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

Across

11 ––– of Denmark, queen consort to Edward VII (9) 12 Dishes consisting of beaten eggs cooked in a frying pan (9)

13 A group of 12 (5)

14 A type of lettuce with very crisp, pale leaves tightly enfolded (7)

15 A long weapon with a pointed head used by horsemen (5)

16 Jules –––, French composer best known for his operas, which include Manon and Werther (8) 18 A police van for transporting prisoners (5,5) 22 Professional treatments of the feet, either by a medical expert or a beautician (9)

24 To put a message into code (7)

27 A shoe worn for running and other sports (7) 28 Disagreeing with the principles of a particular religion (9) 30 In England and Wales, a place in which criminal cases are tried by a judge and jury rather than by a magistrate (5,5) 32 The Prime Minister of Italy 1963-68 and 1974-76 (4,4)

35 Moist or damp atmosphere or climate (5) 37 1985 benefit concert organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure (4,3)

38 The upper part of a human leg (5) 39 A revolving tray placed at the centre of a dining table, from which one can help oneself to food (4,5) 40 Queen of Egypt

51BC to 30BC (9)

Down

1 Bicycles with two sets of pedals and two saddles (7)

2 A female voice intermediate between a soprano and contralto (5-7)

3 A chess piece of the lowest theoretical value (4) 4 Recommendation as to an appropriate choice of action (6)

5 Hard, ring-shaped bread roll, often associated with Jewish baking (5)

6 The act of a lender, especially a mortgage lender, taking the collateral on a loan when loan payments are not made (11) 7 Virginia –––, British Olympic medal-winning equestrian (4)

8 Flared ruffle attached to the waist of a jacket or bodice (6)

9 ––– College, public school in Berkshire founded in 1440 by Henry VI (4) 10 An international artificial language invented in 1887 (9)

17 A city and port in North West Germany, birthplace of film director Wolfgang Petersen (5) 19 A fissure or crevice in a rock or the ground (5) 20 An association founded in England by Charles II in 1660 to promote research in the sciences (5,7) 21 Archaeologist famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the island of Crete (6,5)

23 A small article valued as a collector’s item (5) 25 Tropical evergreen tree native to the

Amazon basin, grown for its edible seeds which are processed into chocolate (5)

26 City in Sweden, spread across an archipelago of 14 islands (9)

29 East –––, a council area of East Central Scotland on the Firth of Forth (7) 31 The practice of nakedness (6)

33 The dome-shaped dens of beavers (6)

34 A protective covering for an injured eye (5) 36 A complex network of paths or passages, labyrinth (4) 37 To pronounce ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds as if they were ‘th’ (4) 38 A string stretched across the track at the end of a race course (4)