Factfinder’s crossword - The Scotsman

This week’s puzzle...

ACROSS

1 A black elastic substance found in peat beds (10)

9 West African country (21,933 sq miles; pop about 7 million), independent since 1960(4)

10 In fencing, a thrust in the side (10)

11 An enzyme which causes coagulation of milk (6)

12 Ronnie __ (1927-96), London-born saxophonist and jazz club owner (5)

15 Jack __ (1882-1963), Cambridge-born cricketer who played 61 tests for England (5)

18 A bag for diamonds etc (5)

19 Andrew __ (1621-78), English poet who wrote To His Coy Mistress (7)

20 Port and holiday resort (pop about 400,000), in the southern United States (5)

21 Name for the central part of the west coast of Asia Minor in classical times (5)

22 Large venomous Australian snakes (7)

23 A mire, or boggy water channel (5)

24 Tools used in weaving to force the weft into place (5)

26 Ruined Borders abbey, founded by David I in 1128 (5)

29 JMW __ (1775-1851), English artist who painted Rain, Steam and Speed (1844) (6)

31 Battle (1645), where Montrose defeated the Covenanters (10)

32 A ship’s timber lying obliquely to the line of the keel (4)

33 Indian cress plants (5-5)

DOWN

2 International airport situated in a suburb of Paris (4)

3 Region of north-west India and Pakistan, which became a centre of Sikhism in the 15th century (6)

4 A kind of sturgeon (5)

5 US state (83,564 sq miles; pop about 1.5 million), also known as the Gem State (5)

6 Turn (a structure or organ) outwards or inside out (biol) (5)

7 A rock-forming mineral, generally green to black (10)

8 Simple songs with a refrain (10)

13 The red colouring matter of the cochineal insect (7)

14 Tools for boring shafts (7)

15 The art of writing or preaching sermons (10)

16 Senseless boasting or babble (10)

17 Bessie __ (1894-1937), American singer who starred in the film St Louis Blues (1929) (5)

18 Sir Arthur __ (1891-1975), composer who was appointed Master of the Queen’s Musick in 1953 (5)

25 Pakistani provincial capital (pop about 9 million), once the capital of the Moghul empire (6)

26 A species of shrimplike animals eaten by whales etc (5)

27 Edible seaweed of various kinds (5)

28 A peculiar kind of gold or silver lace (5)

30 The pigeon-pea (4)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 1 James Boswell, 9 Gujarat, 10 Ordinal, 11 Orne, 12 Aspen, 13 Slot, 16 Guthrie, 17 Entente, 18 Haldane, 21 Millais, 23 Rome, 24 Henry, 25 Loki, 28 Orleans, 29 Opaline, 30 Semanticists.

Down: 2 Adjunct, 3 Ebro, 4 Batiste, 5 Slovene, 6 Eddo, 7 Lanolin, 8 Blatherskite, 9 George Heriot, 14 Arras, 15 Atoll, 19 Limulus, 20 Emerson,21 Marconi, 22 Agonist, 26 Barm, 27 Cali.