PUZZLES

Crossword and Sudoku brain-teasers.

ACROSS

1 Venetian artist whose paintings include The Stonemason’s Yard, Westminster Abbey with a Procession of Knights of the Bath and Eton College (9)

6 With varieties including curly and cavolo nero, a brassica and fodder crop used for green juices with ginger, Scotch broth or crisps with pink Himalayan salt (4)

8 Autumn ______; blooming in September and October, a flower also called meadow saffron and naked ladies (6)

13 Traditional Japanese acupressure therapy based on channelling the flow of meridians and energy or “ki” (7)

14 Consisting of 90 per cent desert, the mostpopulated of the Arab countries, site of the Great Sphinx, Abu Simbel and Great Pyramid of Giza (5)

15 Looked after by a pomologist, a garden for fruit and nut trees, traditionally apple, pear, damson, plum, walnut ... (7)

16 From the French meaning “apple of amber”, clove-studded oranges or perforated orbs containing mixtures of aromatic substances (9) 17 Non-woven compressed baize-like fabric used for hats and crafts; or, a short word for a pen used for colouring (4)

18 _____ de Lune; from the French meaning “light of the moon”, Paul Verlaine’s poem that inspired Claude Debussy (5)

21 Vanity ____; novel by Calcutta-born author William Makepeace Thackeray (4)

22 Depicted in the What-a-Mess stories by Frank Muir, a saluki-like breed of tall dog with a long and silky coat (6,5)

24 Abbreviation of measurements equal to 5ml used in cookery or for amounts of sugar added tea/coffee (4)

28 The _____ ____; first chapter of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows (5,4)

31 Any one of the nine mythological Greek goddesses representing individual spheres of knowledge; or, a rock band from Teignmouth in Devon (4) 32 Inventor who designed, built and patented the first commercially successful sewing machine (6)

35 With three types: powder, slab or wet, snow masses descending mountains (10)

36 Term for an athlete who participates in an event consisting of 10 disciplines (10)

38 Any one of the creatures studied in entomology representing more than half of all Earth’s identified animal species (6)

39 Equestrienne who won Badminton Horse Trials in 1992 and 2000 and represented Great Britain at six Olympic Games between 1992 and 2012 (4)

40 With alumni including Winston Churchill, Mark Phillips, Keith Floyd, Tim Peake and Princes William and Harry, a royal military academy in Berkshire (9)

42 Lady Jane ____; queen for nine days (4)

44 Alternative name for the descending or south node of the Moon’s orbit (7,4)

46 Type of tournament in tennis, golf and other

sports where both pros and amateurs may compete (4)

50 Surname of Sebastian and his family in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited (5)

51 Growing up to 32 ft, the largest of the dolphins, also called a killer whale (4)

53 With designs by William Morris, Liberty and Colefax & Fowler, a material in rolls for home interiors (9)

56 Rich, heavy textile for upholstery, drapery and evening gowns, often woven with gold or silver threads (7)

57 French for red, especially when describing jeweller’s ferric oxide or a cosmetic for lips and cheekbones (5)

58 Cells that transmit nerve impulses (7)

59 Vessel’s flag indicating nationality (6)

60 Heat and ____; Ruth Prawer Jhabvala novel dramatised by James Ivory (4)

61 Above _________; drama based on the Anna Travis novels by Lynda La Plante (9)

DOWN

1 Word linking pencil, suit and vanity (4)

2 Kenyan capital meaning “cool water” (7)

3 ______ 47.02; seaplane that disappeared with explorer Roald Amundsen (6)

4 Often featuring climbs including Alpe d’Huez or Mont Ventoux, an annual multi-stage road cycling race, most recently won by Geraint Thomas (4,2,6)

5 Life __ _____; David Attenborough series (2,5) 6 Ash, maple or sycamore samaras; or, parameters for solving codes/ciphers (4)

7 General name for frothy steamed milk with a shot of espresso, matcha tea, turmeric or chaga mushroom infusion (5)

9 Highly decorative style that first prevailed during the reign of Louis XV (6)

10 Ties similar to ascots or stocks (7)

11 Fictional island on which Wilbert Awdry set his Railway Series of books (5)

12 General name for the activity of rowing, sailing or punting (7)

19 Pursuit involving 4x4 vehicles (3-7)

20 Dwarfish creature popularised as a garden ornament by Sir Charles Isham (5)

23 Molluscs served with mignonette (7)

25 Style of lake associated with gardens designed by Capability Brown (10)

26 Lightweight cord used by a falconer to secure a hawk during its training (7)

27 Fractions/amounts that can be multiplied by two to form quarters (7)

29 Miniature medicine bottles (5)

30 _______ Faith; Welsh television drama series based on events following a man’s sudden disappearance (7)

33 Australian writer and academic who penned Shakespeare’s Wife and made a number of guest appearances on Have I Got News for You (5)

34 Archipelago from which Grace Darling and her father conducted a rescue operation to save survivors of the shipwrecked vessel Forfarshire (5,7) 37 Secret _____; Alfred Hitchcock film (5)

41 Inventor of the radiometer device commonly called a light mill (7)

43 True origins of given words (7)

45 Thistle-like plants with seed heads valued as food by goldfinches (7)

47 Traditional Polish dumplings (7)

48 Malaysian state known as the “Pearl of the Orient”, capital George Town (6)

49 Lapis ______; blue mineral used to decorate Tutankhamun’s gold burial mask (6)

50 Another name for dietary roughage occurring naturally in vegetables, wholegrain cereals, seeds and fruit (5)

52 One of the largest Ionian Islands (5)

54 Actor who was the voice of Aragorn in the original 1978 film version of The Lord of the Rings (4)

55 Abbreviation of the name of a 13-digit code assigned to books (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.