Daily Answers

1-across – US civil rights leader who died in February : JESSE

4-across – See 1 : JACKSON

8-across – Cataract on the Nile,between lakes Kyoga and Albert : KABALEGAFALLS

9-across – Justin __,English golfer : ROSE

10-across – Lightly processed cane sugar : DEMERARA

12-across – Host cities of the 2026 Winter Olympics : MILANO

13-across – Cry for a repeat performance? : ENCORE

16-across – The Syrian capital : DAMASCUS

18-across – Unsolicited electronic mail : SPAM

21-across – Moses’s biblical cry in Exodus? : LETMYPEOPLEGO

22-across – See 12 : CORTINA

23-across – Japanese dish made from vinegared rice : SUSHI

1-down – The __,DC Comics supervillain and agent of chaos : JOKER

2-down – Religious figure after whom the cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square is named : STBASIL

3-down – Jennifer __,star of the BBC’s 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice : EHLE

4-down – Mick __,Rolling Stone : JAGGER

5-down – Stimulant found in coffee : CAFFEINE

6-down – Condiment made from tomato,chillies,onions and lime : SALSA

7-down – Ilie __,1970s tennis maverick – and novelist : NASTASE

11-down – The Welsh name for Holy Island : YNYSGYBI

12-down – The first note taught on the piano? : MIDDLEC

14-down – Legendary bard who travelled with Jason and the Argonauts? : ORPHEUS

15-down – A Greek cry of discovery : EUREKA

17-down – The Latin for mother : MATER

19-down – A native of Aotearoa? : MAORI

20-down – Term used to catalogue works of composers : OPUS

1-across – __ Cymru,Welsh political party : PLAID

4-across – Motown? : DETROIT

8-across – Lee __,one of the voices of Bob the Builder? : INGLEBY

9-across – Supergiant star in Cygnus forming the ‘head’ of the Northern Cross : DENEB

10-across – Blackadder’s assistant known for his cunning plans : BALDRICK

11-across – Francisco de __,Spanish artist whose works include The Third of May 1808 : GOYA

13-across – Kathleen __,philosopher and gender-critical feminist : STOCK

15-across – Eric Clapton song? : LAYLA

19-across – Indian city,site of the Taj Mahal : AGRA

20-across – Chicago gangster,died 1947 : ALCAPONE

23-across – Swahili word meaning freedom : UHURU

24-across – Liquid used to preserve and enhance wooden furniture : TEAKOIL

25-across – A novel by Joyce or a poem by Tennyson? : ULYSSES

26-across – Literary technique used by Austen and others : IRONY

1-down – Kim __,intelligence officer and Soviet spy : PHILBY

2-down – __ of the North,Gateshead landmark : ANGEL

3-down – Marlene __,actor and reputed spy? : DIETRICH

4-down – Solid form of carbon dioxide : DRYICE

5-down – Ron __,long-serving general secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union : TODD

6-down – Score that the defending team regrets? : OWNGOAL

7-down – Harriet __,abolitionist and Union spy? : TUBMAN

12-down – Stage name of Margaretha MacLeod,dancer and spy : MATAHARI

14-down – Location of Fawlty Towers : TORQUAY

16-down – Mordechai __,Israeli whistleblower : VANUNU

17-down – Units of Polish currency : ZLOTYS

18-down – Sidney __,British spy in Moscow during the Russian civil war : REILLY

21-down – Convex decorative moulding : OVOLO

22-down – There were five of them named Moe? : GUYS

1-across – STI which may lead to Aids : HIV

3-across – Captain Haddock’s first name in the Tintin books : ARCHIBALD

8-across – Sony __,portable cassette player : WALKMAN

9-across – Parasitic insect : LOUSE

10-across – Movie star and co-owner of Wrexham FC : RYANREYNOLDS

12-across – Stands used by artists : EASELS

14-across – __ Weeks,song and album by Van Morrison : ASTRAL

15-across – Queen deposed in favour of Mary I and later beheaded : LADYJANEGREY

19-across – German city,birthplace of Karl Marx : TRIER

20-across – Technique of painting with thick oils : IMPASTO

21-across – The man who rocked around the clock? : BILLHALEY

22-across – Eisenhower’s nickname : IKE

1-down – Welsh village and castle where Gladstone lived in his later years : HAWARDEN

