Mind games

Challenge your word power and test your IQ with our crossword and puzzles.

ACROSS

1 Pen name of the English veterinary surgeon who wrote the books If Only They Could Talk, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, All Creatures Great and Small and All Things Bright and Beautiful (7)

5 Born in Dunblane in 1987, tennis player currently ranked World No 4 and British No 1 (6)

8 Fictional bear residing in Nutwood, originally created by English artist and writer Mary Tourtel in 1920 (6)

13 Italian dish of Arborio or Carnaroli rice cooked in gradually added stock until it reaches a creamy consistency, known as risi e bisi in Venice (7)

14 Physicist who developed a logarithmic numeric scale to express the magnitude of an earthquake on the basis of seismograph oscillations (7)

15 Cruella __ ___; character in Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians (2,3)

16 The Ballad of ____ andWest; 1889 poem by Rudyard Kipling (4) 17 Liberal politician who served as UK prime minister from 1908-16, when he was replaced by David Lloyd George (7) 18 English actor whose film roles include Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and the protagonist in Doctor Dolittle (8) 21 According to recent scientific calculations, a planet on which 42 Down is one of its most common forms of precipitation (6) 23 Garment of fur, faux fur or silk, typically worn draped around the shoulders over a formal gown (5) 24 The capital of Cameroon (7) 27 Loyal breed of dog typically with a black, chocolate or yellow coat, often used to retrieve game or guide a person with blindness (8) 29 English rock group whose tracks include Whole Lotta Love and Stairway to Heaven (3,8)

33 Stand-up comedian who presents

the panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats (4)

34 Norwegian dramatist whose works

include Ghosts, The Wild Duck and The Master Builder (5)

35 First name of an actor who played a character of the same name in a television sitcom with June Whitfield from 1979-87 (5)

36 Salty, crumbly variety of cheese used in dishes such as spanakopita (spinach pie) and dakos (Greek bread salad) (4)

40 David Attenborough’s ____ _______; BBC Radio 4 series with the first episode based on the life of the 50 Down (4,7) 41 The capital of Bermuda; also a town in South Lanarkshire (8) 44 Crisp variety of lettuce generally reserved for sandwiches and salads (7) 46 One of the glove-puppet characters in Harry and Matthew Corbett’s

The Sooty Show (5) 47 Edible gourd with summer varieties including the courgette and pattypan, and winter varieties such as the butternut and pumpkin (6) 49 Extinct mammal resembling a cross between an elephant and a mammoth (8) 51 English fantasy artist noted for his illustrations in children’s books by authors including the Brothers Grimm, Lewis Carroll, JM Barrie and Kenneth Grahame (7) 52 Swiss artist and teacher at the Bauhaus whose works include

Twittering Machine and Red Balloon (4) 56 Founder of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union who fled for his life following unrest and rivalry with Robert Mugabe and the Fifth Brigade in 1983 (5) 57 Former flautist and vocalist for Genesis who released the single Don’t

Give Up with Kate Bush in 1986 (7) 58 French physicist who contributed towards the theory of wave optics and invented a lens for lighthouses (7) 59 One of Switzerland’s 26 cantons (6) 60 Birthstone for January (6) 61 Philosopher who developed the concept of transcendentalism with Henry David Thoreau (7)

DOWN

1 English physician who was the first to describe the circulation of the blood (6) 2 Wars of the _____; series of civil wars fought between the houses of York and Lancaster from 1455 to 1485 (5) 3 Ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (4) 4 Physicist who discovered the electron during experiments with cathode rays (7) 5 Gem cut in the shape of an oval (8) 6 German fighter pilot known as the Red Baron who was shot down in his plane and killed over the Australian lines in 1918 (10) 7 Painting and drawing collectively (4) 9 1983 album by The Rolling Stones (10) 10 Dairy farmer who founded what was originally called Pilton Festival (5)

11 The ________ Mr. Ripley; 1955 thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith (8)

12 ______ Friday; 1976 film starring Jodie Foster based on a Mary Rodgers book (6) 19 A spice used to make za’atar (5) 20 Politician who was Australia’s longest-serving prime minister (7) 22 Fruit used to make baba ganoush (9) 25 Small round pieces of lamb; also chocolates made with hazelnuts (9) 26 Downy seed head of a dandelion (5) 28 Electronic composer whose album

Pieces in a Modern Style features his interpretation of Adagio for Strings (5) 30 _____ violet; flower crystallised for food decoration (5) 31 Hybrid plant with cultivars Duchesse de Brabant and Lady Hillingdon (3,4)

32 _____, the Champion of theWorld; Dahl’s tale based on pheasant poaching (5) 37 Scientific study of the moon (10) 38 Person who doesn’t eat animals (10) 39 Core-strengthening exercise (3-2) 42 One of the four suits in cards (8) 43 Base unit of a grass flower (8) 45 ______ VI; the Queen’s late father, played by Colin Firth in 2010 (6) 47 Simple jointed bit for horses (7) 48 Falcon; also an Arthurian wizard (6) 50 Slow-moving arboreal mammal (5) 53 Shadow_____; film about CS Lewis (5) 54 Band with a title made up from the initials of the members’ first names (4)

55 Hawaiian volcano deity (4)