6-across – Popular Chinese-owned video-sharing platform : TIKTOK

7-across – Michael and Louis __ – father and son rugby players : LYNAGH

9-across – László __, inventor who patented his ballpoint pen in 1938 : BIRO

10-across – Nickname of the renaissance artist, Doménikos Theotokópoulos : ELGRECO

11-across – City overlooked by Garth Hill : CARDIFF

13-across – City in North Dakota – and a film by the Coen brothers : FARGO

15-across – The complement to Drang in German literature? : STURM

17-across – K-pop band also known as BTS : BANGTAN

20-across – County in north west Wales : GWYNEDD

21-across – See 17 : BOYS

23-across – Bakery chain based in Liverpool : SAYERS

24-across – Houseplant known for its large green and orange leaves : CROTON

1-down – Pacific nation, capital Suva : FIJI

2-down – Town in Gloucestershire known for its steep streets : STROUD

3-down – See 8 : OKEEFFE

4-down – Nick __, deputy prime minister 2010-2015 : CLEGG

5-down – Deputy leader of the Labour Party : ANGELA

8-down – Modernist artist known for her New Mexico landscapes : GEORGIA

12-down – Caribbean island, one half of a Commonwealth country : ANTIGUA

14-down – __ Bushnell, author of Sex and the City : CANDACE

16-down – See 5 : RAYNER

18-down – US guitar brand : GIBSON

19-down – Society of people with high IQs? : MENSA

22-down – Michelle __, star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon : YEOH

6-across – Name by which Chennai was once known : MADRAS

8-across – Fernando __, F1 driver and former champion : ALONSO

9-across – See 4 Down : GRAY

10-across – Jewish school for study of the Talmud and the Torah : YESHIVA

11-across – Little __, area of New York bordered by Tribeca and SoHo : ITALY

13-across – Spice Girls’ debut single : WANNABE

15-across – The name by which Asterix knew Paris? : LUTETIA

17-across – Lee __, author of the Jack Reacher novels : CHILD

20-across – 1819 novel by Walter Scott : IVANHOE

21-across – Individual whose progress was recorded by Hogarth? : RAKE

23-across – Nigel __, actor who played Neil in The Young Ones : PLANER

24-across – Kamala __, US vice president : HARRIS

1-down – Roseanne __, US comedian : BARR

2-down – Ancient county of western Scotland : ARGYLL

3-down – Caramel, nougat and chocolate confectionery created in Slough in 1932 : MARSBAR

4-down – Oscar Wilde’s narcissist : DORIAN

5-down – City once known as Constantinople : ISTANBUL

7-down – The river between Earth and the underworld in Greek mythology : STYX

12-down – Former president of the Dominican Republic, after whom Santo Domingo was once named : TRUJILLO

14-down – Movie franchise starring Bruce Willis : DIEHARD

16-down – __ Thompson-Herah, Jamaican sprinter : ELAINE

18-down – City once known as Salisbury : HARARE

19-down – Long __, former name of the Maze prison in County Down : KESH

22-down – Capital of Ukraine : KYIV

6-across – Astrological time which dawned in Hair : AGEOFAQUARIUS

8-across – Macedonian king who conquered much of Asia Minor : ALEXANDER

9-across – See 8 : THE

11-across – 1997 movie based on an 1839 slave mutiny : AMISTAD

13-across – See 8 : GREAT

16-across – Dame Jessica __-Hill, heptathlete : ENNIS

17-across – Yorkshire town associated with the Brontë sisters : HAWORTH

19-across – What was on, according to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack : THE

21-across – Grape variety also known as primitivo : ZINFANDEL

24-across – What might proverbially be spoken in jest? : MANYATRUEWORD

1-down – Jamie __, professional name of Eric Bishop : FOXX

2-down – 1988 Oscar-winning movie starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman : RAINMAN

3-down – WH __, poet whose works include Funeral Blues : AUDEN

4-down – Dr __, professional name of Andre Young : DRE

5-down – A category of Scottish hills devised by Andrew Dempster : HUGH

7-down – Emma __, US anarchist : GOLDMAN

10-down – Jason’s ship? : ARGO

12-down – Branch of Islam associated with Iran : SHIA

14-down – Another name for the aardvark : ANTBEAR

15-down – Arthur __, prime minister 1902-1905 : BALFOUR

18-down – Nought to __, common performance measure in the car industry : SIXTY

20-down – See 19 Across : HEAT

22-down – Type of salamander, the adult version of an eft : NEWT

23-down – Tipple favoured by good old boys, according to Don McLean? : RYE

6-across – Opera house in Paris’s 9th arrondissement : PALAIS

8-across – __ Theatre, opera house in Manaus, Brazil : AMAZON

9-across – A type of bird – or a problem to which Gordius found a solution : KNOT

