Two-speed coffeebreak
Two sets of clues – but the answers are the same.
CRYPTIC CLUES
ACROSS
1 Fellow with feeble passion (5) 5 Less worried about old flatfish (5) 9 Free of bride (3) 10 Same trouble with underground (5) 11 Inappropriate French article expected (5) 12 Draw back from English bishops (3)
13 Set broken leg (3) 14 Neither out of ignorance (3) 16 Regard for diocese (3) 18 Posting without first or last bit (6) 21 Cover old pool (4) 23 Weapon gets record points (4) 26 Avian messages (6)
29 Keys to resting place (3) 31 Not even peculiar (3) 32 Marched around bend (3) 34 Wander out of terror (3) 36 Big look around house (5) 37 Organised sound puts volume back in charge (5)
38 Frenchman too much for rocker’s enemy (3) 39 Beer taken on, on one’s own (5) 40 Set a test
for flavour (5)
DOWN
1 Thrifty fellow covering a lake (6) 2 Neil changed course (4) 3 Waded, not initially puzzled (6) 4 Journalist gets soldiers to improve (5) 5 Severe at the back (5) 6 Rob dropped sphere (3)
7 Chucks slob out (4) 8 Auction ales off (4)
15 Do lie about being greased (5) 17 Level with
First Lady (3) 19 Hardly sending ton back (3)
20 Procure from strange tradesman (3)
22 Fired with
fury (3)
24 Quiet mass improved with liberal songs (6)
25 Once ran from French convert (6) 27 Swore badly, having deteriorated (5)
28 Law incorrectly
cited (5)
29 Wager with a foreign character (4)
30 Show mode off (4)
33 Origin of botany? (4) 35 Prunes have to manage (3)
QUICK CLUES ACROSS
1 Fire (5)
5 Shoe parts (5) 9 Disburden (3) 10 Train system (5) 11 Unwarranted (5) 12 Recede (3) 13 Solidify (3)
14 And not (3) 16 Notice (3) 18 Conclusion (6) 21 Swimming pool (4) 23 Fencing sword (4) 26 Chirps (6)
29 Cot (3) 31 Strange (3) 32 Curve (3) 34 Stray (3)
36 Ice structure (5) 37 Art form (5) 38 1960s subculture member (3)
39 Unaccompanied (5) 40 Sample (5)
DOWN
1 Economical (6) 2 Stripe (4)
3 Confused (6)
4 Correct text (5) 5 Serious (5)
6 Globe (3)
7 Throws (4)
8 Transaction (4) 15 Lubricated (5) 17 Previous day (3) 19 Negative (3)
20 Obtain (3)
22 Wrath (3)
24 Old Testament book (6)
25 Encipher (6)
27 Less good (5) 28 Decree (5)
29 Greek letter (4) 30 Public protest (4) 33 Source (4) 35 Sprint (3)
POT LUCK
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Which gemstone is traditionally associated with the 30th anniversary of a wedding? Mead is an ancient alcoholic drink brewed from and flavoured with which product? Which married couple designed the wedding dress worn by Diana Princess of Wales in 1981?
What is the total number of pips shown on a standard 28-tile set of dominoes? Open to competitors between 14 and 18 years of age, the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games was staged in which city? What links the following words: DEVIL, DOG, STRESSED, LAGER and GARB?
POLITICS
Who was leader of the
Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015? Who, according to former French president, Francois Mitterrand, had ’the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe’? Which English monarch was crowned on the battlefield of Bosworth Field? John Bercow, the former MP for Buckingham, held which position in the House of Commons from 2009-2019? Which international organisation was founded by Henri Dunant after he witnessed the suffering of the wounded at the battle of Solferino? Which European city hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2018?
MUSIC
Which British pop star wrote and recorded Alfie, a song about her younger brother of the same name?
Bearing him 20 children between them, Maria (his second cousin) and Anna (daughter of a trumpeter) were successively the wives of which German composer? Based on the songs of a Swedish group, which musical film is set on the fictional Greek island of Kalokairi?
Who wrote the poem Auld Lang Syne, which was set to music and is traditionally sung to ring in the New Year?
‘You give me hope and consolation /
You give me strength to carry on’ are lyrics from which Elvis Presley hit, written by Baker Knight?
The socialist anthem The Red Flag was borrowed as the theme song for which TV sitcom, first shown in 1977?
NATURAL HISTORY
Russian blue and ragdoll are names given to breeds of which animal? What name is given to the hybrid offspring of a male horse and a female donkey?
A type of bear is known by the name of which other animal, of the family Bradypodidae?
Garlic, chives and shallots are all members of which plant genus? Which part of the Earth lies between the outer core and the crust? Anguilliform denotes the shape of which creature?
THEATRE
Which of Shakespeare’s tragedies is the longest of all his plays?
Which famous French actress — injured in a theatre accident in 1905 — continued her stage career after the amputation of her right leg?
Who wrote the music for Billy Elliot
The Musical, first performed in 2005? Hosted by Greg Davies, the Royal Variety Performance of 2018 was staged where? Which music hall comedian, born in 1869, was often billed as ’the Prime Minister of Mirth’?
Which theatre on the Boulevard de Clichy in Paris was the birthplace of the cancan as a show dance?
Solutions in Monday’s Daily Mirror