Factfinder’s crossword - The Scotsman, 30/08/2014

ACROSS

1 Lanarkshire town, an important weaving centre in the 19th century (10)

6 Domesticated oxen found in Tibet (4)

10 A gaseous radioactive element (5)

11 An aquatic plant (Sagittaria sagittifolia) (5-4)

12 Agency set up in 1945 to promote international collaboration (6)

13 Run-down urban area in the US (coll) (4,3)

15 A tropical genus of the gourd family (6)

16 William __ (1658 - 1719), Scots financier, one of the founders of the Bank of England (8)

19 Thomas __ (1751 - 1806), Stockton-on-Tees-born furniture designer (8)

21 Gertrude __ (1905 - 2003), US swimmer, the first woman to swim the English Channel (6)

24 A secret remedy or elixir (7)

26 Southern constellation containing the south celestial pole (6)

28 Inlay of metal, especially gold, on steel, etc (9)

29 Second largest lake in Europe (5)

30 Ogden __ (1902-71), US writer of comic verse (4)

31 The lower house of the Norwegian parliament (10)

DOWN

1 A chapter of the Koran (4)

2 Long double-breasted overcoat (9)

3 North African country (pop about 11 million) (7)

4 Autonomous region in north-east Spain (6)

5 Relating to an ancient state in central Italy, assimilated by Rome in the 4th century BC (8)

7 Now obsolete term for to comport or behave (5)

8 A US short-range air-to-air missile (10)

9 One of the British species of shad (6)

14 Abbey near Elgin, founded by Alexander II (10)

17 National park in Tanzania, noted for its annual migration of wildebeest (9)

18 Any of a number of plants acting (or reputed to act) as anthelmintics (4-4)

20 Highland town, the site of two distilleries (6)

22 US city founded in 1701 (pop about 700,000), a major centre of the US motor industry (7)

23 Bernard __ (1913 - 2012), Bristol-born astronomer knighted in 1961 (6)

25 Albert __ (1913 - 60), French author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 (5)

27 A coarse seaweed (4)

Last week’s solution:

Across: 1 Scrimshaw, 6 Caper, 9 Poulenc, 10 Esparto, 11 Aries, 12 Esplanade, 13 Shear, 14 Demitasse, 17 Artemisia, 19 Musit, 21 Artie Shaw, 24 Swarm, 26 Gingham, 27 Rhodian, 28 Roach, 29 Rostellum.

Down: 1 Sepia, 2 Routine, 3 Maelstrom, 4 Haciendas, 5 Whelp, 6 Copra, 7 Partans, 8 Roosevelt, 13 Stavanger, 15 Meal-worms, 16 Tombstone, 18 Titania, 20 Spaniel, 22 Ephah, 23 Homer, 25 Minim.