GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

WIN A LUXURY CROSS PEN

PLAY our accumulator game! Every day this week, solve the crossword to find the letter in the pink circle. On Friday, we’ll provide instructions to submit your five-letter word for your chance to win a luxury Cross pen. UK residents aged 18+, excl NI. Terms apply. Entries cost 50p.

ACROSS

8 Term for later period in life as an opportunity for travel, further education etc. (5,3)

9 Bawdy or ribald (6)

10 Ear bone also known

as the stirrup (6)

11 Rocky or likely

to give way (8)

12 Michael, ex-Conservative politician noted for his TV series about railways (8) 13 Island of Arthurian legend whose name derives from the Old Welsh for ‘isle of apples’ (6)

14 ____ or minus, within a

certain error range (4)

16 Sweet ____, lyrical poem by Robert Burns, written in 1791 (5)

17 ____ dispenser, machine outside a bank that releases banknotes after insertion of a card (4)

18 Informal term for a

private conference (6)

20 Operation ____, codename for the D-Day invasion of 1944 (8)

23 Irish province that

includes Dublin (8)

24 City in the state of North Carolina in which Duke University is located (6) 25 Jenny, English actress and comedian who was a panellist on Loose Women (6)

26 A grassy plain with few trees in tropical and subtropical regions (8)

DOWN

1 Lady Sarah, the only daughter of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones (6)

2 Head housekeeper voiced by Angela Lansbury in the 1992 film Beauty

And The Beast (3,5)

3 ____ And Gretel, German fairy tale about a brother and sister, collected by the Brothers Grimm (6)

4 Expression meaning ‘to leave one’s job because of being too old’ (2,3,3,2,5)

5 August, German evolutionary

biologist born in 1834 (8)

6 ____ Grande, U.S. singersongwriter who had her fourth UK No. 1 hit with

7 Rings in 2019 (6)

7 Nickname of England’s men’s

rugby league team (3,5)

15 ____ Fishburne, U.S. actor known for his roles in Apocalypse Now and

The Matrix films (8)

16 An opening or gap (8)

17 John, saxophonist whose signature pieces included 1961’s My Favourite Things (8)

19 Adrian, actor whose catchphrases in Line

Of Duty include ‘Now we’re sucking diesel’ (6)

21 An edible Mediterranean plant whose bitter leaves are used in salad (6)

22 Washington D.C.’s National Airport is named after this U.S. president (6)