Daily Answers

7-across – The Mozambican capital : MAPUTO

8-across – Denise __,bet365 : COATES

9-across – Elon __,Tesla : MUSK

10-across – City at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles : KHARTOUM

12-across – Sir Keir __,prime minister : STARMER

14-across – Jeff __,Amazon : BEZOS

16-across – Ray and Charles __,designers of iconic chairs : EAMES

17-across – Term for those who acquired vast wealth through digital technologies – including several solutions here : TECHBRO

19-across – JM Coetzee’s 1999 Booker prize winner : DISGRACE

20-across – California valley famous for its wines : NAPA

22-across – Obsolete golf term,now meaning to impede : STYMIE

24-across – Chinese plant used as a health supplement : GINKGO

1-down – The capital of Azerbaijan : BAKU

2-down – Mark __,Meta : ZUCKERBERG

3-down – JRR __,author of The Hobbit : TOLKIEN

4-down – Richie __,two-time Rugby World Cup winner as captain of the All Blacks : MCCAW

5-down – Verdi opera set in a Paris salon : LA

6-down – Simone de __,author of The Second Sex : BEAUVOIR

11-down – 1977 novel and 1980 movie by Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick respectively : THESHINING

13-down – See 5 : TRAVIATA

15-down – A dish best served cold? : REVENGE

18-down – Bill __,Microsoft : GATES

21-down – Larry __,Alphabet : PAGE

23-down – Jack __,Alibaba : MA

1-across – London theatre once managed by Lilian Baylis : OLDVIC

5-across – “The __ thing” – a political problem for George Bush Sr : VISION

8-across – The official currency of Montenegro and Kosovo : EURO

9-across – Mountain range forming the border between France and Spain : PYRENEES

10-across – __ Prentiss,character in One of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus : ADELAIDE

11-across – __ Parks,civil rights campaigner : ROSA

12-across – 2024 8/5 winning country : SWITZERLAND

16-across – Suzanne __,singer known for Tom’s Diner : VEGA

18-across – W Heath __,cartoonist known for his comically complicated drawings of machines : ROBINSON

21-across – Spartan king,the husband of Helen : MENELAUS

22-across – Nickname of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter widely used by US forces in Vietnam : HUEY

23-across – __ Highway,which runs from Darwin via Alice Springs to South Australia : STUART

24-across – __ Canyon,area of Hollywood associated with the 1960s counterculture : LAUREL

2-down – French town after which Madonna named her daughter : LOURDES

3-down – Instrument used for making angled grooves in woodcarving : VTOOL

4-down – Island in the Gulf of Naples : CAPRI

5-down – Dutch painter whose works include Girl with a Pearl Earring : VERMEER

6-down – Spanish punch made with red wine and chopped fruit : SANGRIA

7-down – Dame Lynne __,first woman to be deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police : OWENS

13-down – The largest of the Galápagos Islands : ISABELA

14-down – Town in 12 at the foot of the Matterhorn : ZERMATT

15-down – An ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop : DIOCESE

17-down – Chris __,multiple tennis grand slam winner : EVERT

19-down – Host city for the 2025 8/5 contest : BASEL

20-down – Jawaharlal __,prime minister of India 1947-1964 : NEHRU

7-across – Protestants – and an anagram of Britney Spears : PRESBYTERIANS

9-across – German city in Saxony : LEIPZIG

10-across – Virtual assistant developed by Amazon : ALEXA

11-across – A type of metrical foot in poetry : IAMB

13-across – A martini that is shaken not stirred : BRADFORD

16-across – Private Eye cartoon character supposedly based on Derek Jameson : SIDYOBBO

