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 1 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, February 17. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter. Across 11 The armed services of the German Third Reich from 1935 to 1946 (9) 12 A performer given top billing, star (9) 13 A lethal nerve gas used in chemical weapons (5) 14 Large town in North East Wiltshire (7) 15 Informal vocabulary or idiom (5) 16 A thin slice of meat, often veal, coated with breadcrumbs and fried (8) 18 François –––, the President of France 1981 to 1995 (10) 22 Seemingly ceaseless, eternal (9) 24 Usual or regular method of procedure (7) 27 Skilled worker or craftsperson (7) 28 Fictional wooden puppet created by a woodcarver named Geppetto (9) 30 In Britain, lawyers who advise clients on matters of law, draw up legal documents or prepare cases for barristers (10) 32 Orchestral piece, often the introduction to an opera or play (8) 35 and 5 Down The – – – – – –, 2000 novel by Philip Roth featuring first person narrator Nathan Zuckerman (5,5) 37 A member of any of the nomadic Arab tribes inhabiting the deserts of Arabia, Jordan and Syria, as well as parts of the Sahara (7) 38 A teacher, usually instructing individual pupils and often engaged privately (5) 39 Sergei –––, Russian composer whose works included the ‘symphonic fairy tale’ Peter And The Wolf (9) 40 See 9 Down Down 1 An informal US or Canadian name for a tornado (7) 2 The money that owners invest in order to start or expand a business (5,7) 3 A sultanate on the Arabian Sea, the capital of which is Muscat (4) 4 Behaves in a troublesome way (4,2) 5 See 35 Across 6 The smallest American state by land area (5,6) 7 A small mountain lake or pool (4) 8 Romantic drama directed by Mike Nichols, starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen (6) 9 and 40 Across Indianborn author of the memoir The English Governess At The Siamese Court, which was the inspiration for the 1951 musical The King And I (4,9) 10 Plays in which the heroic protagonist succumbs to terrible events (9) 17 Nocturnal, slow-moving, large-eyed primate (5) 19 A ––– lens is used to correct astigmatism (5) 20 English writer who was known for her children’s books about Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig (6,6) 21 English chemist who invented a type of safety lamp and coined the name ‘laughing gas’ for nitrous oxide (7,4) 23 Max –––, German artist who was a pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism (5) 25 ‘The Fall of the House of –––’, 1839 short story by Edgar Allan Poe (5) 26 A confident feeling about something that might not be true (5,4) 29 A chronic infectious disease characterised by the formation of painful inflamed nodules beneath the skin (7) 31 A gorge or ravine, especially in North America (6) 33 Person who sells something, especially property (6) 34 A bird’s feather made into a pen for writing (5) 36 A discussion or debate of a hypothetical case or point (4) 37 Projecting rim or edge of a hat (4) 38 1982 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Lisberger (4)