BIG MONDAY CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Asian river formed in southern Iraq by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates (5,2-4) 6 Horizontal bar attached to the front or back of a motor vehicle to absorb impact in a collision (6) 9 Northernmost town of the British Isles, in the Shetlands on the island of Mainland (7) 10 Branch of medicine concerned with the treatment of the hair and scalp (10)

11 and 12 Hawthornden Prize-winning 1927 novel by English author Henry Williamson (5,3,5) 13 Dynasty that ruled China from 1368 to 1644, founded by Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–98) (4) 16 Second epoch of the Tertiary period, between 56 and 34 million years ago (6)

19 Brisk lively composition typically replacing a minuet in the third movement of a symphony or sonata; Italian, ‘jest’ (7)

21 Chinese moral philosopher (551–479 BC) whose ideas were posthumously collected in the Analects (9)

22 In music, the chief instrumentalist in each section of an orchestra (9)

23 and 24 British Labour prime minister who served between the two terms of Winston Churchill (1945-51) (7,6)

25 Agricultural labourer in a feudal society bound to a plot of land and whichever lord owns it (4) 26 P(ieter) W(illem) ___, South African statesman; Prime Minister 1978–84 and State President 1984–9 (5)

27 Child who assists a priest during services, especially in the Roman Catholic Church; an acolyte (5,3)

32 Balsaminaceous African plant with showy pink, red or white flowers; Impatiens walleriana (4,6)

33 and 5 Down Captain of the Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty cast adrift by mutineers in 1789 (7,5)

34 Historic city of SE Turkey in which the apostle Saint Paul was born around 4 BC (6) 35 Superior grade of black tea from India and Sri Lanka made from the small leaves at the tips of the plant stems (6,5)

DOWN

1 Italian dish of veal, ham and sage braised in white wine; literally ‘leap into the mouth’ (11) 2 Imperial unit of land area originally that which could be ploughed by a yoke of oxen in one day (4)

3 Capital and largest city of Ghana, in the south-east on the Gulf of Guinea (5)

4 2001 comedy film starring Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg and Cuba Gooding Jr. (3,4) 5 See 33 Across

6 Standard monetary unit of Thailand, divided into 100 satang (4)

7 2020 comedy-drama film starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan (8,5) 8 Spanish painter born Domenikos Theotokopoulos in the Kingdom of Candia (modern Crete) in 1541 (2,5) 14 Presenter of the British children’s TV show Rainbow from 1973 to 1992 (8,5) 15 Specified band of frequencies assigned for a particular purpose, especially the broadcasting of a television signal (7)

17 Spiral cavity of the inner ear in which the organ of Corti is located (7)

18 Hard chewy confectionery made with sugar or honey and egg whites, often with chopped nuts or dried fruit added (6)

19 ‘Love is a ___ all compact of fire’ (Shakespeare Venus and Adonis (1593) l. 145) (6) 20 Wooded valley between the mountains Olympus and Ossa in Thessaly, eastern Greece; associated with Apollo in ancient times (4,2,5)

23 Animal genus of the family Hyaenidae to which the spotted, or laughing, hyena belongs (7) 24 Public walkway or promenade lined with trees, especially poplars; from Spanish (7) 28 Administrative region of west central Italy in which Rome is located (5)

29 One of the diagonal groins or ribs of a Gothic vault (5)

30 Chart-topping 1986 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Parade (4) 31 Fine soft lustrous fibre produced by the larva of the Chinese moth Bombyx mori (4)