7-across – Thelma’s partner in crime? : LOUISE

8-across – The ruling planet of Aquarius : URANUS

9-across – Golda __, Israeli prime minister 1969 – 1974 : MEIR

10-across – Dan __, BBC Test Match Special commentator : NORCROSS

11-across – Freddie __, star of Queen : MERCURY

13-across – Delta of __, by Anaïs Nin : VENUS

15-across – The capital of Belarus : MINSK

17-across – Berber nomads of the Sahara : TUAREGS

20-across – Beef cured in brine and partially dried : PASTRAMI

21-across – __ Stone, star of La La Land : EMMA

23-across – Patty __, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974 : HEARST

24-across – Author of Get Shorty and Out of Sight : ELMORE

1-down – Baroness __, life peer at the centre of the PPE Medpro controversy : MONE

2-down – Corrosive acid : NITRIC

3-down – See 24 Across : LEONARD

4-down – Brand of meat substitute : QUORN

5-down – J.M. __, creator of Peter Pan : BARRIE

6-down – City in the German Ruhr : DUISBURG

12-down – __ Stadium, Arsenal’s home ground : EMIRATES

14-down – The Moons of __, by Alice Munro : JUPITER

16-down – The Rings of __, by W.G. Sebald : SATURN

18-down – Covered in mucus discharged from the eyes? : RHEUMY

19-down – The Pillars of the __, by Ken Follett : EARTH

22-down – Whence came men, according to John Gray? : MARS

7-across – Pontius __, once governor of the province of Judea : PILATE

8-across – Ronald __, US president 1981-1989 : REAGAN

9-across – Mary __, Victorian writer known for her travels in west Africa : KINGSLEY

10-across – French soft cheese : BRIE

11-across – __ Guards, the Vatican armed force : SWISS

13-across – Name given to a UK government request that the media not report matters harmful to the national interest : DNOTICE

15-across – __ DuBois, character from A Streetcar Named Desire : BLANCHE

17-across – Dystopian Korean TV series : SQUID

19-across – The captain of the Pequod in Moby-Dick : AHAB

20-across – French bread, considered part of its intangible cultural heritage : BAGUETTE

23-across – __ Rains, actor who played Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca : CLAUDE

24-across – See 4 Down : MANTIS

1-down – 1944 novella by Colette : GIGI

2-down – River flowing through Patna : GANGES

3-down – Colin __, long suffering pianist on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue : SELL

4-down – Insect known for its upright posture and folded ‘arms’ : PRAYING

5-down – See 18 : GAMBIT

6-down – Mexican musical ensemble : MARIACHI

12-down – Hilary Mantel’s novel about Thomas Cromwell : WOLFHALL

14-down – An unlicensed drinking place in South Africa and Ireland : SHEBEEN

16-down – Palestinian city in the West Bank : NABLUS

18-down – The __, Netflix series about a chess prodigy named Beth Harmon : QUEENS

21-down – See 17 Across : GAME

22-down – Make of German toy train : TRIX

1-across – Computer pioneer whose face appears on the English £50 note : ALAN

3-across – See 18 : COCHRANE

9-across – Indigenous name for Easter Island : RAPANUI

10-across – Bound bamboo stick used especially by police in South Asia : LATHI

11-across – The leading US intelligence agency : CIA

12-across – __ voting: concept in game and political theory in which a participant votes for a less preferred outcome : INSINCERE

13-across – See 1 : TURING

15-across – See 19 Down : HOPPER

18-across – Inventor who patented the first commercially successful dishwasher in 1886 : JOSEPHINE

19-across – The Russian military intelligence agency : GRU

20-across – __ Ramaphosa, South African president : CYRIL

21-across – Name given to the epoch following the chalcolithic and the bronze? : IRONAGE

22-across – Martin __, director of Raging Bull : SCORSESE

23-across – The king of the gods in Greek mythology : ZEUS

1-down – Early British computer brand – or a common fruit : APRICOT

2-down – The first letter of the Greek alphabet : ALPHA

4-down – Former name of the Indian state now known as Odisha : ORISSA

5-down – Simpsons character whose “law” has come to be “Think of the children”? : HELENLOVEJOY

6-down – Belgian city north of Brussels : ANTWERP

7-down – Short name for Rousseau’s treatise on education : EMILE

8-down – City that calls itself the Crossroads of America : INDIANAPOLIS

14-down – __ Salazar, Karen Walker’s maid in Will & Grace : ROSARIO

16-down – News agency founded in London in 1851 : REUTERS

17-down – The brightest star in the night sky : SIRIUS

18-down – Will __, England cricketer : JACKS

19-down – Computer pioneer and US Navy rear admiral for whom Yale named one of its colleges in 2017 : GRACE

7-across – Russian civil society organisation and 2022 Nobel peace prize laureate : MEMORIAL

8-across – Joe __, record-breaking English batter : ROOT

9-across – Scorsese film starring Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio : THEDEPARTED

10-across – __ Lincoln, president during the American Civil War : ABRAHAM

12-across – Mike __, director of Peterloo : LEIGH

14-across – UN programme and 2020 Nobel peace prize laureate : WORLD

16-across – Sentiment expressed in Matthew 5:9? : BLESSED

19-across – See 16 : PEACEMAKERS

21-across – See 14 : FOOD

22-across – Nihon __, 2024 Nobel peace prize laureate : HIDANKYO

1-down – Michael Mann movie in which De Niro and Pacino appear on screen together : HEAT

2-down – City home to many of Italy’s sports car manufacturers : MODENA

3-down – Party that merged with the Social Democrats in 1988 : LIBERAL

4-down – Greek epic attributed to Homer : ILIAD

5-down – See 16 Across : ARETHE

6-down – French department with its prefecture in Périgueux : DORDOGNE

11-down – Brand of fold-up bicycles : BROMPTON

13-down – Organisation founded by Osama bin Laden : ALQAIDA

15-down – The Angolan capital : LUANDA

17-down – Laurence __, author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy : STERNE

18-down – River of the underworld in Greek mythology : LETHE

20-down – Goddess – and river – of the underworld in Greek mythology : STYX

7-across – Breakfast food popular in 6? : BELGIANWAFFLE

8-across – The __, Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist Western : WILD

9-across – Eternal __of the Spotless Mind; starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey : SUNSHINE

10-across – Distinctive type of mushroom, generally poisonous and often seen in fairytales : AGARIC

12-across – South American mountain range : ANDES

14-across – See 8 : BUNCH

16-across – Mythical woman with snakes in her hair : MEDUSA

19-across – Abbreviated motto of the United States Marine Corps : SEMPERFI

20-across – A nostalgic song by 6 and 4 – or a 13 in France : SLOW

22-across – One motto of the United States : EPLURIBUSUNUM

1-down – __ Gilpin, star of Frasier : PERI

2-down – Moroccan city : AGADIR

3-down – Garment worn by Christian clergy : CASSOCK

4-down – Graeme __, former England spin bowler : SWANN

5-down – A native of Kabul? : AFGHAN

6-down – Dutch-speaking region of Belgium : FLANDERS

11-down – __ Verdi, composer : GIUSEPPE

13-down – Clapham __ – where, in English law, a reasonable person may be found? : OMNIBUS

15-down – Divided Mediterranean island : CYPRUS

17-down – One of the events of the ancient Greek pentathlon : DISCUS

18-down – See 20 Across : TRAIN

21-down – The French for egg : OEUF