THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
There’s an amazing £1,500 prize for the first correct solution drawn at random in our general knowledge Prize Crossword. The whole family will have fun trying to come up with the answers. Entries must arrive by Friday, January 9 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name will be published on Sunday, January 25.
ACROSS
1 Will –––, winner of the first ever series of Pop Idol in 2002 (5) 4 Thoroughbred racehorse that finished first in the 1973, 1974 and 1977 Grand Nationals (3,3) 8 City in which Shakespeare’s play Romeo And Juliet is set (6) 12 Jack –––, actor in The China Syndrome and Glengarry Glen Ross (6) 13 ––– Costello, singer whose original name was Declan MacManus (5) 14 Northern –––, common name for the Aurora Borealis (6) 15 Mesozoic Sauropterygian reptile with a long neck and four flippers (10) 16 ––– Athletic, football team that plays home games at The Valley (8) 17 David –––, co-writer of Dad’s Army, Hi-De-Hi and Allo Allo (5) 19 God of beauty and desire in Greek mythology (6) 22 ––– card, electronic ticket used on London public transport (6) 25 Unabbreviated form of music retailer HMV’s name (3,7,5) 28 Titania’s husband in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King of the Fairies (6) 29 April 5th, 2015 (6) 30 ––– Peterson, jazz pianist born in Montreal in 1925 (5) 32 Birthplace of comedian Ade Edmondson and street magician Dynamo (8) 35 Building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC (5,5) 37 Gold coin minted in Venice from the 13th Century onwards, also a spangle on a dress (6) 38 Heather –––, lead singer in the group M People (5) 39 ––– Of My Cloud, a 1965 hit for the Rolling Stones (3,3) 40 Zack –––, director of the films 300, Watchmen and Man Of Steel (6) 41 Canada’s capital city (6) 42 Jeff –––, West Brom player who was capped five times for England (5)
DOWN
2 Operation –––, code name for the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War (8) 3 City in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the South of France (5) 5 Poetic name for Ireland, suggested by the lush green countryside (7,4) 6 ––– Phoenix, actor who played a youthful Indiana Jones in 1989 (5) 7 A No3 UK hit for John Miles in 1976 (5) 8 Heitor –––, 20th Century Brazilian composer (5-5) 9 Brightest star in the constellation of Orion (5) 10 Element that forms approximately 78 per cent of the Earth’s atmosphere (8) 11 ––– Chekhov, author of Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard (5) 18 ––– Tuck, one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men (5) 20 Mashed turnip, often served with haggis (5) 21 Female relative by marriage (6-2-3) 23 Cat that was the Clintons’ household pet during Bill Clinton’s presidency (5) 24 Welsh band that had 1960s hits with Bend Me, Shape Me and If Paradise Is Half As Nice (4,6) 26 Place in Scotland nicknamed the Silver City and the Granite City (8) 27 A three-act opera by Wagner first produced in 1882 (8) 31 Hagar’s wife in the comic strip Hagar The Horrible (5) 33 Member of the educated class in Celtic Britain and Ireland (5) 34 ––– 2000, a top ten hit for Pulp in 1995 (5) 35 ––– Earp, Deputy Marshal in Tombstone at the time of the Gunfight at the OK Corral (5) 36 Captain Lawrence –––, Antarctic explorer who died on Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (5)