7-across – Hernando __,Spanish explorer central to the colonisation of the Inca empire : DESOTO

8-across – Margaret __,author of The Handmaid’s Tale : ATWOOD

9-across – See 16 : FOGG

10-across – Seaside town in Tor Bay,Devon : PAIGNTON

11-across – Paul __,England footballer who made more than 700 appearances for Manchester United : SCHOLES

13-across – Flowering plant used for making blue dye : WOAD

15-across – Comic character created by Sacha Baron Cohen : ALIG

16-across – The protagonist in Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days : PHILEAS

18-across – Nickname given to Harold Macmillan : SUPERMAC

20-across – Egyptian port visited by 16/9 : SUEZ

22-across – Polysaccharide found in staples of the human diet : STARCH

23-across – Musical film starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta : GREASE

1-down – Nevada city known as a gambling resort : RENO

2-down – Former British colony in China visited by 16/9 : HONGKONG

3-down – Christian __,Austrian physicist who identified how the frequency of a wave may change in relation to an observer in motion : DOPPLER

4-down – 2024 Olympic host city,visited by 16/9 : PARIS

5-down – __ Lake,ballet by Tchaikovsky : SWAN

6-down – Japanese host city for the 2002 Fifa World Cup final – visited by 16/9 : YOKOHAMA

12-down – Former name of the Indian city on the Hooghly – visited by 16/9 : CALCUTTA

13-down – Dame Emma __,CEO of GSK Plc : WALMSLEY

14-down – A musical film starring Catherine Zeta-Jones – or a city visited by 16/9? : CHICAGO

17-down – Warren Buffet’s home town – visited by 16/9 : OMAHA

19-down – __ Pound,modernist poet who influenced T.S. Eliot : EZRA

21-down – __ Rawlins,fictional detective created by Walter Mosley : EASY

7-across – See 21 : MOUSE

8-across – Miley Stewart’s alter ego in the eponymous Disney teen series : HANNAH

9-across – Maori ceremonial dance often performed at rugby matches : HAKA

10-across – __ Basin,geological feature covering parts of Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia : MCARTHUR

11-across – The Indian men’s test cricket captain : SHUBMAN

13-across – __ Linton,Heathcliff’s rival in Wuthering Heights : EDGAR

15-across – Distinguishing feature of vertebrates : SPINE

16-across – Gold coin used in the late Roman empire : SOLIDUS

18-across – The holding company for Google and YouTube : ALPHABET

19-across – See 11 : GILL

21-across – Disney character,sweetheart of Mickey : MINNIE

22-across – __ Klein,author of The Shock Doctrine : NAOMI

1-down – 2021 US Open women’s tennis champion : EMMA

2-down – Civil rights activist who was the first woman commemorated on a US dollar coin : SUSANBANTHONY

3-down – Geological period,the last of the Paleozoic era : PERMIAN

4-down – Suburb of London bordered by Sutton,Morden and Epsom : CHEAM

5-down – Constitutional monarchy formed in 1801 : UNITEDKINGDOM

6-down – See 1 : RADUCANU

12-down – Medical condition in which one has a reduced sensitivity to pain : HYPALGIA

14-down – See 8 Across : MONTANA

17-down – __ Road,Beatles album : ABBEY

20-down – City in western Ukraine : LVIV

7-across – Edward Said’s 1978 foundational work of postcolonial studies : ORIENTALISM

8-across – Musical notation showing a piece should be played slowly : ADAGIO

9-across – See 1 Down : OXIANA

10-across – Plant also known as goatweed : HOGWORT

12-across – __ Sadat,Egyptian president assassinated in 1981 : ANWAR

14-across – Glenn __,star of The Wife : CLOSE

16-across – Where Jan Morris sought the “meaning of nowhere”? : TRIESTE

19-across – BBC detective series starring David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin : LUDWIG

20-across – Robert __,president of Zimbabwe until 2017 : MUGABE

22-across – Jens __,former Norwegian prime minister and secretary general of Nato : STOLTENBERG

