THE BIG HITTER!
Solve the crossword in the usual way. When completed correctly, the pink squares, reading top to bottom, left to right, will reveal the answer to the Big Hitter Big Question. Check the solution on page 52.
ACROSS
1 People who belong to a club (7)
8 ___ Williams, Wimbledon champion who recently returned to tennis after having her first child (6) 11 Australian bird (3) 12 Japanese robe (3) 13 Helicopter blade (5) 14 ___ Borg, former Wimbledon tennis champion (5)
16 Lift and drop shoulders in disinterest (5) 17 Era, age (5) 18 Principal power supply (5) 19 Tear (3) 21 Pen tip (3) 22 ___ Agassi, former Wimbledon champ married to 48A who was coaching 15D until just a few months ago (5) 24 From Athens, eg (5) 26 Very large breed of dog (5,4)
27 ___ Jean King, former Wimbledon champ (6)
29 Sketches (5)
DOWN
1 ___ Navratilova, Wimbledon champion with the most titles (7) 2 Bishop’s hat (5) 3 Fleshy part of your lughole (7)
4 Gender reassignment op (3,6)
5 Arrow you use to click on things on your computer screen (6)
6 Play gigs around the country, eg (4)
7 ___ Wade, former Wimbledon tennis champ (8)
8 Mixed up (raw eggs with milk, then cooked, eg) (9)
9 Teasing (7) 32 Shake with fear (7) 35 Sleepsuit (7) 37 Make bigger (7) 38 Show ___, be sorry about (7) 39 Reasons (7) 42 It doesn’t matter who! (7) 45 Cuban dance (5) 48 ___ Graf, former Wimbledon champ (6) 49 Talk down to (9) 51 Where you catch the No.73! (3,4) 52 Country walker (7) 55 Whisky grass (3) 56 Macadamia, eg (3) 58 ___ Kvitová, former Wimbledon champion (5) 60 Muslim religion (5) 62 Little (5) 64 Chap, fellow (3) 65 More uncommon (5) 66 ___ Laver, first men’s singles Open Era champion at Wimbledon (3)
67 ___ Cash, former champion at SW19 (3)
68 ___ Nadal, former Wimbledon champ who is currently No.1 in the world rankings (6)
69 Radiate (7)
10 ___ and crannies, secret hidey-holes (5)
15 ___ Djokovic, threetime winner of the men’s singles trophy at Wimbledon (5)
20 ___ Sampras, men’s singles champ with an impressive seven Wimbledon titles on his CV (4) 23 Motivation (5) 25 Town connected by bath salts and a famous horse race (5) 28 Unwell (3) 30 Beam of sunshine (3)
31 A whodunnit (of a film or book, eg) (7)
32 Moves unsteadily (on high heels, eg) (7)
33 ___ Becker, former Wimbledon tennis champ, also a former coach of 15D (5)
34 Odds and ___, betting chances (5)
35 Warm hooded windproof jacket (5)
36 ___ Connors, former Wimbledon tennis champ (5)
40 ___ Evert, former Wimbledon tennis champ (5) 41 Flow back (3) 43 Fishing trap (3) 44 Organs of an animal eaten as food (5) 46 Meeting with your boss where your performance at work is evaluated (9) 47 ___ McEnroe, former Wimbledon tennis champ (4) 48 Napkin (9) 50 Pirate’s booty (8) 51 Sweeping tool (5) 53 Disease carried by mosquitoes (7) 54 ___ Federer, eighttime Wimbledon tennis champ defending his title at the tournament this year (pictured) (5)
57 Flowers – from Amsterdam? (6)
58 Black-and-white Chinese bear (5)
59 Jewelled headdress (5)
61 ___ Sharapova, former Wimbledon tennis champ (5)
63 ___ Murray, British Wimbledon champ who won the men’s singles title in 2013 and 2016, not competing this year due to injury (4)