General knowledge 878

(answers in next week’s paper)

ACROSS

1. Arctic and Antarctic gull-like bird (4)

4. Sweet smelling mixture of petals and spices (9) 8. The second largest planet in the solar system (6) 9. Archangel whose feast day is on September 29 (7) 10. A two-footed animal (5) 12. Yellow-flowered woodland and meadow plant (8) 16. An occupant of an institution, etc. (6) 17. A Persian provincial governor (6) 18. Tree with leaves on which silkworms feed (8) 21. Shine or lustre (5) 25. Temporary platform or support (7) 26. A bay tree (6) 27. The wild arum or cuckoopint (4-5) 28. County in Connacht province, Republic of Ireland (4)

DOWN

2. A dull, brownish yellow of army uniforms (5) 3. Blue of an unclouded sky (5) 4. Flat-bottomed, shallow boat (4)

5. Appearing in the early stage of evolution (9) 6. One who walks before a person of rank (5) 7. Tall, stiff, water or marsh grasses (5) 10. An aromatic ointment (6) 11. Husband of Mistress Quickly in Henry V (6) 13. The House of —-, Dutch royal house (6) 14. John —-, English diarist of the period 1640-1706 (6) 15. Language devised by Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887 (9) 19. In Latin, “beyond” (5) 20. Military, brass musical instrument (5) 22. A stem or stalk of a bean, potato plant, etc. (5) 23. A song of lamentation (5) 24. In the Scottish Highlands, persons descended from the same ancestor (4)