1-down – The __,Robert Byron’s 1937 description of a journey through Persia and Afghanistan : ROADTO

2-down – Ed Reardon’s agent? : PING

3-down – Country surrounded by France and Spain : ANDORRA

4-down – Semi-desert region of South Africa : KAROO

5-down – Dame __,leading designer of punk and new wave fashion : VIVIENNE

6-down – __ Krueger,mother of the more famous Freddy? : AMANDA

11-down – See 5 : WESTWOOD

13-down – __ Island,tidal island in the Firth of Forth : CRAMOND

15-down – __ Bourgeois : LOUISE

17-down – Trinidad’s smaller partner? : TOBAGO

18-down – Semi-precious stone formed from chalcedony : AGATE

21-down – Nickname for the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover? : GMEN

5-across – US military decoration given to those wounded or killed while in service : PURPLEHEART

7-across – Mythological river forming the border of Hades : STYX

8-across – Kurt __,former German intelligence officer who became UN secretary general : WALDHEIM

9-across – Classical Indo-Aryan language : SANSKRIT

12-across – A supporter of Barnsley FC? : TYKE

13-across – __ Ono,musician and artist : YOKO

15-across – Mad Max: __,the fourth film in the franchise : FURYROAD

17-across – Caroline __,author of Scammer : CALLOWAY

19-across – Steffi __,multiple tennis grand slam winner : GRAF

20-across – Battle which ended in June 1314,commemorated in 2/10 : BANNOCKBURN

1-down – Sir Hugo __,James Bond’s antagonist in Moonraker : DRAX

2-down – Unofficial anthem sung at Murrayfield? : FLOWEROF

3-down – Dish made primarily with lentils or other split pulses : DHAL

4-down – Medical tube suitable for insertion into the body : CATHETER

5-down – Archaeological site in Jordan,also known as Al-Batra : PETRA

6-down – What,according to 2/10,Edward II was sent homeward to do? : THINK

10-down – See 2 : SCOTLAND

11-down – Asian cooking technique in which meats are glazed with soy sauce and sugar : TERIYAKI

14-down – US dental hygiene brand : ORALB

16-down – See 6 : AGAIN

18-down – Mark __,England fast bowler : WOOD

19-down – Territory which,were it not for Asterix and his friends,would have been completely occupied by the Romans? : GAUL

7-across – Martin Crane’s healthcare assistant in Frasier : DAPHNE

8-across – Congolese animals also known as forest giraffes : OKAPIS

9-across – Henning __,comedian from 3 who made his home in 11 : WEHN

10-across – Pat __ MP,current chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster : MCFADDEN

11-across – Lynndie __,soldier at the centre of the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal in Iraq : ENGLAND

13-across – The __,2007 novel by Doris Lessing : CLEFT

15-across – Country led by Giorgia Meloni : ITALY

17-across – City and river in Michigan : DETROIT

20-across – __ state,nickname for Texas : LONESTAR

21-across – An official language of Pakistan : URDU

23-across – __ Williams,seven-time Wimbledon singles champion : SERENA

24-across – The __ Brothers,pioneers of country rock : EVERLY

1-down – Actor who played 7 : JANE

2-down – Coco __,French fashion designer : CHANEL

3-down – Country bordered by Luxembourg and the Czech Republic : GERMANY

4-down – Jimmy __,US union leader played by Al Pacino in The Irishman : HOFFA

5-down – George Frideric __,composer from 3 who made his home in 11 : HANDEL

6-down – Yann Martel’s Booker prize-winning novel : LIFEOFPI

12-down – Element,atomic number 7 : NITROGEN

14-down – Hereditary ruler from 3 who made his home in 11 : GEORGEI

16-down – See 1 : LEEVES

18-down – Paul __,electronic news pioneer from 3 who made his home in 11 : REUTER

19-down – Jack __,a leader of the Peasants’ Revolt – or British foreign secretary during the Blair government : STRAW

22-down – Herb used to flavour gravlax : DILL