7-across – The second self? : ALTEREGO

8-across – Units of measurement, roughly the length of a human arm : ELLS

9-across – Children’s TV series whose characters include Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch : SESAME

10-across – See 9 : STREET

11-across – John __, British explorer and the first European to reach Lake Victoria : SPEKE

13-across – Children’s books and TV series named for its hero, Horatio : CAPTAIN

15-across – See 13 : PUGWASH

17-across – Ralph __, US campaigner and frequent presidential candidate : NADER

20-across – Venetian bridge over the Grand Canal : RIALTO

21-across – Children’s TV series whose stars included Chris Tarrant and Sally James : TISWAS

23-across – Poem by 24 which begins, ‘Come to me in the silence of the night…’ : ECHO

24-across – Christina Georgina __, poet whose works include 23 : ROSSETTI

1-down – Children’s TV series first presented by Christopher Trace and Leila Williams : BLUE

2-down – New York’s third airport? : NEWARK

3-down – See 1 : PETER

4-down – East German city where allied leaders met in July 1945 : POTSDAM

5-down – The capital of Lebanon : BEIRUT

6-down – Section of Africa’s longest river which rises in Lake Tana : BLUENILE

12-down – Former England footballer who won 53 caps from 1992-2000 : PAULINCE

14-down – Artist known for his paintings of industrial Lancashire : LSLOWRY

16-down – Fay __, author whose works include The Life and Loves of a She-Devil : WELDON

18-down – Cassandra __, painter and elder sister of the more famous Jane : AUSTEN

19-down – The East German secret police : STASI

22-down – CGI animated film starring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez and many others : ANTZ

7-across – Town on the north shore of the Mersey : BOOTLE

8-across – The second book of the Old Testament : EXODUS

9-across – Predatory seabird also known as a jaeger : SKUA

10-across – Ohio’s capital city : COLUMBUS

11-across – Pacific 2 separating Sakhalin from mainland Asia : TARTARY

13-across – A resident of Tashkent? : UZBEK

15-across – The __, 2 separating the mainland Scotland from Lewis and Harris : MINCH

17-across – 2 separating Cuba and Mexico : YUCATAN

20-across – 2 separating mainland South America and Tierra del Fuego : MAGELLAN

21-across – The __, 2016 film starring Idris Elba, released in the UK as Bastille Day : TAKE

23-across – 2 separating Siberia and Alaska : BERING

24-across – The Russian currency : ROUBLE

1-down – 2 separating New Zealand’s North and South Islands : COOK

2-down – A narrow passage of water connecting two seas : STRAIT

3-down – An element, a god or a planet? : MERCURY

4-down – A tool used by fire and rescue service for forcible entry : KELLY

5-down – 2 separating Oman and Iran : HORMUZ

6-down – South African trumpet made popular : VUVUZELA

12-down – Style of language in which Mr Collins wished to inform Elizabeth Bennet of the violence of his affection? : ANIMATED

14-down – Whither Hamlet would have Ophelia go? : NUNNERY

16-down – Beach in Dorset : CHESIL

18-down – Tidal 2 separating New Jersey from Staten Island : ARTHUR

19-down – Irish county in Connacht : SLIGO

22-down – See 18 : KILL

6-across – Alan __, computer scientist portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the award-winning 2014 film The Imitation Game : TURING

8-across – Area subject to 13 by Russia in February-March 2014 : CRIMEA

9-across – Biblical figure who murdered his brother : CAIN

10-across – Blefuscu’s neighbouring island : LILLIPUT

11-across – The BBC’s main weeknight chat and magazine programme : THEONESHOW

13-across – The forcible acquisition of one state’s territory by another : ANNEXATION

16-across – The time – according to John Berendt’s Pulitzer prize-nominated book – in the Garden of Good and Evil : MIDNIGHT

18-across – Area subject to 13 after the 1975 move known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus : EAST

