Daily Answers

7-across – City west of Los Angeles devastated in the January wildfires : MALIBU

8-across – The first book in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle : ERAGON

9-across – A __. 2024 biopic of Bob Dylan : COMPLETE

10-across – Actor who played Roz Doyle in Frasier : PERI

11-across – Order of insects which includes dragonflies : ODONATA

13-across – French dessert made with caramelised butter and sugar sauce : CREPE

15-across – Keeley __, star of the BBC’s Miss Austen : HAWES

17-across – See 12 Down : ANDRUST

20-across – Desert found mostly in southern Mongolia : GOBI

21-across – 2024 thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini : CONCLAVE

23-across – __ Mole, Sue Townsend’s fictional diarist : ADRIAN

24-across – Sir Everton __, Barbadian cricketer : WEEKES

1-down – Othello’s main antagonist : IAGO

2-down – See 10 Across : GILPIN

3-down – See 13 Across : SUZETTE

4-down – See 16 : PEREZ

5-down – Indian city known for its oranges : NAGPUR

6-down – What, according to Lord Acton, absolute power does absolutely? : CORRUPTS

12-down – Joan Baez song said to be about Bob Dylan : DIAMONDS

14-down – See 9 Across : UNKNOWN

16-down – 2024 musical starring Karla Sofía Gascón : EMILIA

18-down – A fancy car – and a domesticated breed of pigeon? : ROLLER

19-down – The Stone of __, ceremonial seat : SCONE

22-down – Comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus : VEEP

7-across – Actor who played Jo March in the 1994 film version of Little Women : WINONA

8-across – The late court jester in Hamlet : YORICK

9-across – Greek anise-flavoured aperitif : OUZO

10-across – West London tower block which caught fire in 2017 : GRENFELL

11-across – Somerset’s county town : TAUNTON

12-across – Proofreader’s instruction to ignore a marked change in a text : STET

15-across – Jane Austen novel set partly in the village of Highbury : EMMA

17-across – The Walkers’ boat in Arthur Ransome’s novels – and the rival to Amazon : SWALLOW

20-across – Gnaeus Julius __, Roman governor of Britannia : AGRICOLA

22-across – Andy __, Reg Smythe’s long-running cartoon in the Mirror : CAPP

23-across – Lady Mary __, pentathlete and 1972 Olympic gold medallist : PETERS

24-across – London train terminus close to King’s Cross : EUSTON

1-down – 15 __, Welsh track cyclist and 2024 Olympic gold medallist : FINUCANE

2-down – Nickname for the Detroit music industry : MOTOWN

3-down – The Thai capital : BANGKOK

4-down – See 7 Across : RYDER

5-down – Yasser __, former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation : ARAFAT

6-down – Bridge club and bidding system named after a London street : ACOL

13-down – See 21 : THOMPSON

14-down – Iga __, Polish tennis star : SWIATEK

16-down – Norman __, author of The Naked and the Dead : MAILER

18-down – What made up the 8th of the plagues in Exodus : LOCUST

19-down – Inspector __, detective created by Colin Dexter : MORSE

21-down – Tanni __, wheelchair racer and multiple gold medal-winning Olympian : GREY

7-across – Mick __, Matthew Scudder’s criminal friend in the Lawrence Block novels : BALLOU

8-across – Elon Musk’s rocket technology company : SPACEX

9-across – Author of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey : JANE

10-across – French delicacy made from duck or goose liver : FOIEGRAS

11-across – __ House, museum and Grade I listed building in York : FAIRFAX

13-across – See 15 : HOUSE

15-across – Dickens novel featuring Esther Summerson : BLEAK

17-across – Port city on the River Avon : BRISTOL

20-across – __ Theron, star of Atomic Blonde : CHARLIZE

21-across – Adherent of an ancient Indian religious tradition : JAIN

22-across – See 2 Down : ORIGIN

23-across – See 9 : AUSTEN

1-down – Resort city in Andalucía : MALAGA

2-down – Jeff Bezos’s space exploration company : BLUE

3-down – Felicity __, star of Transamerica : HUFFMAN

4-down – District of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea : OSTIA

5-down – Professor __, character in Voltaire’s Candide : PANGLOSS

6-down – French city known for its 24-hour motor race : LEMANS

12-down – Popular term for a cause of conflict between drivers : ROADRAGE

14-down – Aberdeenshire village that’s a Highland Games host : BRAEMAR

16-down – Pakistani city in the Punjab : LAHORE

18-down – Jamie __, TV chef : OLIVER

19-down – Roman goddess of the hunt : DIANA

21-down – __ stick, a type of incense : JOSS

7-across – Trinidad’s smaller partner? : TOBAGO

8-across – The second book of the Old Testament : EXODUS

9-across – Highway linking Chicago and Los Angeles : ROUTE66

10-across – Ligurian city and port : GENOA

11-across – City in Washington State, sometimes known as Hooptown : SPOKANE

13-across – An animal from which ermine is sourced? : STOAT

15-across – Neurotoxic protein used in cosmetic procedures : BOTOX

17-across – See 3 Down : ALLTHAT

19-across – River and department in France, known as the scene of an extended battle in the first world war : SOMME

20-across – Baltic republic, capital Tallinn : ESTONIA

23-across – Resort city on the Yucatán Peninsula : CANCUN

24-across – __ Grimshaw, Coronation Street character played by Sue Cleaver : EILEEN

1-down – Bohemian district of London and New York : SOHO

2-down – Béla __, Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist : BARTOK

3-down – Sellar and Yeatman’s history of 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates? : 1O66AND

4-down – See 16 : MEN

5-down – A __, Jonathan Swift’s way of Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country? : MODEST

6-down – Akira __, Japanese film-maker whose works include Ran : KUROSAWA

12-down – See 5 : PROPOSAL

14-down – A poem by Tennyson, a play by Phillips or a novel by Joyce? : ULYSSES

16-down – Novella by John Steinbeck : OFMICE

18-down – Name given to deliberately provocative internet commentators : TROLLS

21-down – St __, Cornish town north of Penzance : IVES

22-down – See 16 : AND

7-across – The Zimbabwean capital : HARARE

8-across – Slow __, the first of Mick Herron’s Jackson Lamb novels : HORSES

9-across – French city on the Rhone : LYON

10-across – See 1 Down : REINDEER

11-across – See 17 : INTHEUK

13-across – Dame Denise __, heptathlete and broadcaster : LEWIS

15-across – Textile weave characterised by diagonal ribs : TWILL

17-across – Sex Pistols song from 1976 : ANARCHY

20-across – ABBA hit – and movie? : MAMMAMIA

21-across – Tuscan city on the River Arno : PISA

23-across – Dr __, the real Mr Hyde? : JEKYLL

24-across – Peninsula made up of Spain and Portugal : IBERIA

1-down – Controversial Netflix hit starring Richard Gadd : BABY

2-down – __ Montana, Miley Stewart’s eponymous alter ego? : HANNAH

3-down – Madeleine __, jazz singer known for her 2004 album Careless Love : PEYROUX

4-down – __ Potok, author remembered especially for The Chosen : CHAIM

5-down – The Prime of Miss Jean __, novel by Muriel Spark : BRODIE

6-down – __ Grey, protagonist in the TV series, Grey’s Anatomy : MEREDITH

12-down – Connecticut city, home to Yale University : NEWHAVEN

14-down – See 19 : INPARIS

16-down – 19th century slang term for British sailors : LIMEYS

18-down – Talented antihero of Patricia Highsmith novels? : RIPLEY

19-down – Netflix comedy series starring Lily Collins : EMILY

22-down – Edward __, academic known especially for Orientalism : SAID