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, May 28 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, June 13. You must complete the iSpy box to enter. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter – and good luck!

Across

1 Small, flat, rectangular briefcases used for carrying documents and papers (7,5)

8 The roof of the mouth, separating the oral and nasal cavities (6)

11 Benjamin –––, Conservative prime minister of the United Kingdom 1874-80 (8)

12 Person who imitates others, especially for satirical effect (5)

13 ––– the Miller’s Son, one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men in folk tales (4)

14 The main towers within the walls of medieval castles or fortresses (5)

15 Another name for an echidna (5,8)

17 American Prohibition agent, leader of a team of law enforcement agents nicknamed

The Untouchables (5,4)

19 People, soldiers or vehicles accompanying others for protection, guidance, restraint, or as a mark of honour (7)

23 Derived SI units of electrical resistance (4)

24 The first public performances of films, plays or operas (9)

25 A large ceremonial cloak worn at solemn liturgical functions by priests of certain Christian sects (4)

26 The smallest planet in the Solar System and the nearest to the sun (7)

28 2001 Ian McEwan novel shortlisted for the Booker Prize (9)

31 Footballer who became Britain’s first £1m player when he transferred to Nottingham Forest in 1979 (6,7)

34 ––– shad, a migratory fish of European coastal waters that travels up rivers to spawn (5)

36 Large, marine, spiny-finned food fish of warm waters (4)

37 ––– pastry, the light dough used to make profiteroles and eclairs (5)

38 The 12 disciples chosen by Christ to preach his gospel (8)

39 Horatio –––, Vice Admiral killed during 1805’s Battle of Trafalgar (6)

40 A ––– ––– –––, 1958 play by Shelagh Delaney, adapted into a film of the same title in 1961 (5,2,5)

Down

2 The capital of Taiwan (6)

3 An ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens (9)

4 Long-handled implements with light blades, used to till the soil and eradicate weeds (4)

5 Anthropoid ape inhabiting forests in Central

West Africa (10)

6 ––– Templar, fictional character created by Leslie Charteris, nicknamed The Saint (5)

7 Small skiff propelled by oars or a scull (6)

8 Any of a pattern of small loops, as on lace (5)

9 Pain in the lower back (7)

10 A continuous paper ribbon on which stock exchange prices are printed by a machine (6,4)

16 The Big –––, American musician who died in a 1959 plane crash along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens (6)

18 An allotted or fixed period of work (5)

20 ––– Street, long-running US children’s television show featuring Jim Henson’s Muppets (6)

21 The Kampuchean Communist party, which seized power in the Cambodian Civil War in 1975 (5,5)

22 A rich cake mixture containing ground almonds (10)

25 18th Century Venetian landscape painter and etcher (9)

27 Warnings or cautions (7)

29 A trial or test, as of an athlete or actor (6)

30 An ancient galley with two banks of oars (6)

32 A highly toxic protein derived from castor-oil seeds (5)

33 A means of connection between members of a group or things in a series (5)

35 The horny covering of the end of a horse’s or deer’s foot (4)