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

1 Theory of government in complete control (15) 9 Short pastoral poem (7) 10 Part of the body between chest and pelvis (7) 11 Table used for mass in church (5) 12 U.S. novelist who created Jack Ryan (3,6) 13 Mikhail, Russian romantic poet and author (9) 15 Mark, ex-England and Sale rugby union winger (5) 16 Seagoing vessel with sails or motor (5) 18 Juliet, Truly, Madly, Deeply actress (9) 20 Device pressed to stop in a car (9) 23 Gregorian _____ or plainsong (5) 24 People with honorary titles retained after discharge (7) 25 Henry, The Pink Panther film score composer (7) 26 Mayonnaise with ketchup, chili sauce and horseradish (7,8)

DOWN

1 Conan Doyle’s last Sherlock Holmes novel (3,6,2,4) 2 Instrumental song released by The Tornados (7) 3 Boorish, aggressive male fuelled by alcohol (5,4) 4 River on which Nottingham stands (5) 5 Easy Rider is a noted example (4,5) 6 _____ Qadir, Pakistani former leg spinner (5) 7 Huge (7) 8 1988 greatest hits album by Dire Straits (5,3,7) 14 _________ devil, small ferocious marsupial (9) 15 Curved streets or terraces (9) 17 People skilled in making barrels and casks (7) 19 Language used in eastern Africa (7) 21 Buckwheat pancake often eaten with caviar (5) 22 _____ J. Fudd, Bugs Bunny’s enemy (5)

SOLUTION TOMORROW