7-across – David __, magician : BLAINE

8-across – Evening meal to end the fast during Ramadan : IFTAR

9-across – One of three weapons used in modern fencing : EPEE

10-across – City in northern Israel : NAZARETH

11-across – Member of the 14th century religious reform movement led by John Wycliffe : LOLLARD

13-across – The capital of Belarus : MINSK

15-across – Port city on Honshu : OSAKA

17-across – A word much loved by crossword setters? : ANAGRAM

19-across – Another name for black treacle : MOLASSES

21-across – The Irish parliament : DAIL

22-across – Pre-dawn meal during Ramadan : SUHUR

23-across – Author of pulp fiction including Get Shorty : ELMORE

1-down – Syrian city, once its largest : ALEPPO

2-down – Dad’s Army character whose identity is accidentally revealed by Captain Mainwaring : PIKE

3-down – See 23 Across : LEONARD

4-down – Cameron __, star of Charlie’s Angels : DIAZ

5-down – Norway’s parliament : STORTING

6-down – Marcus __, Caesar’s assassin : BRUTUS

12-down – India’s parliament : LOKSABHA

14-down – Israel’s parliament : KNESSET

16-down – Name given to the Nike logo : SWOOSH

18-down – Bee farm : APIARY

20-down – Channel Island in two parts, Greater and Little : SARK

21-down – A Russian parliament : DUMA

7-across – __ Act, 1769 legislation ensuring the right to a fair trial : HABEAS

8-across – See 7 : CORPUS

9-across – __ Act, 1976 legislation to prevent certain kinds of discrimination : RACERELATIONS

10-across – Character created by René Goscinny : ASTERIX

12-across – See 14 : CARTA

14-across – The first recognition in English law that subjects of the crown had rights : MAGNA

16-across – Nickname given to New Orleans : BIGEASY

19-across – Site in Florida used by NASA to launch spacecraft : CAPECANAVERAL

21-across – Law from 1689 that limited the powers of the monarch : BILLOF

22-across – See 21 : RIGHTS

1-down – French town whose burgers may be found in Victoria Tower Gardens, London : CALAIS

2-down – A venerable Geordie monk : BEDE

3-down – Author of The Chronicles of Narnia : CSLEWIS

4-down – Richie __, All Black rugby great : MCCAW

5-down – Simon __, poet laureate : ARMITAGE

6-down – Sir Alastair __, former presenter of ITN’s News at Ten : BURNET

11-down – South African golfer also known as the 16 : ERNIEELS

13-down – Nancy __, singer whose hits include These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ : SINATRA

15-down – __ Morrisette, singer whose hits include Ironic : ALANIS

17-down – Ancient city-state in what is now Greece : SPARTA

18-down – A port in Israel – or a perfect cricket delivery? : JAFFA

20-down – Therefore in Latin : ERGO

6-across – Here he is, according to Paul Simon, while Tom flies to Mexico, 14/23 __ : LIVINGBOY

7-across – The capital of Puerto Rico : SAN

9-across – See 6 : YORK

10-across – Latin term for a degree awarded by one university in recognition of qualifications from another : ADEUNDEM

11-across – Animal with whose jawbone Samson slayed his enemies : ASS

13-across – _ Perry, singer whose hits include I Kissed a Girl : KATY

15-across – Ray-finned fish that migrate between the rivers of Europe and the Sargasso Sea : EELS

17-across – See 7 : JUAN

18-across – European research centre, home to the Large Hadron Collider : CERN

20-across – Shorthand for an internet address : URL

22-across – Who was 14/23 one, who could ever reach Dusty Springfield : THESONOF

23-across – Exclusive group who, according to Roy Orbison, know the way he feels tonight? : ONLY

