Author name: crosswordanswers

7-across – Old __ 2D, statue by Raffaelle Monti at St John’s Lock, Lechlade : FATHER

8-across – Diane __, star of Annie Hall and The Godfather : KEATON

9-across – __ Werritty, adviser whose relationship with Liam Fox led to the latter’s cabinet resignation in 2011 : ADAM

10-across – One of Margaret Thatcher’s nicknames : IRONLADY

11-across – Darcey __, ballerina and judge of Strictly : BUSSELL

13-across – Mark __, pseudonym of Samuel L Clemens : TWAIN

15-across – Online supermarket founded 2000 : OCADO

17-across – Countess __ Rostova, character from War and Peace : NATASHA

20-across – Identity claimed by John F Kennedy in June 1963? : BERLINER

21-across – See 23 : CITY

23-across – Nickname given to Cape Town, South Africa : MOTHER

24-across – Old Testament book telling the story of a Persian princess : ESTHER

1-down – Currency used in 23/21 : RAND

2-down – Flood control system between the London boroughs of Newham and Greenwich : THAMES

3-down – Louis __, creator of a system of reading and writing used by blind and visually impaired people : BRAILLE

4-down – Ohio city where Sojourner Truth made her Ain’t I A Woman? speech : AKRON

5-down – Fictional narrator of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness : MARLOW

6-down – Ruined medieval castle in Herefordshire : GOODRICH

12-down – Hero of an 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe? : UNCLETOM

14-down – See 2 : BARRIER

16-down – Ancient Greek ruins on the slopes of Mount Parnassus : DELPHI

18-down – Chemmy __, alpine skier : ALCOTT

19-down – __ Agassi, tennis player : ANDRE

22-down – Rock band led by Marc Bolan : TREX

7-across – See 4 Down : CORDEN

8-across – Another name for the northern lights : AURORA

9-across – Unit of the renminbi : YUAN

10-across – Controversial governor of Louisiana assassinated in 1935 : HUEYLONG

11-across – Segment of The Late Late Show on CBS in which 4 7 hosts celebrities in his car : CARPOOL

13-across – Fear in German : ANGST

15-across – Country bordered by Cameroon and the Republic of Congo : GABON

17-across – See 11 : KARAOKE

20-across – See 8 : BOREALIS

21-across – See 19 Down : JOHN

22-across – Popular brand of non-zip clothes fasteners created in the late 1950s : VELCRO

23-across – The capital of New York state : ALBANY

1-down – Ethnic group from Nigeria, Benin and northern Togo : YORUBA

2-down – Biblical paradise : EDEN

3-down – Major city in South Korea : INCHEON

4-down – English actor, comedian and talkshow host : JAMES

5-down – Island state south of India : SRILANKA

6-down – The seventh planet from the sun : URANUS

12-down – The part of France where Peter Mayle spent a year? : PROVENCE

14-down – A chocolate product created in 1932 : MARSBAR

16-down – Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic : AZORES

18-down – A Hawaiian word meaning ‘priest’ or ‘wise man’ : KAHUNA

19-down – British songwriter whose works include Crocodile Rock : ELTON

21-down – The capital of South Sudan : JUBA

1-across – Scottish engineer famed for his work on steam engines : JAMESWATT

6-across – The largest of the United States : ALA

8-across – Robert __, author of An Essay on the Principle of Population : MALTHUS

9-across – George __, the pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans : ELIOT

10-across – George __, the pseudonym of Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin : SAND

11-across – __ memory, unusually vivid visual recall : EIDETIC

13-across – The currency of Zambia and Malawi : KWACHA

15-across – Joseph __, the pseudonym of Józef Korzeniowski : CONRAD

17-across – The capital of China’s Sichuan province : CHENGDU

18-across – The Norse god of thunder : THOR

22-across – Town at, roughly, the geographical centre of Australia : ALICE

23-across – See 22 : SPRINGS

24-across – See 6 : SKA

25-across – See 12 Down : TRADITION

1-down – Henry __, author of The Bostonians : JAMES

2-down – City home to La Scala and the San Siro : MILAN

3-down – Area of central London – or downtown Manhattan : SOHO

4-down – Jane __, author of Pride and Prejudice : AUSTEN

5-down – Dostoyevsky novel named for its hero, Prince Myshkin : THEIDIOT

6-down – The __, 2004 Scorsese biopic of Howard Hughes : AVIATOR

7-down – Medicine used to relieve heartburn : ANTACID

12-down – Book of literary criticism by F R Leavis, named for the works of 9, 15 and 1down and 4 : THEGREAT

13-down – Comic book and movie series starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson : KICKASS

14-down – Song from Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel : AMERICA

16-down – Country bordered by Poland and North Korea : RUSSIA

19-down – The capital of Vietnam : HANOI

20-down – Michael __, author of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt : ROSEN

21-down – Administrative area in 16 : KRAI

7-across – Ross and Rachel’s daughter in Friends? : EMMA

8-across – Movie studio whose assets include the James Bond franchise : MGM

9-across – __ Brown, novel fragment by Charlotte Brontë : EMMA

10-across – The first letter in the Greek alphabet : ALPHA

11-across – Volcanic ridge under the Arctic Ocean : ALPHA

12-across – Occasion on which people play practical jokes : APRILFOOLSDAY

17-across – Hoax phenomenon reported by the BBC in 1957? : SPAGHETTITREE

20-across – Character played by Patricia Phoenix on Coronation Street : ELSIE

22-across – Friend with whom Sally Bowles shared ‘four sordid rooms in Chelsea’? : ELSIE

24-across – 1974 Top 10 hit for Hot Chocolate : EMMA

25-across – 1900 in Roman numerals : MCM

26-across – __ Bunton, also known as Baby Spice : EMMA

1-down – __ Peel, television spy played by Diana Rigg : EMMA

2-down – The capital of Taiwan : TAIPEI

3-down – German feminist magazine, founded 1977 : EMMA

4-down – __, Lady Hamilton, Lord Nelson’s lover : EMMA

5-down – Viral disease caused by the simplex virus : HERPES

6-down – __ Thompson, Oscar winning actor and writer : EMMA

13-down – Iggy __, musician : POP

14-down – Enemy – or Friends of the Earth? : FOE

15-down – Musical interval between the first and second harmonics in a series : OCT

16-down – See 15 : AVE

18-down – The __ Cometh, song by Flanders and Swann : GASMAN

19-down – An elephant – or Kenya’s most popular beer? : TUSKER

20-down – __ Goldman, US anarchist : EMMA

21-down – Madame Bovary to her friends? : EMMA

22-down – __ Watson, actor who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies : EMMA

23-down – 1815 novel by Jane Austen : EMMA