Across
- 4. Former London thoroughfare, known as a haunt of hack writers (4,6)
- 8. Gambling game devised in 18th-century France (8)
- 10. Plug or cover for a naval gun (7)
- 12. English synth-pop act formed in London in 1985 (7)
- 13. Gerald ___ (1925-95), British naturalist and author (7)
- 15. Major ___, 1905 play by George Bernard Shaw (7)
- 18. 1966 Beatles single (6,9)
- 22. James ___ (1775-1833), US businessman and river pirate (4)
- 23. Federico Garcia ___ (1898-1936), Spanish poet (5)
- 24. ‘___ deeds do breed ___ troubles’ – Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1 (9)
- 25. British television satire of 1983-84, set in Utterley, Lancashire (5)
- 26. Vladimir ___ (1922-44), Soviet flying ace (5)
- 27. African delta declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 (8)
Down
- 1. English work of reference first published in 1802 (8,7)
- 2. Wrestling school, in ancient Greece (9)
- 3. Piano work by Chopin, Liszt or Debussy, perhaps (5)
- 5. Stern deck of a sailing ship (4)
- 6. 1851 Henrik Ibsen drama with the alternative title ‘A Politician’s Love’ (5)
- 7. ‘The Manchester ___’, 1932 protest song by Ewan MacColl (7)
- 9. 1865 novel by Charles Dickens (3,6,6)
- 11. Nation in George Orwell’s 1984 (1949) (7)
- 14. 1933 crime film starring James Cagney (4,6)
- 16. Term describing the Eastern Roman Empire (9)
- 17. Traditional US folk ballad (2,3,2,3,5)
- 19. The Lord of the Flies (9)
- 20. Italian city conquered by Venice in 1420 (5)
- 21. Fruit historically ‘forced’ in the Wakefield area (7)
- 27. Traditional Japanese paper- folding craft (7)