Compact Crossword - The Scotsman 31/08/13

Across

7 A fleshy fruit with a stone (5)

8 Island town (pop about 9,000), an important ferry port and administrative centre (9)

10 A small edible European flatfish (6)

11 City in Michigan (pop 120,000), the site of a university founded in Detroit in 1817 (3,5)

12 American woodpeckers (8)

13 Charles __ (1874 - 1954), American composer who wrote five symphonies (4)

15 Relating to a former province of north-west France (7)

17 Cedar trees of the Himalayas, with a hard, sweet-smelling wood (7)

20 In rope-making, to stretch into lengths for tarring (4)

22 A bright star in the Bootes constellation, the fourth brightest in the sky (8)

25 An enclosure, generally the whole area of a fortified place (8)

26 Controversial novel by Vladimir Nabokov (1955) (6)

27 One of the eight blessings listed by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew V, 3-11) (9)

28 Drink made of honey and mulberry juice (5)

Down

1 Autonomous country (pop 60,000), the largest island in the world (840,325 sq miles) (9)

2 A breathing-hole (zool) (8)

3 Richard __ (1864-1949), German composer of Der Rosenkavalier (191) (6)

4 Small island (51 sq miles; pop 5,000), part of a small country in the Gulf of Guinea (8)

5 A semicircular hollow on a hillside (6)

6 Francis __ (1581 - 1626), English philosopher, author and statesman who became Lord Chancellor in 1618 (5)

9 Name for various ducks, including pochard, wigeon, pintail, etc (4)

14 Pertaining to a French novelist, critic and essayist (1871-1922) (9)

16 Embodied in bread (8)

18 An obsolete Spanish gold coin (8)

19 The first day of each month in ancient Rome (7)

21 One of the three Furies in Greek mythology (6)

23 Island of the Inner Hebrides (13 miles by four), the site of several Iron Age forts (4)

24 Old measure of wines and spirits once used in northern Europe (5)

Last week’s solution:

Across: Alford, 4 Montrose, 9 Direct, 10 Dubliner, 12 Rorie, 13 Anteaters, 14 Osseter, 15 Arna, 19 Crud, 21 Sawbill, 24 Bandoleer, 26 Essen, 27 Rag trade, 28 Aslake, 29 Amassing, 30 Lyceum.

Down: 1 Anderson, 2 Fortrose, 3 Rochester, 5 Opuntia, 6 Talma, 7 Ounces, 8 Eprise, 11 Haar, 16 New Jersey, 17 Diastase, 18 Blenheim, 20 Dresden, 21 Sark, 22 Iberia, 23 Enigma, 25 Orris.

Winner: Iain Mackintosh, Tullylumb Terrace, Perth