PUZZLES

Time to steal a quiet moment and flex your brain with Friday’s puzzle pages

Crossword and sudoku brain-teasers.

ACROSS

1 Celebrated at a current exhibition at the Grand Palais marking the centenary of his death, the founding father of modern sculpture whose works include The Burghers of Calais and The Thinker (5) 4 Ornamental garden element in the form of an urn or stand for a plant or a collection of plants; or, a mixture of prepared seasonal vegetables as a garnish or accompaniment for meat or stew (10) 9 Pen name of author Hector Hugh Munro whose works include When William Came and Beasts and Super-Beasts (4) 13 War horse ridden by a knight, jouster, cavalryman or a lancer; a large plate used as a table setting; or, a portable device for powering a mobile device (7) 14 A segment of a bulb or garlic; or, the dried flower bud of a tree related to myrtle used as a traditional painkiller for toothache, or to flavour masala chai or biryani (5) 15 A moon of Uranus discovered by amateur astronomer William Lassell with a 24-inch reflector telescope in 1851 (7) 16 Classic type of feed and bidon bag passed to a cyclist during the road races/ stages in a Grand Tour; or, an alternative type of haversack issued to troops during the Second World War (7,3) 17 One of the names for wood avens, a plant of shady forested areas and hedgerows that can be a nuisance to gardeners due to being a self-seeder (4,6) 19 Fear ______; Royal Tank Regiment motto (6) 21 Red ______; feeding on buddleia and rotting orchard fruit, a butterfly that is a common feature of the British countryside despite being a seasonal migrant (7) 23 Cookery book by Yotam Ottolenghi (6) 27 Situated near to the site of the UK’s largest gorge and famous for cheese, a village in the Mendip Hills through which the Sustrans Strawberry Line passes (7) 28 Twin brother of Pollux; the secondbrightest star in the Gemini; a small type of swivelling wheel; or, a vessel with a perforated top for sprinkling sugar (6) 29 Society founded during the First World War that set up the Cycling Proficiency Test in 1947 (5) 33 Provençal type of earthenware dish in which a dish of sliced, layered vegetables and olive oil are baked au gratin-style (4) 34 Adventure novelist whose story Robinson Crusoe is said to be based on shipwrecked sailor Alexander Selkirk (5) 35 Traditional Japanese sofa bed (5) 36 Made by Fender, the common name of the world’s first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar (4) 40 Director who wrote the television play Cathy Come Home and films including Kes and I, Daniel Blake (5) 41 Country with a number of outlying islands including Crete and Kos (6) 42 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ stone; mushroom-shaped object originally for raising tithe barns and granaries off the ground but now generally used as a feature in country gardens (7) 45 One-hundredth of a Thai baht (6)

47 Musical _______; children’s party game (7) 48 Plantswoman who designed the gardens at Hestercombe, her own at Munstead Wood and numerous others in collaboration with Sir Edwin Lutyens (6) 51 Ingredient blended with essential oils to make natural skincare products (4,6) 53 Traditional craft used to make creels, skeps, hampers, trugs etc (10) 56 Small flute; a variety of cherry tomato; or, quarter of a bottle of champagne (7) 57 A country in which Life of Pi is set (5) 58 Siren of a rock of the Rhine (7) 59 Highest playing cards in a deck (4) 60 The __________; Vita Sackville-West novel (10) 61 Of flowers or fruit, blooming or ripening early in the season (5)

DOWN

1 London town near Kew and Ham (8) 2 The faces of watches or clocks (5) 3 Common name of the plant part of potatoes, tomatoes and aubergines (10) 4 Traditional style of knitted sweater; a shirt for certain sports; the largest of the Channel Islands; or, a breed of cow (6) 5 King known as the Lionheart (7,1) 6 State capital of Perak, Malaysia (4) 7_ _ _ _ _ Adler; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character portrayed by Rachel McAdams in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes (5) 8 32 points of a navigational compass (6) 10 Situated on the left bank of the Rhône and known for a children’s song about a bridge, a historic capital of Provence (7) 11 Small type of bay in a coastline (5) 12 People who engage in rappelling (9) 18 The last game, race or round in a tournament, or exam in a curriculum (5) 20 City on the Beagle Channel regarded as the southernmost in the world (7) 22 The first name of Boy Capel, the polo-playing lover and muse of Gabrielle Bonheur Coco Chanel (6) 24 First person to break the sound barrier when he piloted the Bell X-1 (6) 25 Name of a battle during the War of the Second Coalition commemorated in the painting Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David (7) 26 Orlando Furioso author (7) 30 Poet who wrote To a Skylark (7) 31 Needle for playing a vinyl record (6) 32 Type of biome occupying one third of Earth’s land area (6) 37 Publication such as the Yellow Pages or Whitepages (5,4) 38 Mary, Queen of _____; James V’s daughter who was beheaded for plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I (5) 39 General term for an explorer engaging in daring feats, mountaineering etc (10) 43 New Zealand soprano who portrayed Dame Nellie Melba in an episode of Downton Abbey (2,6) 44 Born in 1892, the fourth pre-FIDE world chess champion (8) 46 Ingredient used for tarts, steamed puddings and gingerbread cakes (7) 49 Cotswolds town where As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning author Laurie Lee was born (6) 50 Groups of foxes collectively (6) 51 Latin word meaning “above”, used in academic and legal citation (5) 52 Genus name of heather (5) 54 The young of the bird known collectively as a parliament (5) 55 Abbreviation of a behavioural condition characterised by hyperactivity that can affect children and adults (1,1,1,1) Solutions will be given next week. The last date for entries is July 25. The winner of this crossword will be announced on August 4. The winner of the July 7 crossword is Gopi Ambatt.