THE PRIZE CROSSWORD
WIN £1,500
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, April 20 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, May 6. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.
Across
10 A Japanese plant, the green pungent root of which is used to make a condiment (6) 11 American actor who starred in films including Bullitt and The Great Escape (5,7) 12 An inert gas used in illuminated signs and lights (4) 13 A member of a class of low social status that depended on either cottage industry or agricultural labour to subsist (7) 14 A defect of the eye that causes light to focus in front of the retina (6) 15 The capital city of the republic of Georgia (7) 16 South Korean venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics (11) 20 King of Mercia 757-796, whose name is connected with an earthen barrier that runs along the EnglandWales border (4) 21 A soft, light, woollen fabric with a slight nap, used for clothing (7) 22 Ian –––, former Australian freestyle swimmer who won five Olympic gold medals (6) 23 One of a pair of siblings who are kidnapped in an 1812 Brothers Grimm fairy tale (6) 25 Chemical substances that the body makes when it does not have enough insulin in the blood (7) 27 Joan –––, Catalan Spanish painter and sculptor inspired by surrealism and Cubists (4) 28 Plain, ordinary good judgment (6,5) 29 A green, transparent variety of beryl, a highlyvalued gemstone (7)
32 and 35 The – – – – – –, the last play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov (6,7) 35 See 32 36 Ancient Roman garment worn over a tunic (4) 37 A North American magnolia with unpleasant-smelling white flowers (8,4) 38 The dialect spoken by Liverpudlians (6)
Down
1 Bovid animal of swampy regions of South Asia, with wide, back-curving horns (5,7) 2 An active shield volcano in Hawaii that erupts, on average, every threeand-a-half years (5,3) 3 In Roman architecture, a pillar bearing an inscription (6) 4 Southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides, home to eight working whisky distilleries (5) 5 English singer nicknamed the Forces’ Sweetheart during World War II (4,4) 6 A county of North West England until 1974, now part of Cumbria (11) 7 A layer of impure matter that forms on the surface of a liquid (4) 8 Bedfordshire mansion designed by Robert Adam for the 3rd Earl of Bute (5,3) 9 In Persian folklore, one of a race of beautiful supernatural beings (4) 17 Bill –––, American magnate and philanthropist, second richest person in the world (5) 18 A specialist in the branch of medicine concerned with diseases of the kidney (12) 19 American writer of the Beat generation, whose novels included The Subterraneans (4,7) 21 Formerly, in criminal law, one who has committed a serious crime (5) 24 A felt or straw hat with a wide brim, traditionally worn in Mexico and South West USA (8) 26 A complex pattern used to calibrate a television transmission system (4,4) 27 A race on foot of 26 miles 385 yards (8) 30 In Greek mythology, one of the three Gorgons whose glance turned people to stone (6) 31 Hugh –––, King of France, founder of the dynasty which ruled the country from 987-1328 (5) 33 A Christian song of praise sung to God or a saint (4) 34 The nutrient-bearing yellow part of an egg (4)