CROSSWORD

A first prize of f20 and two further prizes of £10 for the first three correct solutions opened on 5 December. Entries to Crossword 885, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL.

1 .

2 3 1 4 5 6

7

8

9

12

13

1

14

5

16

17

18

19

20

21 26 ■ 22 27 ■ ■ 23 24

28

29

32 33 34

36

I

40

41

Eight of the unclued lights (one of two words) are of a kind indicated by the hyphened 6A. Brewer confirms 7.

Name Address ACROSS 1 Mother clasping black snake (5) 11 Chafer's long mallet (10, hyphened) 13 Care for under-tens, maybe (9, hyphened) 15 A joint in Linlithgow (4) 16 Fancifully imagine odd red cat coming back (7, two words) 17 Dandy — that's Alick! (7) 18 Devotee having a flutter (3) . . 19 . . . and enters alone, fashion- ably (10) 21 Boy having no time for birds 24 Scottish flower that's almost red (4) 27 Tree with double beauty-spot (4) 28 F-furnishes backing for firm (5) 30 Showing no pity, disorderly sleuths are seen in railway (10) 33 Steal game (3)

35 Depression from a poor 0-level (7)

36 A friar in charge of a negro (7) 37 Oil king (4) 39 Old exposition about Arne hav- ing a share (10) 40 Following rand, English coin is sent back (7) 41 Obscure mixture (3) DOWN 2 Naval affairs including one girl (8) 3 Brownish pigment from Oxford- shire town, we hear (6) 5 Anoint rising topless girl (5) 6 Transmissions finishing on board 7 irce's home having a couple of rivers (5)

8 Pieces of news from the 'Times' (5)

9 River bend's inclined to get cut up (14, two words) 12 Conclusion of ballad you'll re- view, forte (6) 22 Foreign city with unusually thin centre (6) 23 Graduate's poor tones, below middle C (8, two words) 25 Fee from one set of buttons (8) 29 Liberal assigned to being in- cluded in doomed crime (6) 32 Yugoslavian outright habit (5) 34 Homer brought in one fruit (5) 35 A fly sort of devil (5) The solution to Crossword 882 is on page 43.

Dictionary prizes are sent out by the 'Post-a-Book' service.