19-across – The capital of Tasmania : HOBART

20-across – City that became Ho Chi Minh City after the effective 13 of South Vietnam by the North : SAIGON

1-down – Country subject to 13 after invasion by Iraq in 1990 : KUWAIT

2-down – Irish republican political party founded in 1905 : SINNFEIN

3-down – One of the Old Testament books of Wisdom : ECCLESIASTES

4-down – Nickname sometimes used for Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu : BIBI

5-down – Figure in Roman mythology murdered by his brother : REMUS

7-down – Area subject to 13 by Israel in 1981 : GOLANHEIGHTS

12-down – Product imported by the Corleone family? : OLIVEOIL

14-down – The second episode in Joyce’s Ulysses : NESTOR

15-down – See 18 Across : TIMOR

17-down – A type of leavened flatbread : NAAN

7-across – Raul __ Cuban leader : CASTRO

8-across – Medical term for the human armpit : AXILLA

9-across – Paul __, former England football captain : INCE

10-across – Lighthouse southwest of the Scilly Isles : WOLFROCK

11-across – Ancient Greek name for the lands north of the Black Sea : SCYTHIA

13-across – __ Agassi, tennis champion : ANDRE

15-across – A card of elevated status in a trick-taking game : TRUMP

17-across – Hot dry Mediterranean wind, usually blowing from the south east : SIROCCO

20-across – Entrepreneur known for creating Tesla cars : ELONMUSK

21-across – See 4 Down : ROAD

23-across – New York basketball team : KNICKS

24-across – See 6 Down : AVENUE

1-down – 1920 novel by Sinclair Lewis set in Gopher Prairie, Minnesota : MAIN

2-down – See 1 : STREET

3-down – Founding member and rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead : BOBWEIR

4-down – The 1 2 in West Belfast? : FALLS

5-down – Beeban __, OBE, director of Oranges are not the Only Fruit and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason : KIDRON

6-down – Market 2 in Brixton, south London that was the first not to need gas lights? : ELECTRIC

12-down – Cardiff 2 known as Chippy Lane : CAROLINE

14-down – George __, Mr Darcy’s troublesome ward in Pride and Prejudice : WICKHAM

16-down – Sovereign country on the French Riviera : MONACO

18-down – Edna __, author of The Country Girls : OBRIEN

19-down – Member of Rwanda’s minority ethnic group : TUTSI

22-down – River forming, in part, the border between Russia and China : AMUR

7-across – Natural phenomenon also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya : VICTORIAFALLS

8-across – Russian city near the border with Belarus : SMOLENSK

9-across – City in Nevada – or Bill Clinton’s Attorney General? : RENO

10-across – Former England cricketer and current Test Match Special pundit : EBONY

12-across – Annual meteor shower : PERSEID

14-across – Ben __, Washington Post editor during Watergate : BRADLEE

16-across – See 5 Down : TWEED

19-across – Russian city near the Urals – or a once popular hairstyle? : PERM

20-across – See 10 : RAINFORD

22-across – George Bernard Shaw comedy set during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War : ARMSANDTHEMAN

1-down – Name for what is now Thailand : SIAM

2-down – The nom de guerre of Joseph Dzhugashvili : STALIN

3-down – See 10 Across : BRENT

4-down – Pale yellowish cloth originally from Nanjing, China : NANKEEN

5-down – Handwoven Hebridean cloth protected by a 1993 act of parliament : HARRIS

6-down – Scene of a Canadian gold rush between 1896 and 1899 : KLONDIKE

11-down – Thomas __, Victorian fashion designer whose brand still bears his name : BURBERRY

13-down – Gillian __, artist whose statue of Millicent Fawcett stands in Parliament Square, London : WEARING

15-down – Reversible figured fabric, usually of silk or wool : DAMASK

17-down – __-SS, the armed wing of the Nazi Party : WAFFEN

18-down – La __, Michelangelo sculpture in St Peter’s Basilica : PIETA

21-down – The Iranian currency : RIAL