. The Agony and the ___: Irving Stone novel about Michelangelo, made into a 1965 film (7)

5. Pertaining to or producing electric current by chemical action (7)

7. “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very __ one”: Albert Einstein (10)

8. English rock group which had a 1974 NZ No.1 with The Air That I Breathe (3,7)

11. American folk hero known as the ‘King of the Wild Frontier’ (4,8)

13. In the Hebrew Bible, one of the four sons of King Saul who became King after his father’s death at the Battle of Mount Gilboa (10)

14. Russian city, now Volgograd, scene of a prolonged battle in 1942-43 (10)

18. Scale of absolute temperature in Fahrenheit, named after a 19th century Scottish engineer and physicist (7)

19. Motor company, founded 1896, which provided cars for Britain’s monarchs for 50 years (7)

21. In Greek mythology a sea goddess, wife of Phorcys, who bore him numerous monstrous children called Phorcydes (4)

22. “The wise man does at __ what the fool does finally”: Niccolo Machiavelli (4)