FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

This week’s prize: a Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus set, to the first correct entry opened at random. Entries must be received by Thursday. Cut out the crossword panel and send to: Factfinder’s Crossword, The Scotsman, Level 8, Orchard Brae House, 30 Queensferry Road, Edinburgh, EH4 2HS.. Normal Johnston Press rules apply: www.johnstonpress.co.uk/jpplc/competition

ACROSS

1 River rising in the Pentland Hills, and flowing 22 miles into the Firth of Forth (5,2,5) 8 Erik __ (1866-1925, French composer who created the ballet Parade (1916) (5) 9 Any of a group of metallic elements comprising the lanthanide series (4,5) 11 A hostile attack into enemy territory (6) 12 Impressionable, or showing great surprise(4-4) 14 An early match, invented in 1829 (10) 15 A short-eared mouselike rodent (4) 18 Le __ , Large geographic area of southern France (4) 19 The source of hashish, marijuana, etc (6,4) 21 The science of diseases (8) 23 The currency units of Denmark and Norway (6) 25 A rolled stuffed tortilla cooked with a chilli sauce (9) 26 A set of beliefs (5) 27 Portsmouth-born comic actor (1925-80) who starred in Dr Strangelove (1963) (5,7)

DOWN

1 Irish city and port (pop about 55,000), noted for glass-making (9) 2 The three goddesses of human destiny in Greek mythology (3,5) 3 A very short gathered or pleated skirt (2-2) 4 Ants’ nests or colonies (10) 5 A small hole for seeing through (6) 6 Ellen __ (1847-1928), Coventry-born Shakespearean actress (5) 7 An Italian sparkling wine (4,8) 10 The dunnock (5-7) 13 A flowering plant of the nettle family (5,5) 16 Evergreen poisonous shrubs (9) 17 The interval between acts in a play (8) 20 A floodgate or water-gate (6) 22 The constitutional capital of Bolivia (pop about 300,000), founded in 1538 (5) 24 Roald __ (1916-90), Welsh-born author who wrote The BFG (1982) (4)