Factfinder’s crossword - The Scotsman 17/03/2012

By HUGH JOHNSON
Published on 17/03/2012 00:00

Saturday’s puzzle...

ACROSS

8 Old term for graphite (8)

9 Of plants and flowers, run to seed (6)

10 Streaks of colour (6)

11 US state (2,044 sq miles; pop about 700,000), known as the Diamond State (8)

12 Rebound or bounce (4)

13 Having translucent spots (10)

15 Develop in a promising way (7)

17 Collapse inwards (7)

20 Florid vocal passages (mus) (10)

22 Now obsolete term for a blow or stroke (4)

24 Old name for an Oxford student of rank below a commoner (8)

26 Small amphibious military vehicle (6)

27 Thomas __ (1847-1931), prominent US inventor and physicist (6)

28 A man’s cap similar to a fez (8)

DOWN

1 A dark red colour (6)

2 The finest fibrous asbestos (8)

3 The passion flower genus (10)

4 Causing to adhere to (eg metal to glass) (7)

5 Ancient Greek coin or weight (4)

6 Metal plate on a fireplace to increase the draught (6)

7 Formed and separated by the activity of living matter (8)

14 Brick-red or black pottery, with lustrous glaze (6,4)

16 Vinci-born Italian artist (1452-1519), who painted the Mona Lisa (8)

18 Broad, sparsely populated peninsula in eastern Canada (8)

19 A wheat-flour tortilla wrapped round a filling (7)

21 Blunt or rounded at the tip (bot) (6)

23 Cut the skin or fat from a carcase (especially of a whale) (6)

25 A wildcat with a short tail and tufted ears (4)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 1 Paregoric, 6 Comet, 9 Lambert, 10 Avignon, 11 Abaca, 12 Oudenarde, 13 Lathi, 14 Seminoles, 17 Velveteen, 19 Wilde, 21 Ringtails, 24 Amman, 26 Orinoco, 27 Osteoid, 28 Lagos, 29 Sedgemoor.

Down: 1 Palea, 2 Rampart, 3 Grenadine, 4 Retrousse, 5 Chard, 6 Coign, 7 Mandrel, 8 Tennessee, 13 Liverpool, 15 Monkshood, 16 Newcastle, 18 Lansing, 20 Limpopo, 22 Toots, 23 Icons, 25 Nadir.