GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

WIN A LUXURY CROSS PEN

ACROSS

1 British naturalist whose portrait appeared on the back of the paper £10 note from 2000 to 2018 (7,6) 8 A Muslim mystic (4) 9 Good fortune or well-being (10) 10 An afternoon rest or nap, especially one taken in hot countries (6) 11 ____ Lights, fantasy novel by Philip Pullman published in 1995 (8) 12 Falsely concocted and groundless (7-2) 14 ____ Sea, former saltwater lake straddling the boundary between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (4) 15 Jazz or pop music with a strong rhythm and soulful quality (4) 16 To tone down or reduce in effect (4-5) 20 Money used in the performance of one’s job (8) 21 A young child, especially one that is mischievous and raggedly dressed (6) 23 An account of journeying, typically in the form of a book, film or TV programme (10) 24 The right to reject a proposal, such as in the UN Security Council (4) 25 1978 film about the Vietnam War and its aftermath starring Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep (3,4,6)

DOWN

1 Jim, U.S. former tennis player who won four Grand Slam men’s singles titles (7) 2 Hardy, British fashion designer who was appointed the Queen’s official dressmaker in 1955 (5) 3 Pierre-Simon, French mathematician and astronomer, author of Celestial Mechanics (7) 4 A ____ , song sung by Julie Andrews in the 1964 musical Mary Poppins (8,2,5) 5 Unit of electrical current named after a French physicist (6) 6 One who carries out hard tasks reliably over a long period of time (9) 7 ____ childbirth, one with as little medical intervention, especially anaesthesia, as possible (7) 13 A large-scale tactical exercise involving military or naval fighting units (9) 15 Echo’s successor in the NATO phonetic alphabet (7) 17 Justin, Canadian Prime Minister since 2015 (7) 18 The ____ , 2004 film for which Cate Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (7) 19 Tristan und ____ , opera by Richard Wagner based on a chivalric romance (6) 22 Small catlike carnivore that secretes a musky fluid from its perineal glands (5)

SOLUTION TOMORROW