Crosswords and puzzles
Challenge your word power and test your IQ.
ACROSS 1. Screenwriter and director who co-founded Comic Relief and whose notable films include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Notting Hill and Love Actually (6) 5. Island country south of Sicily with the capital Valletta, built during the rule of the Order of St John (5) 8. Indian appetiser of vegetables and spices encased in pastry, served hot and crisp with chutney (6) 13. Russian-born artist noted for vivid works of cubist imagery such as The Green Donkey, The Cat Transformed into a Woman, Bouquet with Flying Lovers and The Blue Circus (7) 14. Scottish theoretical physicist who formulated the theory of electromagnetism (7) 15. Botanical term for the inflorescence characteristic of plants including carrot, dill, fennel and parsley (5) 16. In classical ballet, the position of balancing and supporting all the body weight on the tips of the toes (6) 17. Mr _____; character in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, portrayed by Colin Firth in a 1995 television adaptation (5) 18. Also known as the telencephalon, the largest part of the human brain, which functions to control all voluntary actions and determine intelligence and personality (8) 21. The largest river in the world by water flow and second-longest; also a rainforest containing one third of all known species of fauna (6) 23. Mythological Greek Titan forced to wear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders for eternity by Zeus (5) 24. The ______; series of paintings by Edvard Munch portraying his feelings of anxiety and dread (6) 27. Either of the two sections of the human body containing a carpometacarpal joint (5) 29. Perfect or flawless diamond of 100 carats or more (7) 31. Mr _______; brand of cakes with varieties including cherry bakewells and French fancies (7) 33. Seaport in Chile situated north-west
of the capital, Santiago (10)
34. Another name for the gnu (10) 37. An isolated peak of rock protruding above the surface of an ice sheet (7) 39. Member of a guiding organisation for girls aged seven to 10 that was founded by Lord Baden-Powell in 1914 (7) 40. Constellation in the northern sky said to represent the sea monster sent to devour Andromeda and slain by Perseus (5) 41. Royal ______; in the UK, a sovereign’s formal acquiescence of a Bill, making it an Act of Parliament (6) 44. Musical term for a rhythm based on two main beats to the bar (5) 46. Group of nine Egyptian deities consisting of Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys (6) 50. Daughter of Pandion, turned into a nightingale while her sister Procne became a swallow (8) 51. Hot beverage based on espresso, hot milk and cocoa powder (5) 52. Peg for the bunghole of a cask (6) 56. The brightest star in the constellation Cygnus (5) 57. Moravian city on the Morava River (7) 58. _______ Hedge; series of illustrated children’s books by Jill Barklem (7) 59. Anatomical term for the crown of the head (6) 60. Word linking blue, icing, jelly and purple (5) 61. Situated on the island of New Providence, the capital of the Bahamas (6) DOWN 2. Chemical element used in nuclear reactors, atomic number 92 (7) 3. French _____; dish known also known as eggy bread (5) 4. Word linking Dover and lemon (4) 5. Second-largest city in Kenya (7) 6. Area of linguistics concerned with the study and meaning of words (10) 7. Seaport in Yemen on the Red Sea (4) 8. English comic actor remembered as part of The Goon Show and later as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink
Panther series of films (7)
9. The _________; murder mystery play by Agatha Christie (9) 10. Vast region extending from the Urals to the Pacific, one of the coldest inhabited places on Earth (7) 11. Length of rope or chain extended when a vessel rides at anchor (5) 12. Water channel for conveying logs (5) 19. Backpack for a soldier or hiker (8) 20. The capital of Paraguay (8) 22. Species of equine animal owned by Lord Walter Rothschild (5) 25. Shakin’ _______; stage name of the singer born Michael Barratt, noted for This Ole House and Green Door (7) 26. Alternative term for narcissism (7) 28. Historically, a Prussian lancer (5) 30. Flower-heads used crushed in the Moroccan spice mix Ras al hanout (8) 31. Traditional British breakfast dish from colonial India of rice with flaked smoked haddock and boiled eggs (8) 32. Latin phrase meaning “that is” (2,3) 35. English philosopher who wrote The
Advancement of Learning (5) 36. Study of the forms of words (10) 38. Fantasy novel by JRR Tolkien (3,6) 42. _______ Museum; site of Stephenson’s Rocket on Exhibition Road, London (7) 43. Presenter of When Louis Met... (7) 45. Denoting a pharmaceutical only available to the general public on doctor’s prescription (7) 47. Branch of maths using symbols and letters to represent formulae (7) 48. Pottery founded in 1767 in Stoke-onTrent that launched the Blue Italian range in 1816 (5) 49. Historical type of corset and the strips of whalebone used as support (5) 53. Tenor who co-founded the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts with Benjamin Britten and Eric Crozier in 1948 (5) 54. Petit ____; bite-sized cake or biscuit served following a main course (4) 55. Literary word for black (4)