BIG MONDAY CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 2006 sports drama film written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone (5,6)

6 Largest city in the autonomous Basque Country of northern Spain, on the Nervión River near the Bay of Biscay (6)

9 Bitter crystalline alkaloid obtained from cinchona bark, formerly widely used as an antimalarial drug (7)

10 Russian author of novels including Anna Karenina (1877) and Resurrection (1899) (3,7)

11 US illustrator who invented the cartoon cat Garfield in 1978 (3,5)

12 State on the Atlantic coast of NE Brazil; capital, Teresina (5)

13 Landlocked country of SE Asia first united as Lan Xang (‘kingdom of the million elephants’) in 1353 (4)

16 In music, a small group of notes forming a coherent unit of melody within a longer passage (6)

19 First epoch of the Neogene period, extending from around 23 million to 5 million years ago (7)

21 Royal house that ruled England from the accession of Henry IV in 1399 to the deposing of Henry VI 1461 (9)

22 and 24 First sound cartoon featuring the character Mickey Mouse, released in 1928 (9,6)

23 Specially-designed box containing a set of cutlery for domestic use (7)

24 See 22

25 ‘But, ___! what light through yonder window breaks?’ (Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet (1595) (4)

26 Zhou ___, first prime minister of the People’s Republic of China, in office from 1949 to 1976 (5)

27 See 18 Down

32 Insect order that is the largest group of animals on earth, consisting of the beetles and weevils (10)

33 Nomadic Arab resident of the desert, traditionally a herder of camels, sheep or goats (7)

34 Dry clear brandy distilled from the fermented juice of morello cherries, chiefly in Germany’s Black Forest (6)

35 US series of animated comedy shorts that includes the Oscar-winning For Scent-imental Reasons (1949) and Knighty Knight Bugs (1958) (6,5)

DOWN

1 US actress who wore an iconic fur bikini in the 1966 fantasy adventure film One Million Years B.C. (6,5)

2 Muse of history in Greek mythology, sometimes known as ‘the Proclaimer’ (4)

3 Decorative mark or jewel worn in the middle of the forehead, especially by Hindu women (5)

4 Ancient Celtic festival celebrated on May 1, marked by the lighting of purifying bonfires (7)

5 Yellowish garlic-flavoured Provençal sauce similar to mayonnaise, often eaten with seafood (5)

6 English pop band whose hits include ‘When Will I Be Famous?’ (1987) and ‘Too Much’ (1989) (4)

7 1862 historical novel by French author Victor Hugo banned by the Catholic church until 1959 (3,10)

8 Point in the lunar orbit of a spacecraft at which it is furthest from the moon (7)

14 Influential arcade game developed by Japanese engineer and game designer Nishikado Tomohiro in 1978 (5,8)

15 UK shipping forecast area north of Shannon and south of Bailey (7)

17 Large arm of the southern Pacific indenting the coast of Antarctica east of Victoria Land and west of the Edward VII Peninsula (4,3)

18 and 27 Across Captain of the United States golf team that defeated Europe in the 2021 Ryder Cup on September 26 (6,8)

19 Iced cocktail made with rum, orange liqueur,

lime juice and syrup; from Tahitian, ‘good’ (3,3)

20 Athenian philosopher in the time of Socrates regarded as the founder of the Cynic school (11)

23 Dessert of deep-fried tubes of pastry with a creamy filling, typically sweetened ricotta cheese (7)

24 Longest river of New Zealand, flowing northwest from central North Island to the Tasman Sea (7)

28 Type of lymphocyte that matures in the thymus gland and plays an important role in the immune response (1,4)

29 In classical literature, a poem written in alternating verses of hexameter and pentameter; from Greek, ‘lament’ (5)

30 City that replaced Taiping as the state capital of Perak in western Malaysia in 1937 (4)

31 Imperial dynasty that ruled China from 1271 to 1368, founded by the Mongols under Kublai Khan (4)