Prize crossword
Across
8 A Cold War episode of 1948– 49 initiated by the Soviets occupying East Germany (6,8) 9 Eastern European city that became the first Rus’ capital in the mid-ninth century (4) 10 Ancient Greek writer renowned for his fables (5) 11 One of the great Chinese dynasties, lasting from the seventh to tenth centuries AD (4) 12 Writer and broadcaster Marghanita and political scientist Harold were members of this Anglo-Jewish family (5) 13 Richard ___, Industrial reformer whose campaigning helped prompt the ‘Ten Hours Act’ of 1847 ( 7) 14 Term, named after a biblical character, applied to the selling of holy orders by the church (6) 16 Irish playwright renowned for his early 20th-century tragicomedies set in the slums of Dublin (6) 20 All that is left of this 12thcentury Cumbrian priory is a church, saved after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries ( 7) 22 ___- on-Don, city in south-west Russia where, in August 1942, the Nazis massacred around 27,000 residents, mostly Jews (6) 24 Crimean battle of September 1854 from which the defeated Russians managed to retreat to Sebastopol (4) 25 The first process enabling this item’s cheap mass production was developed by Henry Bessemer in 1856 (5) 26 Bartholomew __ (anglicised), the first navigator known to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope, in 1488 (4) 27 A 13-year period in US history, noted for the rise of gangsters such as Al Capone (11,3)
Down
1 Fifth-century BC politician who played a major role in the development of the Athenian empire (8) 2 German town near the Dutch border, family seat of the duke whose sister married Henry VIII of England (6) 3 Military action – for example, Nazi Germany’s ‘Operation Weserübung’ of April– June 1940 (8) 4 Mary ___, Scottish missionary to Nigeria, who gained the respect of the local people and helped to stop the practice of killing twins ( 7) 5 John T ___, schoolteacher who, found guilty in America’s notorious 1925 ‘Monkey Trial’, was fined $100 for teaching human evolution (6) 6 Elegant shopping area of Tunbridge Wells, named after the material with which it was paved in 1700 (8) 7 Edward ___, who devised the first successful vaccine and pioneered the science of immunology (6) 15 Sixteenth-century Flemish cartographer who introduced the term ‘atlas’ (8) 17 An eastern European script named in honour of two Byzantine missionary brothers, St Cyril and St Methodius (8) 18 English military units raised from volunteers who were farm-owners (8) 19 Freedom fighter Ahmed Ben Bella became the first president of this country in 1963, after independence from France in 1962 ( 7) 20 In Islamic history, the leader of a Muslim state, Abu Bakr being the first (6) 21 The use of tesserae by the ancient Greeks elevated this art of surface decoration (6) 23 An old form of transport requiring two ‘chairmen’ (5)