THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
There’s an amazing £1,500 prize for the first correct solution drawn at random in our general knowledge Prize Crossword. Entries must arrive by Friday, February 2 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, February 18. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.
ACROSS
11 A plant with typically blue or white flowers, the UK national collection being held at Burton Agnes Hall (9) 12 A woman’s loose, robe-like, informal garment (9) 13 A port and resort on the West coast of Italy, a site of Allied landings in World War II (5) 14 One of a pair of frames fitted with metal spikes, strapped to boots for climbing or walking on ice or snow (7) 15 A sudden overwhelming feeling of terror or anxiety (5) 16 Locks of hair hanging down in spiral curls (8) 18 Former FIFA World Player of the Year elected President of Liberia in 2017 (6,4) 22 Mr Thomas ––– school board Superintendent in Charles Dickens’s novel Hard Times (9) 24 Henry –––, 17th Century English Baroque composer (7) 27 Novel by Sir Walter Scott, set in 12th Century England (7) 28 County in Northern Virginia, USA, location of the Pentagon and a famous military cemetery (9) 30 G.K. –––, English writer who created the fictional priestdetective Father Brown (10) 32 Stéphane ---, 19th Century French symbolist poet and critic (8) 35 A room used as an office or living quarters in a ship (5) 37 A vast region of Russia and North Kazakhstan (7) 38 The CGS unit of viscosity (5) 39 A breed of tiny dog with either long or smooth hair, large, erect ears and prominent eyes (9) 40 Forceful and bitter verbal attacks against someone or something (9)
DOWN
1 Finger-shaped cakes of choux pastry, covered with chocolate (7) 2 A Christian hymn published in 1779, with lyrics by English poet and clergyman John Newton (7,5) 3 International organisation established in 1949 for purposes of collective security (acronym) (4) 4 The capital of Oman, a port on the Arabian Sea (6) 5 A large, tropical parrot with a long tail and brilliant plumage (5) 6 Thomas –––, 18th Century English cabinet-maker and furniture designer (11) 7 Ben –––, fictional character in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (4) 8 A building or place dedicated to the worship of a deity or deities (6) 9 ––– word, a word adopted from one language into another (4) 10 Swedish city and birthplace of Greta Garbo (9) 17 A line or rope used to walk or control a dog or other animal (5) 19 Cathedral city in North Yorkshire (5) 20 Song by The Beatles, released on the 1966 album Revolver and as a single (7,5) 21 Term for a person who changes his or her views or allegiances to suit the times (5,2,4) 23 Germaine – – –, Australian-born writer and academic whose ground-breaking works include The Female Eunuch (5) 25 Mammal of Africa and South Asia, also called the honey badger (5) 26 Alfred –––, film director whose movies included Rear Window and Psycho (9) 29 A member of the group of ray-finned fishes (7) 31 The organ of taste in vertebrates (6) 33 Yasser –––, the first President of the Palestinian National Authority (6) 34 ––– oil, petroleum before it has been refined (5) 36 A two-masted, squarerigged ship (4) 37 A district of London’s West End in the City of Westminster, chiefly known for its restaurants and clubs (4) 38 South American country on the Pacific which was the centre of the Inca Empire (4)