FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

Dear Reader,

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic we are suspending competition entries for all our prize crosswords. Puzzles will continue to appear as normal but no entries will be accepted or prizes given.

We hope to return to normal as soon as possible.

The solution to this week’s Factfinder crossword will appear next Saturday as usual.

Stay safe!

Across

1 Lichens of various kinds used for dyeing ( 8)

5 Italian brandy made from the residue of a

wine- press ( 6)

10 A traditional Spanish dance or folk song ( 9) 11 A short- winged freshwater diving bird ( 5)

12 Medium- sized antelopes from southern

Africa ( 7)

13 Giovanni Battista __ ( 1696 - 1770), Venetian

artist who painted in the rococo style ( 7)

14 Disease of cattle or sheep caused by

magnesium deficiency ( 8)

17 A timber measure, about 35 cubic feet ( 5)

19 A shallow lake created by heavy rain which

dries out again in hot weather ( 5)

21 A bulbous genus of the lily family ( 8)

24 Rowing club based in Henley- on- Thames,

founded in 1818 ( 7)

25 Kenneth __ ( 1859 - 1932), Edinburgh born

writer of The Wind in the Willows ( 1908) ( 7) 27 River rising in east- central Spain and flowing

626 miles into the Atlantic ( 5)

28 Gemstones, a purple variety of quartz ( 9)

29 A scarlet or rose- coloured South African

flowering plant ( 6)

30 Instruments used for measuring electric

currents ( 8)

Down

1 Historic conservation village ( pop about

2,0000, in Perth and Kinross ( 6)

2 A species of primula ( 5)

3 Language spoken by a lot of people in the

Philippine Islands ( 7)

4 Sharp- pointed swords used in fencing

practice ( 5)

6 Backward movement or extension ( 7)

7 Powerful in a very high degree ( 9)

8 Windflowers ( 8)

9 An animated film produced by Walt Disney in

1940 ( 8)

15 Naval battle ( 1805), where the Royal Navy

defeated the French and Spanish fleets ( 9) 16 Heavenly, airy or spirit- like ( 8)

18 Edward __ ( 1892 - 1963), Bradford- born scientist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 ( 8)

20 Joseph __ ( 1672 - 1719), Wiltshire- born essayist who co- founded The Spectator ( 7)

22 Historical novel by Sir Walter Scott ( 1820)

( 7)

23 Putrefaction, or invasion by pathogenic

bacteria ( 6)

25 A small stream of light ( 5)

26 Department in north- east France ( 2,845 sq

miles; pop about 540,000) ( 5)