Clockwise round the grid from 7 run the names (8,5,3,3,8,3,8,7,7) of six members of a winning set, the other three members forming the unclued lights (including two of two words). Solvers must shade the two clued lights giving further relevant names.

Across

8 Seaweed aged sheep gobbled (5)

9 One’s advanced banking system backing Eastern art (7)

10 Love of French poetry (3)

11 Spiritual father a pub ruined (4)

13 Plant right in marshland (4)

15 Porcelain lid in the White House? (5)

16 One thousand and eight lumps of sugar? (5)

17 Beastly battle royal boa lost of late (8)

20 Girlfriend caught in flagrante finally colouring (3-3)

23 Show cleric centre of Suez (5)

26 Cross letter from Greece (3)

29 Fine wine’s different (3)

31 Crow’s home perhaps in regularly pruned tree by water (5)

34 Russian maestro and Georgia having to go arm in arm (6)

36 Part of plant deceases if maggoty (8)

38 River during fading twilight (5)

39 Composer is a bad conductor (5)

41 Drink’s sound measure (4)

42 Bloke has function (4)

43 Old master from my French art (3)

44 Valence restructured in Lesotho? (7)

45 Fabulist a model rebuffed (5)

Down

1 Docked Airedale’s broken bone (7)

2 Asian ounce roaming late (4)

3 Hollow men scrap (5)

5 Smart bastards in trouble (5)

6 Portion of noggin? Sprinkle it in cups (8)

7 No one Scottish spun old coin oddly (oddly) (7)

12 Class of synthetic sap (6)

14 Study unknown rhino (5)

18 Prop on stage (3)

19 Crazy northern preying bird (5)

21 Roughly half a pint I would love (5)

24 Make client sales easy with van (8)

25 Valley visited by English fellow (6)

27 Rope secures a climber (5)

28 Style of vibrant red coat (3,4)

30 Mature fruit beginning to go off (3)

32 Riverbound part of London (4,3)

35 Chap’s spear I avoided (6)

36 Death of old PM is upsetting (5)

37 One CO keeps close to safe dugout (5)

40 Warriors some blimp irritated (4)

A first prize of £30 for the first correct solution opened on 4 July. There are two runners-up prizes of £20. Please scan or photograph entries and email them (including the crossword number in the subject field) to crosswords@spectator.co.uk. We will accept postal entries again at some point.

Download a printable version here.

Get 10 issues for just $10

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $10.

SUBSCRIBE 10 issues for $10 REGISTER 3 articles a month

Already a subscriber? Log in