GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

Across 1.

Central but unseen character in George Orwell’s 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (3,7)

6. “I would have been long ____ if I’d got married”: Goldie Hawn (8)

12. Blue hedgehog who first appeared in a 1991 video game (5)

13. Period of play added at the end of football matches (5,4)

14. Life-saving first-aid procedure (abbr) (3)

15. Rid one’s body of harmful toxins (7)

16. Type of sleeve which extends to the collar, named after a 19th Century British nobleman (6)

17. West African country, capital Bamako (4)

18. Profession of David Blaine and David Copperfield (8)

19. Antelope, Antidorcas marsupialis, found mainly in southern and SW Africa, but associated with South Africa (9)

24. Spanish city which became a centre of learning during the period of Muslim rule (7)

27. First Japanese male golfer to win a major tournament, the 2021 Masters, Hideki ____ (9)

29. Seventh largest Scottish island, located in the Firth of Clyde (5)

30. Giant sea bird which has a lifespan of more than 50 years (9)

31. First mate of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby Dick (8)

34. Type of women in the title of a Rolling Stones song which starts: “I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis” (5,4)

36. Artist who carves or shapes wood, clay, metal or stone (8)

40. Coating of iron oxide that forms on iron or steel (4)

42. __ Williams, first woman to win an Olympic gold medal for NZ, for the long jump in 1952 (6)

44. Historical country of Central Europe, a former kingdom of the Czech Republic (7)

46. Older brother of composer George Gershwin (3)

47. Cancer of the body’s bloodforming tissues (9)

48. Stud on a football or rugby boot (New Zealand) (5)

49. Earth, fire, air and water (8)

50. Author of Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (4,6)

Down 1.

Area used by mountaineers to prepare for a climb at greater heights (4,4)

2. Herbal supplement used in Chinese medicine (7)

3. Specially designed and modified vehicle used in professional motor sport (6,3)

4. First name of the woman who was Britain’s second female Prime Minister (7)

5. The Lotus ___, poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (6)

7. ___ Menzel, singer of the Oscar and Grammy winning song Let It Go, from the Disney film Frozen (5)

8. The Young ___, 1961 song by Cliff Richard (4)

9. Beans which are the basis of chocolate (5)

10. Crew member on a drilling rig (10)

11. Long, flat-bottom boats used on canals (6)

20. Term for machinery and equipment used for an industrial activity (5)

21. Mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and released in 2007 (3)

22. French word for white (5)

23. Debut single by English musician Gary Numan (1979) (4)

24. Harlan __, American novelist whose works include Tell No One and Just One Look (5)

25. Golden Girls character played by Beatrice Arthur (7)

26. Natural depression in the surface of land which often fills with water (5)

27. Mixture of ground animal feed (4)

28. Figure represented on a weather vane at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London (6,4)

32. One of the Three Wise Men, who gave myrrh to the infant Jesus (9)

33. One of the basic shapes in geometry (8)

35. Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old ___, World War I marching song (6)

37. Vegetable which features in the Korean dish kimchi (7)

38. Tiny monkey of Central and South America, from the family Callitrichidae (7)

39. Giraffe character in the Madagascar film franchise (6)

41. Fine-grained metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers (5)

43. Underground room or chamber for storage (5)

45. Name given to the period between 1901 and 1904 associated with the works of Pablo Picasso (4)