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, June 29 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, July 15. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.
ACROSS
1 The maiden name of the Duchess of Sussex (6,6) 8 Heavily-built, gull-like bird able to spit out a defensive, foul-smelling oil (6) 11 Allen – – –, US poet of the Beat Generation who wrote Howl (8) 12 – – – whale, a type of small whale or rorqual, up to 10 metres long (5) 13 Small mouthfuls of liquid (4) 14 See 33 Down 15 Painter and engraver of the German Renaissance, known for his woodcut prints (8,5) 17 A town in West Scotland, the seat of the Dukes of Argyll (9) 19 Alan – – –, English writer whose works include the plays The Madness Of George III and The History Boys (7) 23 A small opening in the skin (4) 24 Small, circular areas at the centre of dartboards (5-4) 25 – – – de mer, a palm tree of the Seychelles, producing a large fruit containing a two-lobed edible nut (4) 26 A deep hole or shaft into the earth or seabed for the extraction of petroleum (3,4) 28 Of, or relating to, a bishop or bishops (9) 31 English poet whose works included The Rape Of The Lock (9,4) 34 – – – price, the amount at which a dealer will sell shares to the market (5) 36 Small New World monkey with long hair and a non-prehensile tail (4) 37 Catlike mammal of Africa and South Asia, typically having blotched or spotted fur (5) 38 A state of the US Midwest, the capital of which is Springfield (8) 39 Mosquito-like insects occurring in dancing swarms (6) 40 English prison reformer who was depicted on the Bank of England £5 note until 2016 (9,3)
DOWN
2 – – – machine, an electromechanical rotor machine used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages (6) 3 A feeling of diffidence and indecision about doing something (9) 4 Children in – – –, the BBC’s UK charity (4) 5 A waterfall in South East Venezuela, regarded as the highest in the world (5,5) 6 – – – Rouge, the Kampuchean communist party, which seized power in the Cambodian Civil War in 1975 (5) 7 – – – Kennedy Shriver, charity worker who was the sister of John F., Robert F. and Ted Kennedy (6) 8 – – – Street, a road in Central London in which many newspaper offices were formerly situated (5) 9 Northern Irish city on the River Lagan (7) 10 The Sorcerer’s – – –, an 1897 symphonic work by Paul Dukas based on a poem by Goethe (10) 16 Oral rather than written (6) 18 Ancient Greek slave known for a collection of fables ascribed to him (5) 20 Central London railway terminus (6) 21 Amedeo – – –, Italian painter and sculptor noted for his elongated portraits (10) 22 Plant such as baby’s breath, with small, white or pink flowers (10) 25 Common European bird with a reddish body and blue-grey head in the male (9) 27 Winter bird visitor to the UK with a yellow-tipped tail and a crested head (7) 29 Hors d’– – –, an appetiser served before a main meal (6) 30 Unit of weight used to measure the fineness of silk and other fibres (6) 32 Stevie – – –, singer and songwriter with the band Fleetwood Mac (5) 33 and 14 Across American singer-songwriter and poet inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 (5,5) 35 The sour, blue-black fruit of the blackthorn (4)