6-across – Molly and Leopold Bloom’s home town? : DUBLIN

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

9-across – Dialectical materialists? : MARXISTS

10-across – A spice, a bludgeon or a type of tear gas? : MACE

11-across – Singer and actor who starred in Moonstruck : CHER

13-across – Nickname for Barnsley FC : THETYKES

14-across – Malian city near the 16 Down : TIMBUKTU

16-across – Africa’s longest river : NILE

17-across – Muslim religious leader : IMAM

18-across – Sweet smelling posies : NOSEGAYS

21-across – Polish city on the Vistula : KRAKOW

22-across – Continent straddling the equator and the Greenwich meridian : AFRICA

1-down – South Sudanese city on the 16 Across : JUBA

2-down – Animals, which, as Flanders and Swann tell us, ain’t elks? : GNUS

3-down – Jean-Jacques __, author of The Social Contract : ROUSSEAU

4-down – Capital of 16 Down : NIAMEY

5-down – Joni __, who has “looked at life from both sides now” : MITCHELL

7-down – Egyptian city on 16 Across : LUXOR

12-down – Catholic prayer to the mother of Jesus : HAILMARY

13-down – Dame Kiri __, opera singer : TEKANAWA

15-down – Malian capital on the 16 Down : BAMAKO

16-down – River in west 22 : NIGER

19-down – Fiona __, Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films : SHAW

20-down – Village People hit from 1978 : YMCA

6-across – Celebration dinner, usually held on 25 January : BURNSSUPPER

8-across – Jordan __, president of the French Rassemblement National : BARDELLA

9-across – The Sun __ Rises, novel by Ernest Hemingway : ALSO

10-across – US aircraft company : BOEING

11-across – The only way! : ESSEX

13-across – Form of film animation originally from Japan : ANIME

15-across – Alexander __, prime minister of Belgium : DECROO

18-across – Ray __, the man who made McDonald’s famous : KROC

19-across – Region of the Yukon known for its 1896 gold rush : KLONDIKE

21-across – Mette __, prime minister of Denmark : FREDERIKSEN

1-down – Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid? : ABBA

2-down – Jean __, Muriel Spark’s hero, whom we meet in her prime? : BRODIE

3-down – George __, creator of Star Wars : LUCAS

4-down – Britney __, singer and anagram of Presbyterians? : SPEARS

5-down – The former duke of Milan in Shakespeare’s The Tempest : PROSPERO

7-down – Evika __, prime minister of Latvia : SILINA

10-down – Anne __, the on-screen Mrs Robinson? : BANCROFT

12-down – Giorgia __, prime minister of Italy : MELONI

14-down – Charles __, president of the European Council : MICHEL

16-down – Root vegetable : RADISH

17-down – One of three clay-shooting disciplines : SKEET

20-down – Harry __, England’s men’s football captain : KANE

7-across – Type of cell that can alter its shape : AMOEBA

8-across – Peninsula covered by Spain and Portugal : IBERIA

9-across – Donna __, character from The West Wing : MOSS

10-across – A bicycle brand – or an Oratory in London? : BROMPTON

11-across – Steve __, right-wing US polemicist : BANNON

13-across – Country, capital Kathmandu : NEPAL

15-across – See 2 Down : DORMA

17-across – See 5 Down : LIBERA

20-across – Poet whose works include Diving into the Wreck : ADRIENNE

21-across – See 1 Down : CARO

23-across – See 4 Down : LAMENT

24-across – Beethoven’s 3rd symphony : EROICA

1-down – Aria from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi : OMIO

2-down – Aria from Puccini’s Turandot : NESSUN

3-down – See 1 : BABBINO

4-down – Aria from Purcell’s retelling of the story of Aeneas : DIDOS

5-down – Aria from Verdi’s La Traviata : SEMPRE

6-down – Mythical creature with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man : MINOTAUR

12-down – What : AGOODMAN

14-down – Proprietary eponym for a tissue? : KLEENEX

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

18-down – Sequel to Elmore Leonard’s Get Shorty : BECOOL

19-down – Flying insects : GNATS

22-down – See 20 Across : RICH

5-across – Home of the French Open? : ROLAND

8-across – __ Kwesi Johnson, poet and performance artist : LINTON

9-across – King __, Shakespeare tragedy : LEAR

10-across – Australian outlaw known for his suit of bulletproof armour : NEDKELLY

11-across – __ 16s, home of the US Open? : FLUSHING

14-across – Jon __, former Channel 4 news presenter : SNOW

15-across – North Yorkshire town on the Tees : YARM

17-across – Japanese __, perennial plant : KNOTWEED

19-across – A six-pointed star shape : HEXAGRAM

21-across – Canal du __, linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic : MIDI

23-across – Nut of the genus Prunus : ALMOND

24-across – Pantyhose or tights? : NYLONS

1-down – See 5 Across : GARROS

2-down – __ the Impaler, ruler of Wallachia : VLAD

3-down – Friedrich __, Marx’s benefactor and collaborator : ENGELS

4-down – See 22 : CORLEONE

6-down – Spanish expression of appreciation : OLE

7-down – French port near the Belgian border : DUNKIRK

12-down – Market town in Carmarthenshire : LLANELLI

13-down – Saul __, as in ‘Better call Saul’? : GOODMAN

16-down – Carmela and Tony Soprano’s daughter : MEADOW

18-down – Old name for a gimlet or auger : WIMBLE

20-down – Slavonic parliament – or a drama school in London? : RADA

22-down – Character played by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino? : DON

5-across – __ Micawber, Dickens character remembered for his optimism : WILKINS

6-across – Musical group of 8 voices or instruments : OCTET

9-across – Rallying cry of Trump supporters? : MAGA

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

11-across – The __, Thomas Hardy novel : MAYOROF

12-across – River in Hades, whose waters create forgetfulness? : LETHE

15-across – Anita __, author whose works include The Village by the Sea : DESAI

16-across – City adjacent to Hollywood : BURBANK

18-across – Slavonic alphabet used in Russian : CYRILLIC

20-across – Texting abbreviation for a modestly held view? : IMHO

21-across – Christopher __, actor known for playing Doc Brown in Back to the Future : LLOYD

22-across – Country, capital Budapest : HUNGARY

1-down – See 17 : VICARAGE

2-down – Where Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb in 1995 : OKLAHOMACITY

3-down – The Welsh name for Anglesey : YNYSMON

4-down – Julia Roberts’ character in Ocean’s Eleven : TESS

7-down – See 11 Across : CASTERBRIDGE

8-down – Judge __ Dredd? : JOE

13-down – Michael __, the 11/7 : HENCHARD

14-down – Amazonian native – now also a French camping equipment brand : QUECHUA

17-down – Grantchester dwelling immortalised in verse by Rupert Brooke : OLD

19-down – University in New Haven, CT : YALE