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 24 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, July 10. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.

Across

1 In weightlifting, a lift in which the weight is held momentarily at shoulder height before being thrust overhead (5-3-4)

8 A Brazilian slum

or shantytown (6)

11 Tamara de ---, Polish

Art Deco painter (8)

12 Joan ---, author of children’s books including 1962’s The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase (5)

13 Joe ---, cricketer who captained England’s Test team from 2017-22 (4)

14 and 22 Down Wife of Louis XVI, executed during the French Revolution (5,10)

15 The largest inlet of the Atlantic in the coast of the US (10,3)

17 A list of events arranged

according to a schedule (9)

19 In astrology, the eighth

sign of the zodiac (7)

23 The soft fine feathers that

cover the body of a bird (4)

24 North ---, landlocked republic in south-east Europe (9)

25 A type of duck, the male of which has a white plumage with black markings (4)

26 Richard ---, German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras who wrote the opera Salome (7)

28 Greek historian, known as

the Father of History (9) 31 An administrative region of Northern Italy, the capital of which is Bologna (6-7)

34 Person who refrains from using any animal product (5)

36 George H. W. ---,

41st President of the United States (4)

37 A repair or re-equipping, as of a ship, for further use (5)

38 Washing machines with two revolving drums, one for washing and the other for spin-drying (4-4)

39 A country located in the eastern Himalayas between China and India (6)

40 London address associated with medical specialists (6,6)

Down

2 Room for free movement

within limits (6)

3 Cold-blooded vertebrate typically living on land but breeding in water (9)

4 See 30

5 --- beetle, insect whose woodboring larvae are a serious pest (10)

6 Edith ---, actress who memorably played Lady Bracknell in the 1952 film version of The Importance Of Being Earnest (5)

7 A ground-living nocturnal

parrot of New Zealand (6)

8 Henry ---, American actor who won an Oscar for his final film role in 1981’s On Golden Pond (5) 9 Jan ---, 17th-Century Dutch painter whose works include Girl With A Pearl Earring (7)

10 People who have a very similar appearance to another person (10)

16 The smaller of the two

satellites of Mars (6)

18 A long-handled spoon with a deep bowl for serving liquids (5)

20 In Greek mythology, the ferryman who brought the dead across the rivers Styx (6)

21 City in Hampshire;

a major naval base (10)

22 See 14 Across

25 A waterproof hat with a very broad brim at the back (9)

27 --- --- Jazz, 1979 semi-autobiographical film directed by

Bob Fosse (3,4)

29 The fibrous interior of the fruit of the dishcloth gourd, dried, bleached and used as a bath sponge (6)

30 and 4 London landmark designed by John Nash, relocated in 1851 (6,4)

32 In the Old Testament, the first high priest of the Israelites; brother of Moses (5)

33 Nancy ---, the first woman to serve as an MP in the British House of Commons (5)

35 Artificial heads of hair (4)