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!

Joy Yates, Editorial Director

Across 1

Bright red monoclinic minerals, arsenic

monosulphide (8)

5 To wear out, annoy, distress, etc (6)

10 Four-wheeled carriages (9)

11 Legendary author of Greek fables (5)

12 A species of sturgeon (7)

13 William __ (1697 - 1764), A London-born

painter and engraver (7)

14 Secret term or phrase giving access to a

camp, etc (8)

17 A police district (coll) (5)

19 Bring upon oneself (5)

21 Bavarian city (pop about 115,000), founded

in the early 11th century (8)

24 A group of three lines in verse (7)

25 Pertaining to the sense of touch (7)

27 Spanish word for a friend (5)

28 One excessively devoted to a cause (9)

29 The elder gods and goddesses overthrown

by Zeus in Greek mythology (6)

30 A chaffy scale, as on a fern (8)

Down

1 To go over or settle accounts (with) (6)

2 Gather in great quantities (5)

3 Rundown sections of a city, especially slum

areas (7)

4 Any of several non-venomous American

snakes (5)

6 A mixture of mercury with other metals (7)

7 Feeling of certainty, self-confidence, etc (9)

8 A brilliant blue gemstone (8)

9 A Eurasian plant of the lily family (8)

15 The __ , a play by Ben Jonson (1610) (9)

16 Trilogy of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus (8) 18 Divert attention from someone or something

(8)

20 An American animal akin to the bears (7)

22 Obsolete term for a little boat (7)

23 Compensate for the faults in something (6) 25 The eighth letter of the Greek alphabet (5) 26 A mass of unwrought metal, especially gold

or silver (5)