THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
There’s an amazing £1,500 prize for the first correct solution drawn at random in our general knowledge Prize Crossword. Entries must arrive by Friday, April 6 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, April 22 SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.
ACROSS
1 H. – – – – – –, English author of adventure novels including King Solomon’s Mines (5,7) 8 Enid – – –, children’s writer who created Noddy and The Famous Five (6) 11 A town in South East Hertfordshire (8) 12 Jungle and forest-dwelling mammal with an elongated snout (5) 13 A hard outer layer or skin on bacon or cheese (4) 14 A racing shell propelled by a rower or rowers pulling two oars (5) 15 Consciousness of, and pride in, belonging to a particular group (6,2,5) 17 Patricia – – –, American novelist who wrote Strangers On A Train and created the character Tom Ripley (9) 19 Heroine of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (7) 23 A frame holding the glass in a sliding window (4) 24 A European thrush, common in rocky areas (4,5) 25 A narrow shelf-like bed, typically in shared quarters (4) 26 Robert – – –, leader of the group of Catholics who planned the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (7) 28 The art or skill of someone who grows, displays or deals in flowers (9) 31 In the US and Canada, a person, usually the most outstanding graduate, who delivers a farewell speech at a graduation ceremony (13) 34 An organised group of singers, especially in church services (5) 36 A variety of small melon having a green skin and sweet, pale-green flesh (4) 37 Ieuan – – –, third-highest all-time try scorer for Wales in rugby union (5) 38 English playwright whose black comedies included Loot (3,5) 39 Tropical marine mollusc with a glossy, brightlymarked shell (6) 40 In Christianity, the announcement by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she was going to give birth to the son of God (12)
DOWN
2 One of the Ionian Islands, regarded as the home of Homer’s Odysseus (6) 3 Town in South Hampshire, on the River Itchen (9) 4 To drag or draw something with effort (4) 5 In the New Testament, the garden in Jerusalem where Christ was betrayed on the night before his Crucifixion (10) 6 John Jacob – – – IV, the richest passenger aboard the Titanic when it sank (5) 7 Storehouses or warehouses (6) 8 A vessel, usually flatbottomed, used for transporting freight, especially on canals (5) 9 Lizzy – – –, double Olympic gold medal-winning British skeleton racer (7) 10 Having unlimited or very great power (10) 16 A member of the second order of angels, often represented as a winged child (6) 18 In folklore, a supernatural creature dwelling in caves or mountains (5) 20 To enter or persuade to enter into an engagement to serve in the armed forces (6) 21 Italian artist of the Baroque school who painted Supper At Emmaus (10) 22 A republic in North West Asia, the capital of which is Baku (10) 25 Sarah – – –, legendary French stage and early film actress (9) 27 – – – Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States from 1933-1945 (7) 29 – – – SE1, building in Southwark, London, nicknamed the Razor (6) 30 A loose, sashed, ankle-length garment with wide sleeves (6) 32 A department of South East France, the capital of which is Grenoble (5) 33 Michael – – –, Children’s Laureate from June 2007 to June 2009 (5) 35 A military cap with a circular top and a horizontal peak (4)