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, December 17 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, January 2. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.

Across

1 A large van with seats in the back for about ten passengers (7)

5 South African author awarded the 2021

Booker Prize for his novel The Promise (5,6)

10 Food treated by salting, smoking or drying in order to preserve it (5)

11 People forced to leave their native country, especially for political reasons (7)

13 A city in Northwest Portugal; seat of the Primate of Portugal (5)

14 A policy of deficit-cutting, requiring lower spending, higher taxes, or both (9)

15 The prediction of a person’s future based on the zodiacal data for their time of birth (9) A group of people interrelated by ancestry or marriage (4)

A senior officer of the RAF, of equivalent rank to brigadier in the Army (3,9) --- And Lovers, D.H. Lawrence novel about the lives of the Morel family (4) Marsupials similar to, but smaller than, kangaroos (9) The capital city of Norway (4)

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (6,6)

27 --- of the valley, garden plant with spikes of white bell-shaped fragrant flowers (4) 16 17 20 21 22 26 29 Waxy substance secreted by the sperm whale, used in the manufacture of perfumes (9)

31 Informal term for a difficult

task or requirement (4,5)

33 Internet locations where information relating to specific subjects can be accessed (5)

34 American microblogging and social networking service created in 2006 (7) 35 Shortened name of a large mammal of tropical African rivers (5)

36 Tropical marine spinyfinned creature with a brightly-coloured body and one or more knifelike spines at the base of the tail (11)

37 Robert ---, leader of the group who planned the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (7) Down

1 Soft leather shoes, historically worn by indigenous people of

North America (9)

2 Established standards of behaviour shared by members of a social group (5)

3 The principal library of

Oxford University (8)

4 A landscape that has

beautiful natural features (6) 5 Novella by Henry James first published in book form in 1879 (5,6)

6 Clay stop-motion animated character who first appeared on the TV show Take Hart in 1977 (5) 7 Fibrous mineral, such as chrysotile or tremolite, that is incombustible and resistant to chemicals (8)

8 In an alluring, beautiful, fascinating or showy way (11)

9 A free-swinging bar attached to two ropes, used by circus acrobats (7) 12 A powered garden tool with a nylon cutting cord (8)

16 A person who writes for a newspaper or makes a donation to a cause (11)

18 Knitting technique producing a design like a twisted rope (5,6)

19 A card game in which two or more punters gamble against the banker (8)

23 The oblation of the bread and wine at the Eucharist (9)

24 A ball game played by two teams using long-handled hooked sticks with netted pouches attached (8)

25 Action of a bullet rebounding from a surface, usually with a whining or zipping sound (8)

26 Specially-designed vehicles used to carry coffins to funerals (7)

28 A formal leader within an

established religion (6)

30 Shortened name of a genre of literature and film with futuristic themes (3-2)

32 Administers a

sedative to (5)