2-down – Russian river reaching the Caspian Sea near Astrakhan : VOLGA

3-down – Landmark building separating Trafalgar Square from the Mall : ADMIRALTYARCH

4-down – __ Island,home to its eponymous Cyclone rollercoaster : CONEY

5-down – Island in the Thames Estuary : ISLEOFSHEPPEY

6-down – Matthew 19:6: “What therefore God hath joined together,let not man put __” : ASUNDER

7-down – __ Barrymore,star of Charlie’s Angels : DREW

11-down – A Scottish two-handed sword – or a manga series : CLAYMORE

13-down – Breed of gun dog : SPANIEL

16-down – Character from The Tempest – or a poem by Sylvia Plath : ARIEL

17-down – Valentino __,former motorcycle racing world champion : ROSSI

18-down – Wikipedia’s term for a short article in need of expansion : STUB

1-across – See 19 Down : BURNHAM

5-across – Iraqi city on the banks of the Tigris : MOSUL

8-across – __ board,also known as a spirit board : OUIJA

9-across – London suburb where Raymond Chandler and Nigel Farage went to school : DULWICH

10-across – Waterway linking Ellesmere Port and Salford Quays : MANCHESTER

11-across – Abbreviation for ‘God willing’ in Latin : DV

13-across – Spurge genus often used as an indoor plant : CROTON

14-across – Antelope endemic to southern Africa : LECHWE

16-across – The ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter : PI

17-across – Centre-right Irish political party : FIANNAFAIL

20-across – Card game for two or more players similar to rummy : CANASTA

21-across – See 10 : CANAL

22-across – Moshe __,Israeli defence minister during the 1967 six-day war : DAYAN

23-across – Sir Ben __,sailor : AINSLIE

1-down – Leopold and Molly __,protagonists in Ulysses : BLOOM

2-down – Queen in Welsh mythology : RHIANNON

3-down – W __,illustrator known for his drawings of unlikely contraptions : HEATHROBINSON

4-down – Mythical woman with snakes in her hair? : MEDUSA

5-down – The __,noir thriller by Dashiell Hammett : MALTESEFALCON

6-down – See 10 Across : SHIP

7-down – French port on the Seine estuary : LEHAVRE

12-down – Fragments of exploded ordnance : SHRAPNEL

13-down – Peninsula making up much of Massachusetts : CAPECOD

15-down – The Turkish capital : ANKARA

18-down – French city near the Belgian border : LILLE

19-down – Mayor of Greater 10 : ANDY

7-across – Lesley __,star of Birds of a Feather : JOSEPH

8-across – Hardy’s partner in comedy : LAUREL

9-across – Helmut __,former German chancellor credited with bringing about reunification : KOHL

10-across – Term for the population surge following the end of the second world war : BABYBOOM

11-across – Roman name for Paris : LUTETIA

12-across – See 22 : TIMOR

15-across – Oklahoma’s second city : TULSA

17-across – Gulf of __ – formerly Mexico? : AMERICA

20-across – Country once known as Swaziland : ESWATINI

22-across – Country once part of Indonesia : EAST

23-across – City now known as Gdansk : DANZIG

24-across – A single leg support for cameras and such : UNIPOD

1-down – Hawaii’s largest city : HONOLULU

2-down – South African term for maize or corn : MEALIE

3-down – French white wine : CHABLIS

4-down – Rosa __,antagonist in From Russia with Love : KLEBB

5-down – City once known as Bombay : MUMBAI

6-down – Roman emperor,the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty : NERO

13-down – “__ smiles upon a second leave.” Hamlet : OCCASION

14-down – Form of transport frequented by the ordinary person? : OMNIBUS

16-down – Patrick __,star of Ghost and Dirty Dancing : SWAYZE

18-down – Former Roman province covering much of what is now Lombardy and the Tirol : RAETIA

19-down – Miss __,Muppet : PIGGY

21-down – Kingdom,now Thailand : SIAM