FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Dundee-born philosopher and historian (1465 - 1536) (6,5) 9 Edible American shellfish of various kinds, including quahogs (5) 10 A colourless, odourless gas, discovered in 1772 (8) 12 Mountainous island (454 sq miles; pop 1.3 million) in southern Japan (7) 13 Ornamental stand of shelves for bric-abrac, etc (Fr) (7) 14 Market town in Kent (pop about 15,000), one of the Cinque Ports (5) 15 Region of northern Italy (9,191 sq miles; pop about 10 million (9) 18 Title of various senior Roman Catholic clergyman (9) 20 A new recruit in RAF slang (5) 21 Destroyed the surface (of) (7) 24 Satirical romance by Samuel Butler (1835 1902) (7) 25 Pertaining to the length of a syllable or vowel (gram) (8) 26 A French private soldier (coll) (5) 27 A ghost or other supernatural being (11)

DOWN

2 One of the Slate Islands in the Firth of Lorn (7) 3 Semi-ruined castle on the east coast, built in the mid 14th century (9) 4 Archaic term for quick, eager and early (5) 5 The dragonfly order (zool) (7) 6 Greek island (3,217 sq miles; pop 60,000), once the centre of the Minoan civilisation (5) 7 Enclosed place where sound reverberates (4-7) 8 Alexander __ (c1755 - 1804), one of the Founding Fathers of the USA (8) 11 Flowering shrub often cultivated under the name of geranium (110 16 Major seaport in southern France (pop about 1.5 million), founded around 600 BC (9) 17 Emile __ (1858 - 1917), Lorraine-born sociologist (8) 19 Introduction commonly used in medieval manuscripts (7) 20 Dry, generally treeless plains in Eurasia, etc (7) 22 An active volcano in Guatemala (12,346 feet) (5) 23 Albrecht __ (1471 - 1568), a German painter, engraver, etc (5)