Factfinder’s crossword - The Scotsman 09/03/13

This week’s prize is a copy of Dotter of her Father’s Eyes by Mary M and Bryan Talbot, courtesy of Blackwell’s, plus a Collins English Dictionary Concise Edition to the first correct entry opened at random. Entries must be received by Thursday. Cut out the crossword panel and send to: Factfinder’s Crossword, Promotions Department, The Scotsman, PO Box 105, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.

Across

1 Historic county town, and royal burgh, close to the ruins of Restenneth Priory (6)

4 Robert __ (c1420-c1490), poet who wrote The Testament of Cresseid (8)

9 Former county town, and royal burgh, a Covenanting centre in the 17th century (6)

10 A dwarf planet of the inner solar system (8)

12 Siberian river, rising in China and flowing 2,655 miles into the River Ob (5)

13 A large, long-winged seabird (9)

14 Type of Indian clay oven (7)

15 The killer whale genus (4)

19 Henry __ (1767-1830), Linlithgow-born shipbuilder who directed the making of the Comet (4)

21 A constituent of blood serum (7)

24 A thick-milled woollen cloth cap (9)

26 The trembling poplar (5)

27 Australian state (35,042 sq miles; pop about 500,000), first settled in 1803 (8)

28 Diego __ (1886-1957), Mexican artist, best known for his murals (6)

29 An equilateral cross with four arms bent at right angles (8)

30 To colour with red ochre, or rouge coarsely (6)

Down

1 The nuts of a cultivated hazel (8)

2 Rare term for reluctant or recalcitrant (8)

3 An instrument for examining the ear (9)

5 Mozambique-born footballer (b 1942), who played 64 times for Portugal (7)

6 To dry or cure with smoke (5)

7 A runner or shoot from the base of a plant (6)

8 Having knots or swellings (6)

11 Tommy __ (1913-86), Welsh boxer known as the Tonypandy Terror (4)

16 Country in Central America (19,653 sq miles; pop about 4.5 million), fully independent since 1838 (5,4)

17 Composite plant like a spineless thistle (8)

18 Fill with an overwhelming abundance (8)

20 Island capital and port (pop about 7,500), a major service centre for the oil industry (7)

21 A semiprecious stone with bands of colour (4)

22 Coloured toy marbles, resembling banded gemstones (6)

23 Historic country of south-west Asia (636, 372 sq miles; pop about 75 million), defeated by Alexander the Great in 330 BC (6)

25 Ulysses S __ (1822-85), general who became the 18th president of the United States (5)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 8 Penelope, 9 Gansey, 10 Street, 11 Shagreen, 12 Esse, 13 Vietnamese, 15 Calends, 17 Carboys, 20 Puerto Rico, 22 Laos, 24 Adelaide,

26 Ibadan, 27 Teasel, 28 Trapezia.

Down: 1 Fettes, 2 Terebene, 3 Montevideo, 4 Leister, 5 Agra, 6 Antrim, 7 Kerensky, 14 Neapolitan, 16 Amundsen, 18 Ballater, 19 Ailette, 21 Relish, 23 Oxalis, 25 Idle.

Winner: Neill Campbell, Kilmarnock