7-across – Catholic pilgrimage site in Portugal – or the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad : FATIMA

8-across – __ counter, technology to measure radiation : GEIGER

9-across – Petroleum jelly brand belonging to Unilever : VASE

10-across – Indonesian volcano that erupted in 1883 : KRAKATOA

11-across – Hurricane that flooded much of southern Louisiana in 2005 : KATRINA

13-across – __ Jerry, rock band whose hits include In the Summertime : MUNGO

15-across – __ Buchanan, character in The Great Gatsby : DAISY

17-across – See 21 : TIMOTHY

20-across – Site of a 1986 natural disaster in Cameroon : LAKENYOS

21-across – Downing Street official who resigned after the 2017 general election : NICK

22-across – __ Gropius, Bauhaus architect : WALTER

23-across – The king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream : OBERON

1-down – Vasco __, Portuguese explorer, the first European to reach India by sea : DAGAMA

2-down – See 9 Across : LINE

3-down – Stephen __, author of A Brief History of Time : HAWKING

4-down – Medieval alphabet used to write early Irish : OGHAM

5-down – Mount __, Philippine volcano which erupted in 1991 : PINATUBO

6-down – River running through Vietnam : MEKONG

12-down – Christina Georgina __, poet : ROSSETTI

14-down – The __ Boy, 1946 play by Terence Rattigan : WINSLOW

16-down – 2009 movie by James Cameron : AVATAR

18-down – Trojan prince, the son of Priam and Hecuba : HECTOR

19-down – A many-headed serpent in Greek mythology : HYDRA

21-down – __ Fielding or Edmonds, television personalities : NOEL

5-across – Slang term for high-frequency radio direction finding, introduced in the second world war : HUFFDUFF

7-across – Steven Spielberg’s debut thriller : DUEL

8-across – City once known as Aquæ Sulis : BATH

9-across – See 10 : OFMANAND

10-across – Seminal political statement that was adopted by the French Assembly in August 1789 : DECLARATION

12-across – See 10 : OFTHERIGHTS

14-across – Semi-autonomous archipelago, part of Tanzania : ZANZIBAR

16-across – Roman aqueduct near Avignon : PONT

17-across – State in south-west Nigeria : OGUN

18-across – Galleys used by ancient maritime civilisations of the Mediterranean, having three banks of oarsmen : TRIREMES

1-down – See 16 Across : DUGARD

2-down – See 10 Across : OFTHECITIZEN

3-down – Ritual act of public penance required by the Spanish Inquisition : AUTODAFE

4-down – John __, Beatle : LENNON

6-down – Portmanteau term for a female robot in science and art : FEM

7-down – Actor who starred in Easy Rider, Blue Velvet and Apocalypse Now : DENNISHOPPER

11-down – Precipitation that is made poisonous by industrial pollutants : ACIDRAIN

12-down – __ County, wealthy suburb south of Los Angeles – or the new black? : ORANGE

13-down – __ Boulevard, major road through Hollywood, a Gloria Swanson film, or an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical : SUNSET

15-down – See 6 : BOT

7-across – Old __ 2D, statue by Raffaelle Monti at St John’s Lock, Lechlade : FATHER

8-across – Diane __, star of Annie Hall and The Godfather : KEATON

9-across – __ Werritty, adviser whose relationship with Liam Fox led to the latter’s cabinet resignation in 2011 : ADAM

10-across – One of Margaret Thatcher’s nicknames : IRONLADY

11-across – Darcey __, ballerina and judge of Strictly : BUSSELL

13-across – Mark __, pseudonym of Samuel L Clemens : TWAIN

15-across – Online supermarket founded 2000 : OCADO

17-across – Countess __ Rostova, character from War and Peace : NATASHA

20-across – Identity claimed by John F Kennedy in June 1963? : BERLINER

21-across – See 23 : CITY

23-across – Nickname given to Cape Town, South Africa : MOTHER

24-across – Old Testament book telling the story of a Persian princess : ESTHER

1-down – Currency used in 23/21 : RAND

2-down – Flood control system between the London boroughs of Newham and Greenwich : THAMES

