BIG MONDAY CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Son of Tantalus, after whom Greece’s southern peninsula is named (6)

4 Small yellowish-green European songbird with a trilling call; Phylloscopus sibilatrix (4,7)

9 US stadium in Pasadena, California, that hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final (4,4)

10 Political or economic union, especially the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938 (9)

11 and 12. Unforeseeable occurrence that exempts a contracted party from fulfilling an obligation (5,7)

14 Antagonist of the 2017 film Wonder Woman, played by David Thewlis (4)

17 Hybrid offspring of a lion and a tigress (5)

18 ‘Look not thou upon the ___ when it is red’ (Proverbs 23:31) (4)

19 For similar but more convincing reasons; Latin, ‘from the stronger’ (1,8)

21 See 22 Across 22 and 21. Chart-topping 1968 hit by US country singer Tammy Wynette (5,2,4,3)

25 2000 science fiction thriller film starring Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss (3,6)

27 Prophetic book of the Old Testament written by ‘a shepherd from the town of Tekoa’ (4)

28 Capital of Tibet, residence of the Dalai Lamas from the 17th century until 1959 (5)

29 Soft thick worm-like larva of various insects, especially beetles (4)

31 City of central Florida known as the Theme Park Capital of the World (7)

33 Mark __, US swimmer who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich (5)

36 City of SW Michigan equidistant between Detroit and Chicago, formerly (until 1836) called Bronson (9)

37 Australian director of films including Furious 7 (2015) and Aquaman (2018) (5,3)

38 Character played by Olivia Newton-John in the 1978 film musical Grease (5,6)

39 Single-celled organism of ever-changing shape that moves by extending false feet of protoplasm (pseudopodia) (6)

DOWN

1 Phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals that comprises the sponges (8)

2 Unsaturated acid occurring in almost all natural fats, used in the manufacture of soap, ointments and cosmetics (5)

3 Drinking toast wishing good health; derived from Old Norse, ‘bowl’ (4)

4 Wife of the cartoon character Fred Flintstone, voiced by Jean Vander Pyl (5)

5 US tennis player who achieved the sport’s first grand slam, in 1938 (3,5)

6 Paris landmark at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, commissioned by Napoleon I in 1806 (3,2,8)

7 Tropical American tree (Ochroma lagopus) cultivated for its soft light timber (5)

8 Province of southern South Africa known in Afrikaans as Oos-Kaap (7,4)

13 Province of NE China bordering Russia and North Korea; capital, Changchun (5)

15 President of Brazil who succeeded Michel Temer on January 1, 2019 (4,9)

16 Sixth movement of Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets, subtitled The Magician (6)

18 National capital of Poland in the province of Mazovia (6)

20 Mirage, originally seen in the Strait of Messina and named after the Arthurian sorceress Morgan le

Fay (4,7)

23 Smallest unit of weight in the avoirdupois, troy and apothecaries’ systems, equal to 64.79891 milligrams (5)

24 French-speaking people living chiefly in southern and eastern Belgium and adjacent parts of France (8)

26 Republic of eastern Africa formed in 1964 by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar (8)

30 Tuft of hairs or bristles on plants such as barley and wheat; the awn (5)

32 Capital of the Côte-d’Or department in eastern France, and of the former duchy of Burgundy (918–1482) (5)

34 Sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy in the mid-nineteenth century, typically served with pasta (5)

35 1996 film with Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Collette and Alan Cumming (4)