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 Crystalline form of carbon also called plumbago or black lead (8)

9 Nocturnal, spotted wild cat that lives in the rainforests of Central and South America (6)

10 ____ In The Sky, song by Norman Greenbaum first released in 1969 (6)

11 This and a bowler hat were trademarks of agent John Steed in The Avengers (8)

12 ____ Ashkenazy, Russian pianist and conductor born in 1937 (8)

13 British photographer and director born in 1966, noted for his fashion and portrait work (6)

14 Tori, U.S. singer-songwriter whose sole UK No. 1 hit was Professional Widow in 1997 (4)

16 Stanley, actor whose memoir Taste: My Life Through Food was published in 2021 (5)

17 Isle of ____, peninsula in east London that includes Canary Wharf (4)

18 A slender stick of wood or metal used for holding pieces of food together during cooking (6)

20 To contravene the terms of a law, agreement or the like (8)

23 Paul Thomas, director whose films include Phantom Thread and Licorice Pizza (8)

24 Walking as opposed to using a form of transport (2,4)

25 City where Marco Polo was born (6)

26 Expression meaning ‘overdrawn at the bank’ (2,3,3)

DOWN

1 To drive or push something forwards (6)

2 Greek archipelago in the Aegean Sea that includes Skiathos and Skyros (8)

3 A short statement that expresses a general truth (6)

4 A dish comprising remnants of former meals (12,3)

5 Vince, U.S. football coach who led the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s (8)

6 ____ Bridge, motorway suspension bridge between England and Wales (6)

7 Ellie, English singersongwriter noted for her 2015 power ballad Love Me Like You Do (8)

15 ____ Morganfield, a.k.a. the blues musician Muddy Waters, who shared a name with a U.S. president (8)

16 A small rocket engine used as a booster rocket (8)

17 A device for passing a fluid slowly into a vein of the body (4-4)

19 A small beetle with an elongated snout (6)

21 The leading edges of advancing masses of air in meteorology (6)

22 Retief, South African golfer who won the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2004 (6)

SOLUTION TOMORROW