25-across – See 22 : MAN

26-across – See 22 : APREACHER

1-down – Japanese condiment made from fermented soybeans : MISO

2-down – The __, band founded by Ray and Dave Davies : KINKS

3-down – Lizard native to Central and South America : IGUANA

4-down – See 23 Across : LONELY

5-down – Another name for a knee jerk : PATELLAR

8-down – See 6 Across : INNEW

12-down – A term for a boxer who leads with his or her right hand : SOUTHPAW

14-down – See 23 Across : THE

16-down – Sir __ Kapoor, sculptor : ANISH

18-down – A savoury hors d’œuvre : CANAPE

19-down – See 5 : REFLEX

21-down – James __, author of Finnegans Wake : JOYCE

24-down – A town in Staffordshire, or a mountain in Antarctica : LEEK

6-across – Of what Anne Fine’s 1 was made? : BONES

7-across – See 1 Down : TOWIGAN

9-across – __ Lipstadt, historian who correctly accused David Irving of Holocaust denial : DEBORAH

10-across – Bird found on Iain Banks’s 1? : CROW

11-across – US town, host to one campus of the University of Massachusetts : AMHERST

13-across – Timothy __ , star of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Mr Turner : SPALL

15-across – Spectre found on Pat Barker’s 1? : GHOST

17-across – Anarchic state of Graham Greene’s 1s? : LAWLESS

20-across – Television’s equivalent of an Oscar : EMMY

21-across – Artform exemplified by Blur, Oasis and Pulp? : BRITPOP

23-across – 1 in which Helene Hanff found her favourite bookshop : CHARING

24-across – Mountain range separating Chile and Argentina : ANDES

1-down – The __, Orwell book recounting the development of his political consciousness : ROAD

2-down – Character played by Robert Carlyle in Trainspotting : BEGBIE

3-down – Host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics : SOCHI

4-down – 1996 golfing comedy starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo : TINCUP

5-down – Sicilian courtier who learned the hard way that to wield power is to have enemies : DAMOCLES

8-down – See 23 Across : CROSS

12-down – Another name for dorado or common dolphinfish : MAHIMAHI

14-down – Port city in Andalucia : CADIZ

16-down – Dorothy L __, creator of Lord Peter Wimsey : SAYERS

18-down – Chinese prime minister, 1987-1998 : LIPENG

19-down – Hardwood known for its dark grain : EBONY

22-down – See 1 : PIER

7-across – Balkan republic; capital Pristina : KOSOVO

8-across – 9 owned by Flaubert, according to Julian Barnes : PARROT

9-across – See 3 Down : BIRD

10-across – Jack __, author of On the Road : KEROUAC

11-across – Doris __, author of The Grass is Singing : LESSING

13-across – Condition in which Maya Angelou’s 9 nevertheless sings? : CAGED

15-across – Franciscan friar known for his law of parsimony in problem solving : OCCAM

17-across – Nationality of Dashiell Hammett’s 9? : MALTESE

19-across – Video game featuring a girl called Madeline climbing a mountain : CELESTE

21-across – Stage name of singer Marie Lawrie? : LULU

22-across – Country – and one of the so-called Brexit options? : NORWAY

23-across – Edna __, author of The Country Girls trilogy : OBRIEN

1-down – Alabama city where Bob Dylan got the Memphis Blues : MOBILE

2-down – The colour of Donna Tartt’s 9? : GOLD

3-down – Ceature used by Harper Lee as a metaphor for innocence : MOCKING

4-down – A quality or feature found in moments, railway lines and cowboy boots? : SPUR

5-down – Francis __, lead character in House of Cards, played by Ian Richardson : URQUHART

6-down – Acknowledgment that one has been hit in fencing : TOUCHE

12-down – 9s made up of the Walker family, according to Arthur Ransome : SWALLOWS

14-down – Walter __, journalist known for his 1867 work, The English Constitution : BAGEHOT

16-down – 9 over whose nest Randle Patrick McMurphy flew? : CUCKOO

18-down – The colour of Tayari Jones’s 9? : SILVER

20-down – Hebridean island : SKYE

21-down – 9 plucked in the children’s song Alouette? : LARK