THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
WIN €2,000
There’s an amazing €2,000 prize for the first correct solution drawn at random in our general knowledge prize Crossword. Entries must arrive by Friday, July 20 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, August 5. you must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!
Across
11 In Greek myths, the daughter of Cassiopeia and wife of Perseus; the Milky Way’s closest galaxy (9) 12 A group of attendants surrounding an important person; retinue (9) 13 One of the basic patterns of the human fingerprint (5) 14 Any of the 40 species of a marine cetacean mammal with needle-like teeth (7) 15 A row of bushes or trees forming a boundary to a field or garden (5) 16 Arrangements of long hair in rolls or knots at the back of the head (8) 18 People who habitually think that bad things are going to happen (10) 22 A small tropical turtle with a hooked, beak-like mouth; the first biofluorescent reptile ever recorded (9) 24 Millicent –––, British suffragist of whom a statue was unveiled in Parliament Square, London, in 2018 (7) 27 A cushion or stool for worshippers in a church (7) 28 American name for a small flat disc of chocolate covered with sugar pellets (9) 30 The constellation Ursa Minor, whose brightest star is Polaris (6,4) 32 A county in the south-east (8) 35 A Greek island in the Ionian Sea (5) 37 A newspaper with pages half the size of a broadsheet (7) 38 Fictional elephant created by the French writer Jean de Brunhoff (5) 39 A Christian festival occurring on Whitsunday (9) 40 A casual garment consisting of trousers with a bib attached (9)
Down
1 International airport located north of Crawley, West Sussex (7) 2 A firm, but not harsh, reproof (12) 3 The lower jaw or the flesh hanging from it (4) 4 Town in North East France, on the Meuse, scene of a long and severe battle in the First World War (6) 5 A long-handled spoon with a deep bowl for serving or transferring liquids (5) 6 Rachael – – – – – –, captain of the England women’s cricket team 1966-1978 (6,5) 7 and 31 Comic actor, born in Cumbria, who was the performing partner of Oliver Hardy (4,6) 8 A city in North East England, on the River Wear (6) 9 A sudden, surprise attack (4) 10 Something that is essential or needed, prerequisite (9) 17 The post at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs (5) 19 The capital and largest city of Bulgaria (5) 20 Competitions testing children’s word knowledge (8,4) 21 British shadow home secretary since 2016 and the first black woman to become an MP (5,6) 23 A woody perennial plant, smaller than a tree (5) 25 A ship violently destroyed at sea (5) 26 Rounded, close-fitting, brimless pieces of headwear, yarmulkes (9) 29 Coniferous tree with dark green, scale-like leaves and rounded cones (7) 31 See 7 33 A bluish-black element of the halogen group, the compounds of which are used in medicine, photography and dyes (6) 34 A large, round Dutch cheese, mild and similar in taste to Edam (5) 36 The smallest and weakest young animal in a litter (4) 37 Implement or piece of equipment used by hand (4) 38 A small, tapering nail with a side projection instead of a head (4)