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, November 25 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, December 11. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.

Across

10 A spirit distilled from the fermented remains of grapes after pressing (6)

11 A person or company that provides package holidays (4,8)

12 The front part of the lower leg (4)

13 An American whiskey distilled from maize (7)

14 Another name for a bumper car (6)

15 A brownish Old World bunting, regarded as a delicacy (7)

16 American comic book writer who co-created Superman with Joe Shuster (5,6)

20 Offers of specified amounts, as at an auction (4)

21 A piece of cloth sewn in under a closure with buttons, hooks and eyes or zips (7)

22 Another name for the white whale, a smalltoothed whale of Arctic and sub-Arctic waters (6)

23 An overused word or expression (6)

25 A group of the most senior ministers in a government (7)

27 Rabbit-like mammal with long ears and legs (4)

28 A small, cheap cafe, usually specialising in fried foods (6,5)

29 Andy ---, former Labour Health Secretary elected Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017 (7)

32 A case or coveringfor the blade of a knife or sword (6)

35 An enthusiastic approval or expression of enthusiasm (7)

36 A sweet, brown, nonalcoholic fizzy drink (4)

37 British writer whose most famous work was the 1932 novel Brave New World (6,6)

38 A strong, very unpleasant smell (6)

Down

1 American playwright whose works include Death Of A Salesman and the screenplay for 1961 film The Misfits (6,6)

2 People or groups that provide funds for an activity (8)

3 Rocky ---, fictional boxer played on film by Sylvester Stallone (6)

4 To sound the strings of a guitar or banjo with the sweep of a thumb or plectrum (5)

5 A sudden, violent or spontaneous occurrence, especially of disease (8)

6 A person or thing of prime importance (11)

7 Beth ---, England footballer who won the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament awards at UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 (4)

8 Erskine ---, American writer whose novels include Tobacco Road (8)

9 Al ---, Vice President of the US 1993-2001, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 (4)

17 A shoe made from a single block of wood (5)

18 British writer who died during his initial drafting of the screenplay of 1933’s King Kong (5,7)

19 A stone or marble coffin or tomb, especially one bearing sculpture or inscriptions (11)

21 Dutiful devotion to God and observance of religious principles (5)

24 20th-Century American film actress known as the ‘It Girl’ (5,3)

26 A cultivated variety of cabbage, with branched greenish flower heads (8)

27 Erich ---, the head of state of East Germany 1976-89 (8)

30 Of the greatest possible degree or amount (6)

31 The sepals of a flower collectively, forming an envelope that protects the developing flower bud (5)

33 The wheel, tiller or entire apparatus by which a vessel is steered (4)

34 The external green or membranous covering of certain fruits and seeds (4)