10-across – See 4 Down : TRAVIATA

12-across – Motown! : DETROIT

13-across – 1996 golf comedy starring Rene Russo and Kevin Costner : TIN

16-across – See 13 : CUP

17-across – Soviet diplomat known for his cocktails : MOLOTOV

20-across – The wife of Orpheus whose story is a popular subject in 6/1, 8 and 15 : EURYDICE

21-across – City and oblast in western Siberia : OMSK

22-across – Comic opera : ROSINA

24-across – Cyndi Lauper’s once controversial song about female sexual experience, released 1984 : SHEBOP

1-down – See 6 Across : GARNIER

2-down – Pseudonym, like the city, chosen by John le Carré’s Perfect Spy? : CANTERBURY

3-down – Emirate home to Al Jazeera : QATAR

4-down – Verdi opera based on the play by Alexandre Dumas : LA

5-down – Connie __, star and co-writer of Fawlty Towers : BOOTH

7-down – Isy __, comedian whose Love Letters appeared on Radio 4 : SUTTIE

11-down – Architect who designed the layout for Covent Garden in the 1630s : INIGOJONES

14-down – Ginger __, dancer who did everything backwards and in high heels : ROGERS

15-down – Moscow theatre : BOLSHOI

18-down – The modern name for ancient Thebes : LUXOR

19-down – Italian city, home to La Scala : MILAN

23-down – __ Lindsay Anderson film : IF

9-across – What Band Aid asked if they knew in their 1984 10 : CHRISTMAS

10-across – Ernst Blofeld’s designation within Spectre in the Bond books : NUMBERONE

11-across – What Renée and Renato urged us to save in their 1982 9 10 : YOURLOVE

12-across – Dark version of ochre : UMBER

13-across – Who had a boy child, according to Harry Belafonte in his 1957 9 10 : MARY

14-across – Simon __, actor who plays Benji Dunn in the Mission: Impossible franchise : PEGG

15-across – Jawaharlal __, India’s first prime minister : NEHRU

16-across – Epic poetry – bohemian, according to Queen in their 1975 : RHAPSODY

18-across – The Beatles’ simple desire in their 1963 9 10 : IWANTTOHOLDYOURHAND

24-across – Disney character from Frozen, voiced by Josh Gad : OLAF

26-across – University in Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT

27-across – Where Bruce Springsteen was born? : USA

28-across – Oh My __, Boney M in their 1978 9 10 : LORD

29-across – What we should let no one be – Mud’s 9 10 from 1974… : LONELYTHISCHRISTMAS

32-across – … but one reason why too many people are this year : PANDEMIC

35-across – Colloquial term for a nuclear weapon : ABOMB

38-across – Japanese city on Honshu : KOBE

40-across – What one should keep, while carrying on? : CALM

42-across – French city close to the Belgian border : LILLE

43-across – London borough whose NHS choir : LEWISHAM

44-across – Form of sterling no longer issued by the Bank of England : POUNDNOTE

45-across – London borough whose NHS choir : GREENWICH

1-down – __ Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday : SHROVE

2-down – Element with atomic number 7 : NITROGEN

3-down – Church in Smith Square, London known as a concert venue : STJOHN

4-down – Choirmaster with whom Military Wives had a 9 10 in 2011 : GARETH

5-down – Here we go round the __ – nursery rhyme : MULBERRYBUSH

6-down – Peninsula in south-west Europe : IBERIA

7-down – A measure of scotch? : DRAM

8-down – __ Bergman, star of Casablanca : INGRID

12-down – Type of suspects rounded up in Casablanca? : USUAL

17-down – Semi arid southern fringe of the Sahara : SAHEL

19-down – US version of a fictional character created by Martin Handford : WALDO

20-down – __ Wynette, the First Lady of country music : TAMMY

21-down – Group whose hits include You Sexy Thing : HOTCHOCOLATE

22-down – One of the five basic tastes : UMAMI

23-down – _ Major, wife of the former prime minister : NORMA

25-down – Sigmund __, neurologist : FREUD

30-down – Band that wished everybody Merry Xmas in their 1973 9 10 : SLADE

31-down – To tango…? : TAKESTWO

33-down – Woman warrior in Greek mythology : AMAZON

34-down – See 4 : MALONE

36-down – Ice hockey team from Edmonton, Canada : OILERS

37-down – Sally __, central character in Cabaret : BOWLES

39-down – Lucentio’s 9 10 in The Taming of the Shrew? : BIANCA

41-down – You were always on mine, according to the Pet Shop Boys’ 1987 9 10 : MIND