Factfinders crossword - The Scotsman 28/07/12

By Hugh Johnson
Published on 28/07/2012 03:08

Saturday’s puzzle...

ACROSS

1 William __ (1585-1649), Scottish poet who wrote Flowers for Sion (1623)(8)

5 A rampart of fallen trees, branches outwards (6)

9 Of the New World part of the Holarctic region (8)

10 One of the Three Graces in Greek mythology (6)

12 West-coast ferry port, with a ruined 12th-century castle (9)

13 A loose cloak or cape (5)

14 To colour or mark with red ochre (6)

17 Island of the Inner Hebrides, off Mull, with a major seabird colony (5)

20 A mountain nymph in Greek mythology (5)

21 Joseph __ (1827-1912), Essex-born, Edinburgh-based surgeon who pioneered antiseptic surgery (6)

24 A member of a Turkic people living in south-east Europe (5)

25 Any of a number of Sanskrit theosophic or philosophical treatises (9)

28 Flattened at opposite sides or poles, as a spheroid (6)

29 Wild Norse warriors who fought with frenzy (8)

30 Archaic term for everlasting (6)

31 Roald __ (1872-1928), a Norwegian explorer who was the first man to reach the South Pole (8)

DOWN

1 East-coast resort, a royal burgh from 1445, once a major herring port (6)

2 East African country (93,140 sq miles; pop about 35 million), independent since 1962 (6)

3 Former Portuguese territory (pop about 500,000), returned to Chinese control in 1999 (5)

4 Short pieces of wool or other fabric separated from the larger fibres, eg by combing (5)

6 A piece of music in a light style (9)

7 Asian country (198,190 sq miles; pop about 70 million), occupied by the Japanese in the Second World War (8)

8 An undersized animal of little value (8)

11 Friedrich __ (1820-95), German politician who helped draw up the Communist Manifesto (1848) (6)

15 Former burgh, founded as a weaving village in the 1720s, incorporated into Glasgow in 1849 (9)

16 Frederick __ (1862-1934), British composer who wrote A Song of Summer (1930) (6)

18 Ancient royal burgh in Angus, now a popular resort and service centre for the North Sea (8)

19 Ornamental pattern or border resembling lace (8)

22 A lighthouse or beacon (6)

23 Thomas __ (1847-1931), US physicist and prolific inventor (6)

26 In a line at right angles to a vessel’s length (5)

27 Henrik __ (1828-1906), Norwegian playwright who wrote Hedda Gabler (1890) (5)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 1 Helleborine, 9 Idaho, 10 Chimaera, 12 Imarets, 13 Degrade, 14 Arame, 15 Inverurie, 18 John Logie, 20 Ramus, 21 Racemes, 24 Tamandu, 25 Angelica, 26 Obang, 27 Poltergeist.

Down: 2 Eroteme, 3 Locusting, 4 Baird, 5 Realgar, 6 Nerka, 7 Kilimanjaro, 8 Calabash, 11 Helensburgh, 16 Vientiane, 17 Romanian, 19 Lambent,

20 Ramsons, 22 Congo, 23 Skirr.