3-down – Louis __, creator of a system of reading and writing used by blind and visually impaired people : BRAILLE

4-down – Ohio city where Sojourner Truth made her Ain’t I A Woman? speech : AKRON

5-down – Fictional narrator of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness : MARLOW

6-down – Ruined medieval castle in Herefordshire : GOODRICH

12-down – Hero of an 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe? : UNCLETOM

14-down – See 2 : BARRIER

16-down – Ancient Greek ruins on the slopes of Mount Parnassus : DELPHI

18-down – Chemmy __, alpine skier : ALCOTT

19-down – __ Agassi, tennis player : ANDRE

22-down – Rock band led by Marc Bolan : TREX

7-across – See 4 Down : CORDEN

8-across – Another name for the northern lights : AURORA

9-across – Unit of the renminbi : YUAN

10-across – Controversial governor of Louisiana assassinated in 1935 : HUEYLONG

11-across – Segment of The Late Late Show on CBS in which 4 7 hosts celebrities in his car : CARPOOL

13-across – Fear in German : ANGST

15-across – Country bordered by Cameroon and the Republic of Congo : GABON

17-across – See 11 : KARAOKE

20-across – See 8 : BOREALIS

21-across – See 19 Down : JOHN

22-across – Popular brand of non-zip clothes fasteners created in the late 1950s : VELCRO

23-across – The capital of New York state : ALBANY

1-down – Ethnic group from Nigeria, Benin and northern Togo : YORUBA

2-down – Biblical paradise : EDEN

3-down – Major city in South Korea : INCHEON

4-down – English actor, comedian and talkshow host : JAMES

5-down – Island state south of India : SRILANKA

6-down – The seventh planet from the sun : URANUS

12-down – The part of France where Peter Mayle spent a year? : PROVENCE

14-down – A chocolate product created in 1932 : MARSBAR

16-down – Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic : AZORES

18-down – A Hawaiian word meaning ‘priest’ or ‘wise man’ : KAHUNA

19-down – British songwriter whose works include Crocodile Rock : ELTON

21-down – The capital of South Sudan : JUBA

1-across – Scottish engineer famed for his work on steam engines : JAMESWATT

6-across – The largest of the United States : ALA

8-across – Robert __, author of An Essay on the Principle of Population : MALTHUS

9-across – George __, the pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans : ELIOT

10-across – George __, the pseudonym of Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin : SAND

11-across – __ memory, unusually vivid visual recall : EIDETIC

13-across – The currency of Zambia and Malawi : KWACHA

15-across – Joseph __, the pseudonym of Józef Korzeniowski : CONRAD

17-across – The capital of China’s Sichuan province : CHENGDU

18-across – The Norse god of thunder : THOR

22-across – Town at, roughly, the geographical centre of Australia : ALICE

23-across – See 22 : SPRINGS

24-across – See 6 : SKA

25-across – See 12 Down : TRADITION

1-down – Henry __, author of The Bostonians : JAMES

2-down – City home to La Scala and the San Siro : MILAN

3-down – Area of central London – or downtown Manhattan : SOHO

4-down – Jane __, author of Pride and Prejudice : AUSTEN

5-down – Dostoyevsky novel named for its hero, Prince Myshkin : THEIDIOT

6-down – The __, 2004 Scorsese biopic of Howard Hughes : AVIATOR

7-down – Medicine used to relieve heartburn : ANTACID

12-down – Book of literary criticism by F R Leavis, named for the works of 9, 15 and 1down and 4 : THEGREAT

13-down – Comic book and movie series starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson : KICKASS

14-down – Song from Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel : AMERICA

16-down – Country bordered by Poland and North Korea : RUSSIA

19-down – The capital of Vietnam : HANOI

20-down – Michael __, author of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt : ROSEN

21-down – Administrative area in 16 : KRAI