GET PUZZLING New Year Special

ACROSS 1 John – – –, 2018 I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! finalist (9) 6 2018 Strictly Come Dancing finalist – see picture A (4,5) 11 2018 Derby winner ridden by William Buick (5) 14 See 53 15 Singer who released 2018 album No Shame (4,5) 16 Sky One comedy-drama series starring Dawn French, Emilia Fox and Iain Glen that returned in December (9) 17 Stieg – – –, author of the Millennium crime novel series (7)

18 and 78 BBC Breakfast presenter who was a contestant on Richard Osman’s House Of Games in 2018 (4,9) 19 Joel and Ethan – – –, director-writers of 2018 film The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs (4) 20 Title of albums by The Ramsey Lewis Trio, Kenny Burrell and Dino in 1966, 1980 and 1990 respectively (7)

22 and 29 Down Fashion journalist who was the first celebrity to be eliminated on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing (8,11) 24 Brussels – – –, small green vegetables (7) 26 Estonian driver who finished third in the 2017 and 2018 World Rally Championships (3,5) 31 John – – –, US tennis player who played in the longest and second longest singles matches in Grand Slam history (5) 32 Eating implement (5) 33 Islamic sacred book (5) 34 Paapa – – –, actor who played Ed Washburn in the BBC TV series Press (7) 36 Alan – – –, Yorkshire-born presenter of Channel 5 series Secrets Of The National Trust (10) 38 Horror film series starring Lin Shaye whose 2018 instalment was subtitled The Last Key (9) 39 Character played by David Schwimmer in US sitcom Friends (4) 42 1959 top five single by Neil Sedaka (2,5) 43 Old Testament Hebrew prophet of the 8th Century BC (4) 44 Dele – – –, England’s second goalscorer in the World Cup quarter-final against Sweden (4) 45 J. K. – – –, author of 2018 novel Lethal White under pseudonym Robert Galbraith (7) 48 Perry – – –, US singer who recorded a 1968 Christmas album (4) 49 Formal account of events given to the police (9) 50 Maggie, star of 2018 film drama The Kindergarten Teacher – see picture B (10)

53 and 14 Singer of 2018 No 1 album Love (7,5) 54 Day on which dancing ladies first appear in The Twelve Days of Christmas (5) 55 Chris – – –, DJ who in September announced he would be leaving the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Christmas Eve (5) 56 Eddie – – –, lead singer of Art Brut whose album Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out! was released this year (5) 58 Actor who played Carlton Drake a.k.a. Riot in the action film Venom (3,5) 60 Mark – – –, 2018 Tony Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play nominee for Farinelli and the King (7) 61 Welsh custom, the giving of gifts on New Year’s Day (8) 66 Rory – – –, Scottish impressionist, team captain on ITV panel game The Imitation Game (7) 68 Flat structure of timber fastened together and used as a boat (4) 70 Samuel – – –, former Cameroon and Chelsea striker signed by Qatar SC in August (4) 71 Action film starring Jason Momoa in the title role (7) 74 Cooked meat dish traditionally accompanied by mint sauce (5,4) 75 Action film starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx (5,4) 76 – – – Martinez, contestant on 2018 US reality TV series The Bachelor (5) 77 Kevin – – –, Notts County playermanager sacked in 2018 (5) 78 See 18 79 Rapper who released 2018 album Ye (5,4) DOWN 1 1886 painting by John Everett Millais originally titled A Child’s World (7) 2 Andrew – – –, Scotland and Liverpool defender (9) 3 Jesse – – –, 1936 Olympic 100m and 200m gold medallist (5) 4 – – – Trump, First Lady of the United States (7) 5 Women’s stockings (6) 6 Almond-flavoured paste used in cakes (10) 7 Old term for Christmas (4) 8 Code word representing the letter T in the NATO phonetic alphabet (5) 9 Zinedine – – –, Real Madrid 2016, 2017 and 2018 Champions League-winning coach – see

picture C (6) 10 Joe – – –, Cardiff City midfielder (5) 11 Steven – – –, actor who starred in the television series Kiri and Wanderlust (10) 12 No 1 single by George Ezra (7) 13 Michael – – –, author of 2018 children’s novel Unexpected Twist (5) 21 Anthony – – –, actor who played the title role in 2018 TV film King Lear (7) 23 London Underground line that runs from Morden to High Barnet (8) 25 Thin, flat pancake in Mexican cookery (8) 27 ITV comedy-drama series starring Keeley Hawes set to end in 2019 (3,8) 28 George – – –, England and Saracens lock (5) 29 See 22 Across 30 Subtitle of the 2018 action film Avengers (8,3) 31 Brief opening passage to a piece of popular music (5) 32 Runner-up on this year’s series of The X Factor (8,3) 35 1992 UK No 2 album by Madonna (7) 37 1951-84 weekly children’s publication whose strips included The Avengers and Doctor Who (1,1,5) 40 Celebration of New Year’s Eve in Scotland (8) 41 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ballet popularised by a 1995 Matthew Bourne production (4,4) 46 Annabel – – –, television and radio presenter who appeared in the ITV series Our Shirley Valentine Summer (5) 47 Captivate, hold spellbound (7) 48 Jodie – – –, actress who played Villanelle in Killing Eve – see

picture D (5) 51 Denzel – – –, actor who played Robert McCall in the action film The Equalizer 2 (10) 52 2017 winner of ITV reality TV series Love Island who appeared on 2018 Channel 4 series Celebrity Hunted (3,7) 57 Actress who played Anne Sampson in the hit BBC TV drama series The Bodyguard (4,5) 59 Host of 2018 BBC TV series Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (3,4) 62 Traditional pantomime featuring the character Widow Twankey (7) 63 Sound made by a discharging firearm (7) 64 Josh – – –, singer who released the album Bridges this year (6) 65 David – – –, Wallabies and Brumbies flanker (6) 66 George Gordon – – –, British poet whose best-known works include Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (5) 67 Kingdom, domain (5) 69 Mo, winner of the 2018 Chicago Marathon (5) 72 – – – pie, dish of game and offal (5) 73 Encourage or assist someone to commit a crime (4)