Factfinder’s crossword - The Scotsman 25/05/13

The first correct entry opened at random will win a new book, courtesy of Blackwell’s, plus a Collins English Dictionary Concise Edition. Entries must be received by Thursday. Cut out the crossword panel and send to: Factfinder’s Crossword, Promotions Department, The Scotsman, PO Box 1027, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.

Across

1 Dunbartonshire-born novelist (1721-71) who wrote The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) (6,8)

9 Tricked, or deceived with false hope (7)

10 Relating to or lasting a day (7)

11 The curve described by a body under the the action of given forces (10)

12 A bank or ridge of gravel, sand, etc, associated with glacial deposits (geol) (4)

14 Capital city and resort in the West Indies (pop about 170,000), now a major financial centre (6)

15 A small, tropical long-tailed parrot (8)

17 Edward __ (1892-1965), Bradford-born scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 (8)

19 A dwarf tree growing in a pot (6)

22 US state (84,899 sq miles; pop about 2 million), also known as the Beehive State (4)

23 Birds of the grouse family, with white plumage in winter (10)

25 A low oven-shaped fumarole (7)

26 Former unit of heat replaced by the joule (7)

27 American composer and songwriter (1898-1937), who created Porgy and Bess (6,8)

Down

1 A group of small islands in the South Atlantic (38 sq miles; pop about 300) (7,2,5)

2 Area of south-east Europe including Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, etc (7)

3 Muddleheaded (5-5)

4 Rare term meaning to sweat (6)

5 Decisive battle (1885) in successful British campaign to reconquer the Sudan (8)

6 Shakespearean term meaning to treat with contempt (4)

7 William __ (c1494 - 1536),religious reformer who translated the Bible into English (7)

8 German-born scientist (1879-1955) who developed the Theory of Relativity (6,8)

13 Large evergreen sapotaceous trees of the West Indies, etc (10)

16 An optical toy, the “wheel of life” (7)

18 A treeless plain, naturally grass-covered (7)

20 Common small finch-like bird (7)

21 Genus of the goosefoot family (6)

24 A bleaching vat (4)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 1 Hugh Roberton, 8 Lollard, 9 Lictors, 11 Oran, 12 Palatinate, 14 Seeger, 15 Belgrade, 17 Ursuline, 19 Basset, 22 Lapidarist, 23 Gamp, 25 Yaounde, 26 Robeson, 27 Royal Society.

Down: : 1 Haldane, 2 Gray, 3 Redcar, 4 Ballater, 5 Rockingham, 6 Odonata, 7 Aldous Huxley, 10 Stereotyping, 13 Belladonna, 16 Snorters, 18 Sapporo, 20 Spassky, 21 Psoric, 24 Oboe.

Winner: Mrs Betty Reid, Edinburgh