THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
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, September 14 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, September 30. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!
Across
11 The young of herrings and sprats cooked and eaten whole (9) 12 P.G. –––, English comic novelist who created Jeeves and Wooster (9) 13 ––– Sachs, poet and playwright awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1966 (5) 14 Leo –––, Russian author who wrote Anna Karenina (7) 15 The Grapes Of –––, novel by American writer John Steinbeck (5) 16 A dispersal or spreading of people from their original homeland (8) 18 Tim – – – – – –, computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web (7-3) 22 Able to speak two languages fluently (9) 24 Ferdinand’s kingdom in Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost (7) 27 An inactive medical substance used as a control in testing new drugs (7) 28 The part of the Mediterranean Sea between South East Italy, East Sicily and Greece (6,3) 30 A crumbly, white, mildflavoured cheese (10) 32 French dish of chicken stewed with red wine, onions and mushrooms (3,2,3) 35 Scots name for turnips, especially when served with potatoes (5) 37 Viral disease also called German measles (7) 38 A person who stands in temporarily for another member of the same profession (5) 39 A session of practising a play or concert in preparation for public performance (9) 40 Duke –––, American composer, pianist and bandleader known as one of the most influential figures in jazz music (9)
Down
1 A county of North West Wales, location of much of Snowdonia National Park (7) 2 English poet and engraver who wrote Songs Of Innocence and Songs Of Experience (7,5) 3 Daniel –––, current chairman of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur (4) 4 Light, teasing or joking language or repartee (6) 5 A set of steps in a wall or fence to allow people, but not animals, to pass over (5) 6 Republic in West Europe made up of 26 cantons (11) 7 ––– Merckx, Belgian cyclist who won the Tour de France five times in the 1960s and ’70s (4) 8 A brief period of rain, hail, sleet or snow (6) 9 An insect at the immobile stage of development between larva and adult (4) 10 The birthplace of Jesus, according to the New Testament (9) 17 The edible seed of leguminous plants such as peas, beans and lentils (5) 19 A person skilled in a Japanese martial art characterised by stealthy movement and camouflage (5) 20 The chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland (4,8) 21 American comic actress who starred in the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy (7,4) 23 In the Old Testament, the mother-in-law of Ruth (5) 25 A pleasing view or prospect (5) 26 The point on the earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake (9) 29 Perennial plant also known as a windflower (7) 31 The derived SI unit of pressure, named after a French physicist (6) 33 Priest or priestess who sought advice or prophecy from the gods (6) 34 A narrow lane or passage, especially between or behind buildings (5) 36 The reflection of sound (4) 37 Hard, dry biscuit traditionally given to teething babies (4) 38 The Roman personification of the moon (4)