GENERAL KNOWLEDGE CROSSWORD

WIN A LUXURY CROSS PEN

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 A headscarf tied under the chin, traditionally worn by Russian women (8) 9 A state of nearunconsciousness induced by alcohol etc. (6) 10 A woman regarded as the most prominent or venerable member of her profession (6,4)

11 Character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe played by Tom Hiddleston (4)

12 To relax after a period

of work or tension (6)

14 Grigori, Siberian mystic who became a court favourite of the family of Tsar Nicholas II (8)

15 A blue-flowered plant of the daisy family whose roots can be used to flavour coffee (7) 17 Nick, the 2022 Wimbledon

men’s singles runner-up (7) 20 A marine crustacean with an external shell, that attaches itself to rocks and bottoms of boats (8)

22 County cricket club whose badge features the Prince of Wales’s feathers (6)

24 ____ interface, software and input devices by which a person interacts with a computer (4)

25 Synth-pop and alternative dance song by New Order, released in 1983 (4,6)

27 Great ____, home in East Sussex of gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd (6) 28 To find out information by enquiring with different people (3,5)

DOWN

1 One who gives financial or other support to a person, organisation or cause (6)

2 Mother’s ____, a slang

term for gin (4)

3 Piece of office machinery that reduces paper into narrow strands (8)

4 Soldiers who fought on

horseback in the past (7)

5 Resources with an economic value that could benefit an individual or company (6)

6 A long, usually folding seat for sitting or lying outdoors in the summer (10)

7 The northernmost of Japan’s main islands that includes the city of Sapporo (8)

13 To destroy something, especially waste material, by burning (10)

16 The position of principal

teacher in a school (8)

18 Veils concealing the

face, except the eyes, worn by some Muslim women in public (8)

19 The action of reading or

examining something (7)

21 James, U.S. actor who played the knife expert in the 1960 film The Magnificent Seven (6)

23 ____ Thompson-Herah, Jamaican runner who won the sprint double at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics (6)

26 High ____, term meaning the event that will finally resolve a situation (4)

SOLUTION TOMORROW