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, September 11 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, September 27. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across

11 To immunise (9)

12 Objects that have been in a family for generations (9) 13 Plant with pungent-tasting leaves, often used in salads and as a garnish (5)

14 Steven –––, British actor, playwright and theatre director (7)

15 Of, or based on, the number eight (5)

16 Franz –––, Austrian composer who wrote about 600 lieder and seven complete symphonies (8)

18 West Yorkshire town, location of the castle in which Richard II was murdered (10) 22 A handwritten signature, especially that of a famous person (9)

24 Genus of aquatic plants with large, showy flowers (7)

27 Character in Dickens’s Great Expectations adopted and raised by Miss Havisham (7) 28 A large breed of dog with a short, smooth, white coat with black or brown spots (9)

30 Creams or lotions applied to exposed skin to protect it from ultraviolet rays (10) 32 Hans Christian –––,

19th Century Danish author and poet most famous for his fairy tales (8)

35 A city in North Italy, the capital of Lombardy (5) 37 Stanley –––, British Prime Minister who served under three monarchs (7) 38 P.D. –––, crime writer who created fictional police Commander

Adam Dalgliesh (5) 39 See 4 Down 40 To be self-employed, especially as a writer or artist who is hired to do specific assignments (9)

Down

1 To have a conversation about, talk over (7) 2 English architect who designed the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851 (6,6) 3 Small, compact dogs with smooth coats, lightly curled tails and short, wrinkled noses (4)

4 and 39 Across The – – – ––– –––, opera buffa in two acts by Rossini, first performed in 1816 (6,2,7) 5 Striped mammal of the horse family, native to South and East Africa (5) 6 The green pigment of plants that traps the energy of sunlight for photosynthesis (11) 7 In jazz or rock music, a short series of chords (4) 8 ––– ––– the handle, to lose one’s temper (3,3) 9 The space inside a roof (4)

10 Social separation of a person who has, or is suspected of having, a contagious disease (9) 17 Asian climbing plant, the leaves of which are chewed by the peoples of South East Asia (5) 19 A kingdom occupying an archipelago of more than 150 volcanic and coral islands in the South West Pacific (5)

20 A firm reproof (12)

21 The strait which lies between the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara, known as the Hellespont in ancient times (11) 23 An open place in a forest, clearing (5)

25 The longest river in France (5)

26 A tropical tree with hard wood and large, orangered fruit (9)

29 Pet dog of Dennis the Menace in the comic

The Beano (7)

31 Antonio –––, Italian neoclassical sculptor famous for his marble statues (6)

33 A port in West France, on 25 (6)

34 Bird with a short, forked tail that spends most of its time on the wing (5) 36 The flexible end of a whip (4)

37 Oily, aromatic, resinous substance used for healing and soothing (4) 38 First name of US presidential nominee

Joe Biden’s wife (4)