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 2 (photocopies not accepted). Today’s solution will appear next week and the winner’s name on Sunday, December 18. SEE BELOW THE GRID for details on how to enter.

Across

11 The capital city of Sweden (9)

12 Sybil ---, English actress for whom George Bernard Shaw wrote the play Saint Joan (9)

13 To cook by dry heat, especially in an oven (5)

14 A lock of hair hanging down in a spiral curl (7)

15 A person who stands in temporarily for another member of the same profession (5)

16 The first commercial supersonic airliner, in service between 1976 and 2003 (8)

18 American artist whose famous works include Campbell’s Soup Cans (4,6)

22 Historic French port in Brittany, on the English Channel coast (5-4)

24 An alternative British name for the hawthorn (3,4)

27 The condition or quality of being disgustingly dirty or repulsive, especially as a result of neglect or poverty (7)

28 Characterised by, or requiring, a sitting position (9)

30 Stephen King’s first collection of short stories, published in 1978 (5,5)

32 Plant with a bulbous dark red root that is eaten as a vegetable, in salads, or pickled (8)

35 A major river in Northern Ireland, flowing to Belfast Lough (5)

37 The capital and chief port of Libya (7)

38 A distinguishing emblem or mark worn to signify membership, employment or achievement (5)

39 A British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (9)

40 The Scarlet ---, play and novel by Baroness Orczy (9)

Down

1 A fast-running, flightless African bird (7)

2 The largest city in South Africa; the provincial capital of Gauteng (12)

3 A brief satirical theatrical sketch (4)

4 Joseph ---, Polish-British writer whose works include the novella Heart Of Darkness (6)

5 Phenomena or occurrences regarded as signs of future happiness or disaster (5)

6 Valuable things taken from a place illegally (6,5)

7 A large bowl for baptismal water, usually mounted on a pedestal (4)

8 East ---, region of England consisting of Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire (6)

9 --- jockey, a person who introduces and plays music on the radio or at a party (4)

10 Food fish of European waters, with a pair of long barbels beneath the chin (3,6)

17 A type of bay window (5)

19 Southwest Arabian republic on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (5)

20 Hungarian-American magician, escapologist and stunt performer (5,7)

21 A word or expression in one language that is wrongly taken to have the same meaning in another (5,6)

23 Another name for the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament (5)

25 A kind of fungus used to make bread rise or to ferment beer (5)

26 A gelatine made from the air bladders of freshwater fish (9)

29 A tall ornamental tower on a church or temple (7)

31 The possession or holding of an office or position (6)

33 --- machine, an electromechanical rotor machine used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages (6)

34 Temperate plant with red, orange or white flowers and a milky sap (5)

36 Michael ---, Conservative MP whose Cabinet roles have included Education Secretary (4)

37 --- switch, an electric switch arranged to interrupt a circuit suddenly (4)

38 Nickname of the English golfer Andrew Johnston (4)