Across:

DECEMBER 30, SOLUTION

9 French toast, 11 Foo Fighters, 13 Tristram, 14 The Aeneid, 15 Farrah, 16 Withnail And I, 18 Estonia, 19 Sue, 20 unclad, 21 Southgate, 23 Steffan, 25 Reichstag, 28 scallop, 29 reveal, 30 Alvin Stardust, 33 dirigible, 34 Her Choice, 35 Field Of Dreams, 36 meteor, 37 Double-U, 40 jackasses, 42 West Way, 43 card games, 45 Browne, 47 lol, 49 Roberts, 52 easy on the eye, 53 Jensen, 54 In the Loop, 55 Sideways, 57 Scientology, 58 killer whale.

Derived from Sanskrit, used metaphorically for an unstoppable destructive force (10)

Glasgow’s first working-class martyrs, killed in a strike of 1787 (6,7)

Device used to drain water collected in the bottom part of a boat (5-4)

Type of thick wheat flour noodle from Japan (4)

To rub with granular material to remove dead skin (9)

A particular type of mountain-top, such as mount Fuji often displays (7)

Light sleep (7)

Surname of the Scottish character played by Maggie Smith in the ‘Harry Potter’ films (10)

Surname of the author of the ‘Swallows and Amazons’ books (7) Easily nauseated (9)

Star of the long-running ‘Scotch and Wry’ TV series (5,6)

Either Mercury or Venus, which lies within the Earth’s orbit of the Sun (8,6) To remain united (5,8) Historical name for a domestic employee charged with the care of children (11)

Resembling soil (6)

Country which includes the non-independent part of 21 (9)

The absence of being stretched (11) The deputy of an abbot in an abbey (5)

Berlin street which was the location of the foreign office and other government buildings until 1945 (14)

Circular windows (5)

Another name for ‘Thinkpol’ in George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (7,6)

Kenneth Grahame’s wealthy anthropomorphic character who has a liking of Harris tweed (2,4)

Occupation of the Scottish character ‘Willie’ in ‘The Simpsons’ (13)

To let the wool fall off the needle while knitting (4,1,6)

Manoeuvre in kayaking, returning the boat to an upright position after capsizing (6,4)

Comic strip character who has a friend called Edward Trunk (6,4)

The skill of persuasive speech (9) Grand champions in sumo wrestling (9)

In the shape of a cross (9) Traditional art form often seen during Hindu festivals (7)

Stone traditionally representing a 55th wedding anniversary (7)

Chapel in which papal conclaves are held (7)

City in which the Taj Mahal is located (4)