Daily hard — 2026-09-18

Across

1. 2. Individual who rises to prominence through their own efforts (11)
2. 6. Basketball star born in 2001 who was the first pick in the 2020 NBA draft (7)
3. 8. British airline formed via the 1924 consolidation of four pioneering aviation outfits. (8)
4. 9. Musical instrument you play by compressing air. (10)
5. 11. Major American biotechnology company founded in California in 1980 (5)
6. 18. Pharma powerhouse founded in Brooklyn in 1849, long headquartered in Manhattan. (6)
7. 19. Animal rights organization founded in the United States in 1980 (4)
8. 20. Prestigious annual award honoring excellence in LGBTQ literature since 1989. (6)
9. 21. Describes a quality of certain wines, hinting at acidity. (9)
10. 23. First name of Belarusian TV journalist Adams, of African descent. (5)
11. 24. A phrase confirming the validity of a statement. (7)
12. 25. Term for the trunk used in sculpture and anatomy (5)

Down

1. 1. Canadian pop singer known for hit songs like Stitches and Treat You Better. (6)
2. 3. Historic Brockton apartment building on the national register, named after a famous Spanish palace. (8)
3. 4. British technology company that created the BBC Micro classroom computer (5)
4. 5. Exterior platform projecting from an upper floor, often mirrored on each level. (7)
5. 7. Peter who served in the Vermont Senate in the 1980s and later in Congress (5)
6. 10. Term often used in medical contexts for bone-like traits (7)
7. 12. These assessments help you choose a film suitable for all ages (12)
8. 13. In mathematics, the process of repeating a procedure or operation. (12)
9. 14. Custom 1951 Ferranti system built solely to challenge Festival of Britain visitors at a mathematical game. (6)
10. 15. Characteristic of materials whose properties do not vary with orientation. (9)
11. 16. Pinsk-born speedster who stormed to 100m hurdles gold at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin. (6)
12. 17. Autocrat of the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia (4)
13. 18. Mythological winged horse lending its name to Ferranti's popular 1950s vacuum-tube computer. (7)
14. 22. 1980 boatlift that brought thousands of persecuted LGBTQ Cubans seeking asylum to Florida (6)