7 JUNE 1997, Page 69

CROSSWORD 1314: Dans la cuisine by Doc

A first prize of £30 and a bottle of Graham's Late Bottled Vintage 1991 Port for the first correct solution opened on 23 June, with two runners-up prizes of £20 (or, for UK solvers, the latest edition of The Chambers Dictionary — ring the word 'Dictionary'). Entries to: Crossword 1314, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL.

The unclued lights are of a specif c kind. Ignore four accents.

Name Address ACROSS

8 Balt's old letter about society (4)

12 Square and shopping area with trade for boats (10, two words) 13 College backed church without using recent developments (6, hyphened) 15 Hunter with English weapon: nine inches, about (8) 20 German cut off almost half the fish (4) 21 Dull Gospel is abridged (4) 24 Welcomes — with tears? (6) 27 Hit the French car overtaking (6) 29 You make half 1,000(4) 30 Sound city house (4) 32 Double toilet with carpet from Kent. Not half! (9, hyphened) 37 Seabird — skilled but easily taken in (8) 38 Horn-insect upset girl (7) 39 Buck with wound on left front leg (6) 40 Germans not out for vacuum- tubes (10) 41 Old coin is not counterfeit (4) DOWN

2 Bear upset by the French game (6, hyphened)

3 This oily mark on pan could make 15! (5) 4 Scriptures could depict war's direct sign (14, two words) 5 Bones from Uralian characters

(7)

6 Priest has replies, we're told, for swaggerers (8) 7 Isle with oblong lea adapted for anti-aircraft device (14, hyphened) 9 It's to climb in (initially) Spenserian English (4) 10 Rascal's fiddle (6) 11 Faithful follower suggests restorer (6) 16 Like the new serving-dish (5) 17 MacTavish holds the official proceedings (4) 22 Marketplace up in the north (5) 25 Flimsy quality's no good (4) 28 Salt and balsam etched away (7) 31 Court lost railway fortune (6) 33 Spectacularly impressive grampus (6)

36 Pitman embraced comedy (4)

Solution to 1311: You have to larf

The unclued lights were types of

COMEDY.

First prize: John Cockbain, Foch- abers, Moray. Runners-up: Lady Hollings, London SW6; S. Newman, London SE9.