BIG MONDAY CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Only completed novel written by US poet Sylvia Plath, published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas (3,4,3)

5 Africa’s largest country by area, since the secession of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011 (7)

10 First great painter of the Italian Renaissance, born Tommaso Giovanni di Simone Guidi in 1401 (8)

11 Annual Mediterranean herb, family Apiaceae, used to flavour liqueurs such as absinthe, ouzo, sambuca etc. (5)

12 Uppermost and largest of the three sections of the hip bone, fused in adult humans with the ischium and pubis (5)

13 Maori name for New Zealand, usually translated as ‘land of the long white cloud’ (8)

14 In greyhound racing, the six box-like stalls in which the dogs are enclosed at the start of a race (5)

15 ’There is only one step from the ___ to the ridiculous’ (Napoleon I, December 1812) (7)

18 Alternative name for the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), from French (8)

20 & 6 Down Hungarian pianist and composer (1811-86) whose works include the Faust Symphony and Hungarian Rhapsodies (5,5)

22 Last pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, succeeded by Teti c. 2323 BC (4)

23 1964 British epic war film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Caine (4)

24 See 21 Down

27 Plant genus from whose ___ chironium a sweet-smelling gum resin is extracted; from Greek, ‘the juice of all-heal’ (8)

29 1990-5 US sitcom starring future The Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik (7)

31 Capital city of Nigeria, constructed in the 1980s as a replacement for Lagos (5)

32 English author of plays including Entertaining Mr Sloane (1964) and Loot (1965) (3,5)

34 A two in a deck of cards or the side of a die bearing two spots (5)

35 & 37 AcrossWelsh actress (1755-1831) regarded as the greatest tragedienne of her era, noted especially for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth (5,7)

36 Small round slice of meat, especially lamb, that has been deboned and rolled; French, ‘hazelnut’ (8)

37 See 35

38 US dramatist awarded a Pulitzer Prize for 1983’s Glengarry Glen Ross (5,5)

DOWN

1 1989 James Cameron sci-film starring Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (3,5)

2 In Britain from 1902 to 1982, a custodial institution for male offenders between the ages of 16 and 21 (7)

3 Any plant of the family Lamiaceae, commonly known as the mint family (7)

4 Central of the three stars making up the asterism Orion’s Belt, lying between Alnitak and Mintaka (7)

6 See 20 Across

7 Character played by Philip Michael Thomas in the 1984-90 US crime drama series Miami Vice (7,5)

8 Amedeo ___ (1776–1856), Italian physicist whose eponymous law states that equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules (8)

9 Poor Things star named Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2024 BAFTAs (4,5)

16 1968 song by US band Steppenwolf whose lyrics coin the term ‘heavy metal’ and which is considered a prototype of the genre (4,2,2,4)

17 Sail on the third mast from the bow on a ship with three or more masts (6)

19 Book containing the prayers, responses and hymns needed to celebrate Roman Catholic Mass for a complete year (6)

21 & 24 Across President of Finland who succeeded Sauli Niinistö on March 1

2024 (9,5)

25 Titular foundling in a 1749 novel by Henry Fielding also featuring Sophia Western (3,5)

26 Purple or violet gemstone variety of quartz named from the Greek for ‘not drunken’ (8)

28 Part of the western North Pacific lying between NE Borneo and the western islands of the Philippines (4,3)

29 Small hunting dog of central African origin whose flat larynx renders it unable to bark (7)

30 Third-largest island of Indonesia by area, separated from the Malay Peninsula by the Strait of Malacca (7)

33 Largest and first known moon of Saturn, discovered by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655 (5)