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 A roadside plant with leaves silky underneath

( 10)

6 Kingsley __ ( 1922 - 95), London- born novelist

who wrote Lucky Jim ( 1968) ( 4)

10 Small wild horses of the steppes now extinct

( 7)

11 Industrial town near Glasgow ( pop 36,000), a

Burgh of Barony from 1821 ( 7)

12 Consistent in thought or speech ( 8)

13 A major passage in the human body ( 5)

15 Having sword- shaped leaves ( bot) ( 6)

17 Irish province ( 7,580 sq miles; pop about 2.5

million) ( 8)

19 Former royal burgh and county town in the

south- west ( pop 37,0000 ( 8)

21 A pointer or stick used in teaching ( 6)

24 A worthless fellow ( 5)

25 An evergreen shrub with red or white

flowers ( 8)

28 Stoats in their winter coats ... ( 7)

29 ... and a white fur made from them ( 7)

30 US territory in the Pacific ( 210 sq miles; pop 165,000), close to the International Date Line ( 4)

31 Gardens in a city near Paris designated a

UNESCO World Heritage Site ( 10)

Down

1 A bristle- like structure ( zool) ( 4)

2 Cubes of fatty bacon or pork fat used to add

flavour ( 7)

3 A storehouse ( Fr) ( 5)

4 John __ ( 1703 - 91), a Lincolnshire- born

theologian, the founder of Methodism ( 6)

5 A skin eruption, especially combined with a

fever ( 8)

7 A substance that combines with a dye or stain

and fixes it in a material (( 7)

8 A wild rose with fragrant foliage ( 5- 5)

9 A strong printed cotton fabric ( 8)

14 University town in southern Germany ( pop

160,000), on the River Neckar ( 10)

16 A synthetic fibre of polyester fibres ( 8)

18 Raised in relief by hammering from behind

or within ( 8)

20 An African xylophone ( 7)

22 An umbelliferous plant cultivated as a pot

herb ( 7)

23 The herald of the gods in Greek mythology

( 6)

26 __ bear, a great fierce animal reputed to live

in east Africa ( 5)

27 The god of war in Greek mythology ( 4)