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ACROSS

1 Republic of east central Africa that achieved independence from Belgium in 1962 (6)

4 Mixture of wine vinegar and oil with seasonings; French dressing (11)

9 Grey eight-legged horse ridden by Odin in Norse mythology (8)

10 English actor who played the title role in 1973’s The Day of the Jackal (6,3)

11 State of NE India noted for the production of tea; capital, Dispur (5)

12 Any butterfly of the family that includes the browns, heaths, ringlets etc. (7)

14 1948 Alfred Hitchcock film based on a play by English dramatist Patrick Hamilton (4)

17 Capital of Tibet, known as the Forbidden City for its former inaccessibility and hostility to Westerners (5)

18 and 19. 2004 fantasy romcom with Anne Hathaway and Hugh Dancy (4,9)

21 English singer who duetted with Elton John on the hit ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ (4,3)

22 Digestive enzyme secreted by the pancreas that breaks proteins down into polypeptides (7)

25 1986 action film starring Louis Gossett, Jr. and Jason Gedrick (4,5)

27 Medieval title used by Mongol and Turkish rulers, usually added to a name (4)

28 Hard, grey variety of quartz that produces sparks when struck with steel, mostly occurring as nodules in chalk (5)

29 Derived SI unit of power, equal to a rate of working of one joule per second (4)

31 City which hosts the annual US Masters golf tournament, in eastern Georgia (7)

33 Small spiked revolving disc attached to the end of a spur (5)

36 Soviet president awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize, Mikhail ___ (9)

37 Capital and largest city of Sudan, at the junction of the Blue and the White Nile (8)

38 Writer and director of the 2017 crime drama film Molly’s Game (5,6)

39 System of romanised spelling for the transcription of Chinese, especially Mandarin; literally, ‘spell sound’ (6)

DOWN

1 1988-97 sitcom returning for a tenth season in March 2018 (8)

2 Standard currency unit of Nigeria, divided into 100 kobo (5)

3 Italian river rising in the Apennines and flowing west through Florence and Pisa to the Ligurian Sea (4)

4 Port and resort of NE Bulgaria on the Black Sea, once known as Stalin (5)

5 In England and Wales until 1974, a senior member of a local council elected by other councillors (8)

6 Annual 4-mile steeplechase run at Aintree, Liverpool, since 1839 (5,8)

7 Any large northern sea duck of the genus Somateria, especially S. mollissima; valued for its down (5)

8 Painting or other artistic object giving a convincing illusion of reality; French, ‘deceives the eye’ (6,1’4)

13 Diacritical mark (~) placed over a letter to indicate the pronunciation is nasalised, as in Spanish señor (5)

15 Singer of hits including ‘Stupid Cupid’ (1958) and ‘Mama’ (1960) (6,7)

16 Frédéric ___, Polish-born French composer of the Romantic school who wrote mainly for the solo piano (6)

18 Hebrew prophet of the Old Testament who denounced Ahab and Jezebel for their worship of Baal (6)

20 Midwestern US state whose eastern border is largely formed by the Red River (5,6)

23 Genus of woody climbing plants of the family Vitaceae to which the grapevines belong (5)

24 Shakespeare tragedy quoted by The Beatles in ‘I Am the Walrus’ (4,4)

26 2018 animated film featuring the voices of Maisie Williams and Tom Hiddleston (5,3)

30 Forbidden or disapproved of; introduced into English from Tongan by Captain Cook in 1777 (5)

32 2008 action thriller film starring Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace (5)

34 Joe ___, British dramatist; Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot etc. (5)

35 ‘___ not on that string’ Shakespeare, Richard III (4)