Factfinders crossword - The Scotsman 25/08/12

Across

1 Edinburgh-born architect (1744-95) who won the competition to design the city’s New Town

(1766) (5,5)

9 City in the Czech Republic (pop about 400,000), founded in the 10th century (4)

10 The large pit viper, native to tropical America (3-2-5)

11 A dry grain stalk (in the south of England) (6)

12 A public rate of tax (5)

15 Henry __ (1843-1916), American novelist who wrote The Wings of a Dove (1902) (5)

18 Relating to or characteristic of birds (5)

19 Rendering a boat watertight by pressing oakum etc into the seams (7)

20 A clump of trees, especially in prairie country (5)

21 An Asian capital (pop about 1 million), known as the Forbidden City (5)

22 The god of the sea in Roman mythology (7)

23 An upright stone slab or tablet (5)

24 To pour in a fine stream (5)

26 A call for trumps in a game of whist (5)

29 Little spiked wheels in spurs (6)

31 English actor (c1789-1833), noted mainly for his Shakespearean roles (6,4)

32 Having no basis in fact (4)

33 Village in the south-west, once noted for its granite quarry (10)

DOWN

2 The god of war in Greek mythology (4)

3 A salad plant of the chicory genus (6)

4 Severe pain in the abdomen, especially in infants (5)

5 Old royal burgh in the south-west, once an important handloom weaving centre (5)

6 A short-winged freshwater diving bird (5)

7 The red jasmine, or other species of Plumeria (10)

8 Ancient village in Perthshire, thought to be the birthplace of Pontius Pilate (10)

13 Obscure or block out (light) (7)

14 Paired, usually leafy, appendage at a leaf base (7)

15 Fife-born golfer (1870-1950), who won the Open championship five times (1901, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910) (5,5)

16 Lanarkshire town, once the largest steel producer in Scotland (10)

17 Elaborate, dramatic recitative followed by an aria (5)

18 The metal tag of a lace or string (5)

25 Cruciferous salad plant of Mediterranean

countries (6)

26 A pretender, or pretentious fraud (coll) (5)

27 Dravidian language of south-east India and

Sri Lanka (5)

28 A wooden post used as a stay or strut (5)

30 City in southern Italy (pop about 320,000), the site of a Romanesque basilica (4)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 1 Tradescantia, 9 Namibia, 10 Systole, 11 Ghat, 12 Sturt, 13 Kier, 16 Ladrone, 17 Aviette, 18 Rackett, 21 Managua, 23 Skua, 24 Dixie, 25 Kiev, 28 Erodium, 29 Sand-fly, 30 Belorussians.

Down: 2 Rimbaud, 3 Debs, 4 Seattle, 5 Austria, 6 Test, 7 Agonist, 8 George Harvey, 9 Nigel, Greasley, 14 Sorex, 15 Diana, 19 Coulomb, 20 Trimmer, 21 Meiosos, 22 Griffon, 26 Mill, 27 Anji.

Last week’s winner: Mrs C Waddington, Edinburgh