GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

Play our accumulator game! Every day this week, solve the crossword to find the letter in the pink circle. On Friday, we’ll provide instructions to submit your five-letter word for your chance to win a luxury Cross pen. UK residents aged 18+, excl NI. Terms apply. Entries cost 50p

ACROSS

8 Body of regulations within some Christian churches governing their existence (5,3)

9 Fernando ____, Spanish motor racing driver who joined the Alpine team in 2021 (6)

10 TV sitcom set in Button House, a haunted country mansion, first broadcast in 2019 (6)

11 A blend of tea flavoured with bergamot, named after an aristocratic ex-British prime minister (4,4)

12 Decided or forceful (8)

13 A dish made by cooking a duck, goose etc. in its own fat (6)

14 A neglected, abandoned or orphaned child (4)

16 Asian country whose provinces include Guangdong and Sichuan (5)

17 Bukayo ____, Arsenal footballer who missed England’s last spot kick in the Euro 2020 final penalty shootout (4)

18 George MacDonald ____, British author who wrote a series of novels about Harry Flashman (6)

20 Month covered by the star signs Sagittarius and Capricorn (8)

23 A place equipped with sun lamps used to acquire an artificial tan (8)

24 ____ Canal, artificial waterway created in 1914 that links the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean (6)

25 ____ Variations, an orchestral work by English composer Edward Elgar (6)

26 The practice of not wearing any clothes on beaches or other specified locations (8)

DOWN

1 A measurement of the depth of water equivalent to six feet (6)

2 The top assistant in a UK professional kitchen (4-4)

3 Ready or prepared (3,3)

4 Breakthrough hit by U.S. hard rock band Guns N’ Roses that was released in 1988 (5,5,1,4)

5 ____ Routledge, actress who played Hyacinth Bucket in the TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (8)

6 1986 film in which Tom Cruise played U.S. Navy pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (3,3)

7 A star-shaped mark used to indicate an omission in text (8)

15 Flying (8)

16 A public festivity in which people play music and often dance in the streets (8)

17 A college where priests or rabbis are trained (8)

19 Character in the Scooby-Doo franchise originally voiced by radio DJ Casey Kasem (6)

21 Per ____ , Latin expression meaning ‘for each person’ (6)

22 To tangle in a net or snare (6)

SOLUTION TOMORROW