FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Soft drinks made originally from the dried root of Smilax plants (13) 10 Country in west Asia (11,490 sq miles; pop 3 million), independent since 1991 (7) 11 Graduated glass tube with a top used to measure liquids run off (7) 12 Former county town in the Borders (pop about 2,500) (4) 13 The edible leafstalk of cardoon, artichoke, etc (5) 14 A small island in the Channel Islands (4) 17 Greek dramatist who wrote Medea (9) 19 A dead-eye (naut) (5) 20 To fill or permeate the mind, etc (5) 22 Title conferred on some prelates in the Roman Catholic Church (9) 24 Large island in the Inner Hebrides (pop about 3,000) (4) 25 Native american tribe living in oklahoma, etc (5) 27 A deep-red chalcedony(4) 30 Having an extremely offensive smell (7) 31 Dutch city (pop about 345,000), with a 14th century gothic cathedral (7) 32 Heavily padded sofas (13)

DOWN

2 Old term for a medical social worker in a hospital (7) 3 George __ (1804 - 76), pseudonym of a French novelist who wrote Indiana (1832) (4) 4 Sylvia __ (1932 - 63), American poet who wrote The Bell Jar (5) 5 William __ (1721 - 93), Historian who was principal of Edinburgh University (9) 6 A small highly coloured parrot (4) 7 The aardvark of southern Africa (7) 8 A rough-coated Border terrier (6,7) 9 Animal or plant with the organs of both sexes (13) 15 A sales-pitch (5) 16 Echo-sounding detection system (5) 18 Inlay of metal, especially gold, on steel, etc (9) 21 Inclining towards higher prices for stocks and shares (7) 23 Characterised by subtle shades of meaning (7) 26 Rough or abrupt in manner or sound (5) 28 A ditch, moat, trench, etc (4) 29 To soften by boiling or soaking, of grain (4)