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, December 24 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, January 9. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter. Across 10 Cud-chewing mammal closely related to the llama (6)

11 An organised programme of measures to be taken in order to achieve a goal (4,2,6)

12 and 6 Down American writer, producer and creator of the original

Star Trek TV series (4,11) 13 In Arthurian legend, the most virtuous knight of the Round Table; son of Lancelot (7)

14 A large, heavy North African cooking pot with a conical lid (6)

15 Francisco ---, Spanish conqueror of Peru who executed the Inca king in 1533 (7)

16 George --- ---, Irish playwright famous for works including Pygmalion (7,4)

Rock Of ---, popular Christian hymn written by the Reverend Augustus Toplady in 1763 (4)

To go, or be before in time, place or rank (7)

Not neat; slovenly (6) A vitamin of the B complex that occurs in milk, liver and yeast (6)

25 Wishes or longings;

cravings (7)

27 --- cut, a closely

cropped hairstyle (4) 28 Broad intense beams of

artificial illumination (11)

29 Island country in the Caribbean, the capital of which is Kingston (7)

32 Somethin’ ---, 1967 number one single by Frank and Nancy Sinatra (6)

35 J.G. ---, English author of the novel Empire Of

The Sun (7)

36 A sculpture of the head, shoulders and upper chest of a person (4)

37 --- --- burn, a skin injury which partially penetrates the dermis (6,6)

38 Large fishing nets drawn at deep levels behind special boats (6)

Down

1 A tablet containing a

sedative drug (8,4)

2 François ---, French Renaissance writer whose works include Gargantua And Pantagruel (8)

3 University city in

Northwest Wales, on the Menai Strait (6)

4 --- Records, label founded by The

Beatles in 1968 (5)

5 A fine, soft wool obtained

from a type of goat (8)

6 See 12 Across

7 Cereal grain, such as barley, that is germinated by soaking in water then kiln dried (4)

8 The scenery and props used to create a particular scene in a theatre (5,3) 9 A loose, wide garment indicating status, such as worn by academics (4)

17 Overwhelming

defeats (5)

18 Former UK number one male tennis player, now a commentator (6,6)

19 Play by Henrik

Ibsen about a young newlywed, first performed in 1891 (5,6)

21 A group of people selected to judge a contest (5)

24 Richmal ---, British writer most famous for her Just William stories (8)

26 People who go to live in a new country or colony (8)

27 A smooth, light fabric of cotton or linen with a white weft and a coloured warp (8)

30 Inspections, corrections and verifications of business accounts (6) 31 Kenneth ---, former Conservative MP who was Home Secretary 1990-92 (5)

33 A long and often

difficult journey (4)

34 The lower part of an interior wall, decorated differently from the upper part (4)