PUZZLES

Crossword and Sudoku brain-teasers.

ACROSS

1 English author whose novels A Passage to India, A Room with a View and Howard’s End were adapted to film, the latter two noted here by James Ivory (7)

5 With catkins in spring, filberts in autumn and coppiced twigs used for wattle fencing and hurdles, the “tree of knowledge” according to the Irish (5)

8 Spice derived from a variety of sweet pepper, used to flavour/colour Hungarian or Spanish dishes such as goulash, chorizo and some types of fish stew (7)

12 Practiced or studied by a toxophilite, one of the first sports to include events for both men and women in the Olympic Games (7)

13 Elizabethan pamphleteer and dramatist who wrote the picaresque novel The Unfortunate Traveller (5)

14 With a length of 3,915 miles, the longest river in Asia and third-longest in the world (either spelling accepted) (7)

15 National symbol of Canada (5,4) 16 Currency of the Philippines, subdivided into 100 centavos (4)

17 Open area for shooting practice; type of stove such as an Aga; or, a series of mountains in a line (5)

20 A species of juniper; or, the leader of a revolt whose rebellion was dramatised by Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part 2 (4)

21 Common name of a variety of gypsophila with delicate white flowers, used as a symbol of everlasting love (5,6)

23 Fair ____; noted for seabirds and traditional knitwear, the most remote of the UK’s inhabited land masses (4)

27 General name for a cold-blooded vertebrate of a class comprising frogs, toads, newts and salamanders; or, a type of vehicle for use on land or water (9)

30 Name of the title character and protagonist in Gaston Leroux’s novel The Phantom of the Opera (4)

31 Home to a rainforest some 140 million years old and administered by three countries: Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, Earth’s third-largest island (6)

34 The science of measuring (sounding) the depths of seas and lakes (10)

35 Italian who painted Boy with a Basket of Fruit and The Cardsharps (10)

37 River that rises in the Altai Mountains in China and flows through Kazakhstan and Russia to the Ob in Siberia (6)

38 Jane ____; novel by Charlotte Brontë under the pen name Currer Bell about an orphan raised by a resentful aunt (4)

39 One of the Three Tenors (9)

41 Area of a football or hockey pitch where the ball is kicked or driven in order to score (4)

43 With edible petals used in tea blends, blue blooms known as bachelor’s buttons; botanical symbols of Estonia and of remembrance in France (11)

45 Pigeon house or shed; storage space under a roof; or, a factory or warehouse converted into

open-plan living space (4)

49 Silk with a watered appearance (5)

50 A title of the husband and consort of Elizabeth II who founded the DofE (4)

52 From the Greek meaning “flower- gatherer”, a choice collection of paintings, poems, stories or songs (9)

55 Composer of The Barber of Seville (7)

56 Guitarist who forms half of the musical duo with vocalist Daryl Hall (5)

57 Description of a person driving with a provisional licence and L-plates (7)

58 Stealthy big cat of the Masai Mara (7)

59 Jolly _____; 1971 Jilly Cooper book (5)

60 Lengths of pearls, beads, wool, yarn or wire; or, beaches or shorelines (7)

DOWN

1 Quiche or tart, savoury or sweet; or, a disc from which a coin is minted (4)

2 First name of Hyacinth Bucket’s husband in Keeping Up Appearances (7)

3 Showjumping fence comprising three elements; three sporting victories in one season; or, a hunt bell in change ringing (6)

4 Armed service with the motto ‘‘Per Mare, Per Terram” (by sea, by land) (5,7)

5 Country with the capital Budapest (7)

6 Grated rind of citrus fruits used to flavour cakes, biscuits, sorbet, sauces ... (4)

7 City in Belgium that hosts the start of the annual spring classic cycle race known as La Doyenne (the Old Lady) (5)

8 Port city in Devon with a naval base (8)

9 Derived from the French for bread, a larderlike storeroom or cupboard (6)

10 Greek architect credited with co-designing the Parthenon in Athens (7)

11 Mountainous ridge formed when two neighbouring corries run back to back (5)

18 Outdoor pastime combining walking, climbing and rock-hopping (10)

19 Community of monks or nuns (5)

22 Botanical word for the outermost layer or skin of a fruit such as mango, peach, grape or tomato (7)

24 Biologists specialising in organisms in relation to their environment, life sciences, conservation and wildlife (10)

25 Sanskrit word for a sequence of yoga movements or “flow” during sun salutations for example (7)

26 With the capital Kralendijk, one of the ABC islands with Aruba and Curaçao (7)

28 Word linking with “four” for a bite-sized fancy biscuit or cake, “pain” for a bread roll or “pois” for young peas (5)

29 Indian author of the trilogy comprising Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher (7)

32 _____ at the Museum; film with Ben Stiller based on a book by Milan Trenc (5)

33 Range in Herefordshire and Worcestershire noted for spring water (7,5)

36 Instruments forming a carillon (5) 40 Instrument with a reed or double reed such as an oboe or bassoon (8)

42 Author of the epic Orlando Furioso (7)

44 Royal residence in Berkshire with 1,000 rooms and 300 fireplaces; the world’s oldest/ largest inhabited castle (7)

46 Aristotle’s six works on logic (7)

47 Dancer who choreographed some 50 ballets including (with Tchaikovsky) Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker (6)

48 Brightest star in Aquila the Eagle (6)

49 Fresco-like wall or ceiling painting (5)

51 Sheet bend, clove hitch, overhand bowline, square ... types of fastenings taught in Scouting as essential skills (5)

53 In mountaineering, a foothold cut in a slope of ice/snow; or, a ladder rung (4)

54 Flower depicted in paintings by Vincent van Gogh; or, a personification of the rainbow in Greek mythology (4) A sudoku grid has a 9x9 grid that is further subdivided into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve the puzzle, each of the rows, columns and 3x3 boxes should contain all the digits from 1 to 9. The solution to this puzzle will be published in next week’s issue. Solutions will be given next week. The last date for entries is November 6. The winner of this crossword will be announced on November 16. The winner of the October 19 crossword is