18-across – 19th-century term for an opponent of absolute monarchism : WHIG

20-across – Claire __,star of Homeland : DANES

21-across – President of Sinn Féin since 2018 : MARYLOU

23-across – The opening sentence of Moby-Dick : CALLMEISHMAEL

1-down – Student of Plato and author of The Golden Ass : APULEIUS

2-down – Leader of the Conservative party since 2024 : KEMI

3-down – The third largest of the Balearic Islands : IBIZA

4-down – Resort city in Florida : ORLANDO

5-down – See 2 : BADENOCH

6-down – The largest continent : ASIA

8-down – The third animal in the Chinese Zodiac : TIGER

12-down – See 21 Across : MCDONALD

14-down – Charles __,French president 1959-1969 : DEGAULLE

15-down – Dame Edna Everage’s pet name for her audiences : POSSUMS

17-down – Carla’s nickname for J.D. in the sitcom Scrubs : BAMBI

19-down – Dave __,Nirvana drummer and later lead singer in the Foo Fighters : GROHL

20-down – : DOCK

22-down – Billy __,musical and film based on the novel by Keith Waterhouse : LIAR

5-across – BBC series starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal and based on the novel by 16/17 : NORMAL

6-across – See 5 : PEOPLE

8-across – Country bordered by Kenya and Rwanda : UGANDA

9-across – Polynesian island often the setting for Gauguin’s paintings : TAHITI

10-across – See 15 : ATKINSON

13-across – __ Shah Pahlavi,shah of Iran,1925-1941 : REZA

15-across – Author of Life After Life and A God in Ruins : KATE

16-across – Building and research university in Paris : SORBONNE

18-across – Dame Hilary _,author of Wolf Hall : MANTEL

20-across – Fictional pig created by Ian Falconer : OLIVIA

22-across – __ MacGregor,Jacobite leader : ROBROY

23-across – __ Ordinances – Cardinal Wolsey’s failed 1526 reform of the court of Henry VIII : ELTHAM

1-down – Alternative name for Calvary,where Jesus was crucified : GOLGOTHA

2-down – Country,capital Muscat : OMAN

3-down – Spanish national newspaper,based in Madrid : ELPAIS

4-down – Seducer and protagonist of The Fair Penitent by Nicholas Rowe : LOTHARIO

6-down – Alan __,South African author of Cry,the Beloved Country : PATON

7-down – __-et-Garonne,French department : LOT

11-down – The __,novel by Rick Moody and award-winning film by Ang Lee : ICESTORM

12-down – Newly recognised blue-green imaginary colour : OLO

14-down – Tanzanian archipelago in the Indian Ocean : ZANZIBAR

16-down – Author of Conversations with Friends : SALLY

17-down – See 16 : ROONEY

19-down – Nickname of Alassane Dramane Ouattara,president of Ivory Coast : ADO

21-down – Ninth letter of the Greek alphabet : IOTA

7-across – See 21 : WATER

8-across – Country officially known as the Republic of China : TAIWAN

9-across – Edith __,French singer who regretted nothing? : PIAF

10-across – Irish town named for its 3 over the River Boyne : DROGHEDA

11-across – 1972 musical starring Liza Minnelli : CABARET

14-across – 3 of __,2015 thriller starring Tom Hanks : SPIES

15-across – A deliberate bluff bid in 3 : PSYCH

17-across – Where Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood found love while looking at covered 3s? : MADISON

21-across – What Paul Simon’s 3 crossed? : TROUBLED

22-across – The Peruvian capital : LIMA

24-across – Raúl and Fidel __,former presidents of Cuba : CASTRO

25-across – On which William Holden,Alec Guinness,Jack Hawkins built a 3 in David Lean’s 1957 film : RIVER

1-down – See 25 Across : KWAI

2-down – Hebridean island west of Mull : STAFFA

3-down – Game at which Zia Mahmood excels : BRIDGE

4-down – The __,Harlequins rugby stadium : STOOP

5-down – Chess piece known as ‘fou’ in French and ‘Läufer’ in German : BISHOP

6-down – California city and naval base : SANDIEGO

12-down – The __,who,according to Byron,‘came down like the wolf on the fold’? : ASSYRIAN

13-down – Abbreviation for concert venue on London’s South Bank : RFH

14-down – Affliction also known as winter depression : SAD

16-down – See 17 Across : COUNTY

18-down – __ Celsius,18th century Swedish physicist : ANDERS

19-down – Shakespeare __,1998 romantic comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes : INLOVE

20-down – T.S. __,author of The Waste Land : ELIOT

23-down – __ Magdalene,follower of Jesus : MARY