Crosswords and puzzles

Challenge your word power and test your IQ.

ACROSS 1. Devonshire-born explorer and translator of works including The Arabian Nights who was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika (6) 4. Commune of Corsica, capital of the department Corse-du-Sud, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte (7) 8. Swimming, cycling, running or rowing race at full speed over a short distance (6) 14. Known collectively as a charm, a floor-feeding songbird common in gardens, woodlands, parks and hedgerows (9) 15. Swedish-style buffet consisting of a range of foods such as bread, gravlax, boiled eggs, cheeses, gherkins, pickled herring and beetroot salad (11) 16. Country with a blue, black and white national flag, capital Tallinn (7) 17. − army knife; brand of pocket multi-tool with a red handle, manufactured by Victorinox (5) 18. Type of chocolate with a sweet

fondant filling of the same name (7) 19. Bolivian capital, situated in the Andes at an altitude of approximately 12,000ft, one of the highest cities in the world (2,3) 21. Self-propelled submarine missile; the genus name of electric rays; or another term for a submarine sandwich (7) 23. The − Body; Bafta award-winning television series presented by professor Robert Winston (5) 29. Methodist preacher who founded

the Salvation Army in 1865 (5) 30. − acid; chemical compound produced in muscle tissues during strenuous exercise, causing a burning sensation (6) Sheer and crisp cotton textile used for formal dresses and curtains (8) 34. 2003 film based on a book by Laura

Hillenbrand (10) 36. Archipelago of 115 coral and granite islands in the Indian Ocean, in which coco de mer is endemic (10) 38. Also known as The Elementary Particles, 1998 novel by French writer Michel Houellebecq (8)

31.

39. Relish such as Branston, served as part of a ploughman’s lunch (6)

40.− acetate; organic compound used to flavour pear drops (5) 42. The female of the donkey (5) 44. Nobel Prize-winning novelist and poet who wrote The Jungle Book, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Just So Stories, Kim, and Gunga Din (7) 45. Cake topping with varieties including buttercream, fondant, ganache, glacé and royal (5) 50. Leather strap passing under a horse’s dock to prevent a saddle or harness from slipping (7) 52. Super−; British progressive rock group who released the album Even

in the Quietest Moments... in 1977 (5) 54. Piano-like instrument that features in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballad

The Voyevoda and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (7) 56. Indoor game played with a pot and sets of squidgers (11) 57. Aviator who made the first non-stop solo transatlantic flight in a singleengined monoplane (9)

58. The Comedy of −; Shakespeare’s play with the lines: “Am I in earth...? Sleeping or waking? mad or welladvised? Known unto these, and to myself disguised!” (6) 59. Founded in 1818 and now based in Henley-on-Thames, one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world (7) 60. Conservative politician turned novelist who wrote The Fourth

Estate (6)

DOWN

1. The − List; 2007 comedy drama film starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman (6) 2. To cook meat, coffee/cocoa beans, vegetables or peanuts with dry heat (5) 3. German-born French composer who wrote Orpheus in the Underworld and The Tales of Hoffmann (9) 5. St −; constituent college of the University of Cambridge with notable alumni including William Wordsworth, Sir John Cockcroft and Maurice Wilkes (5) 6. W-shaped constellation bordering Perseus, named after the mythological Greek wife of Cepheus, mother of Andromeda (10) 7. Trooper in the Parliamentarian cavalry formed by Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War (8) 9. Food with varieties including conchiglie, fusilli and farfalle (5) 10. The largest of the Japanese Volcano Islands (3,4) 11. Royal Air Force commander who served during both World Wars; also a machine used in hay-making (6) 12. Alloy used in the making of scientific instruments and clocks (5) 13. Location of the Great Sphinx (5) 20. Egg-shaped tropical fruit with green protein-rich flesh (7) 22. National flower of Colombia (6) 24. The manner in which a language is spoken or written according to its customary rules (5) 25. Ocean depths which never receive daylight, 4,000m-6,000m down (7) 26. The double layer section of a shirt where the buttons are sewn (7) 27. Crime series starring Robbie Coltrane as the character Fitz (7) 28. − Tales; collection of 10 fables by Indian novelist Vikram Seth (7) 32. Marine mammal living in a pod (7) 33. Garment similar to a gilet (6) 35. Mythological Greek king bound to a revolving wheel of fire by Zeus (5) 37. Author of Tarka the Otter (10) 40. Legendary sword of King Arthur (9) 41. The −; length of 240 yards from the winning post on a racecourse (8) 43. Country with the capital Quito (7) 46. Agricultural hand tool (6) 47. English landscape architect nicknamed “Capability” (5) 48. Baked good eaten with jam and cream (5) 49. Disc used as a seal or spacer (6) 51. Word linking bear, cap or 41 Down (5) 53. A bean, chickpea, pea or lentil (5)

55. Jack and −; 1995 film starring Richard E Grant (5)