Crossword and sudoku brain-teasers.

Time to steal a quiet moment and flex your brain with Friday’s puzzle pages

ACROSS

1 County that inspired Thomas Hardy to write Far from the Madding Crowd, John Fowles The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Ian McEwan On Chesil Beach (6) 4 Depicted in a poem by George Meredith that later inspired Ralph Vaughan Williams to write a classical piece; a bird noted for its continuous melodic song when high in flight (7) 8 Ingredients used in medieval gastronomy such as long peppers, grains of paradise, nard and cubeb, today used in the mixtures baharat, harrisa, marsala, quatre épices and za’atar (6) 14 Technical drawing such as an architectural or engineering plan; or, the magazine for Oxford University staff (9) 15 English sport with versions played at schools including Eton, Rugby, Warminster and Winchester (5) 16 With some of the highest levels of sunshine recorded anywhere in the British Isles due to the mild influence of the Gulf Stream, the most westerly island of the Inner Hebrides (5) 17 Greek goddesses of vengeance and punishment also known as the Furies (7) 18 Word for a business or media tycoon; a steam locomotive with 2-6-0 wheel arrangement; or, a bump on a piste formed by skiers turning (5) 19 Chinese divination text known in English as Book of Changes (1,5) 21 Sport/game contested at The Championships – the annual tournament that adopted the ‘Heat Rule’ in 1992 (6) 23 Abbreviated name of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps volunteers who fought in the Gallipoli Campaign, honoured in a national day of remembrance annually on April 25 (6) 25 __ _ _ _ _ _ lobe; functioning as a type of anatomical control panel responsible for many of our important cognitive skills, one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain (7) 27 Lexicographer noted for his 1806 publication A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language; or, the dramatist who wrote The Duchess of Malfi (7) 29 1954 radio drama by Dylan Thomas set in the fictional Welsh fishing village Llareggub (5,4,4) 31 Theatre Workshop co-founder remembered for her 1963 musical production Oh, What a Lovely War! (10) 33 Geographical region comprising countries including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, site of Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria and Victoria Falls (4,6) 36 Soundproof pod for resting immersed in water for relaxation or pain relief (9,4) 39 Tools for potting plants, container gardening, mixing soil, weeding, etc (7) 40 System of belts and pouches forming part of a soldier’s combat/yomping kit with pack and rifle (7) 42 German electro-encryption machine deciphered by Alan Turing and other codebreakers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War (6)

43 __ _ _ _ _ Beacons; Welsh national park, site of Pen y Fan, Cribyn, Fan Brycheiniog and the Black Mountains (6) 47 ______ Grumble; Sir Terry Wogan’s autobiography published in 2006 (6) 49 In cards, another name for a jack (5) 50 Abstract painting style influenced by cubism that was developed by Robert and Sonia Delaunay around 1912 (7) 53 Appropriate _____; television dramatisation based on Fred West and his social worker (portrayed by Emily Watson) (5) 54 Luthier from Cremona credited with making the first violin (5) 55 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey and William Wordsworth collectively (4,5) 56 Painting by John Everett Millais depicting a biblical queen (6) 57 Bodily organs that filter around 150-180 litres of blood every day (7) 58 Cake such as a Victoria sandwich (6)

DOWN

1 Bookseller who wrote the 1769 ‘who’s who’ of aristocratic titles, Peerage and Baronetage; his name is synonymous with British etiquette (7) 2 Island with the capital Saint-Denis (7) 3_ _ _ _ _ hand; English translation of the Japanese word karate (5) 5 Nepalese capital in the Himalayas (9) 6 Regiment of the Household Cavalry (4,6) 7 French composer noted for Daphnis et Chloé, Boléro and La Valse (5) 9 Handicraft used to make quilts (9) 10 Small crown; or, the band of a horse’s leg where the hairline meets the hoof (7) 11 The Potting ____; Graham Greene play (4) 12 Lime green character with an antenna; the second Teletubby (5) 13 In sumo, a push with elbows bent (4) 20 Handbags and ____ ____; Mike d’Abo song covered by Rod Stewart and Stereophonics that was adopted as the theme of The Office (4,4) 22 Informal military word for data/info (5) 24 Chief solar deity in Hinduism (5) 25 Baked egg dish that can be flavoured with roasted peppers, peas, feta, spinach, herbs, ricotta, etc (8) 26 Poet who wrote Dramatic Lyrics (8) 27 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ & Wetlands Trust; modern name of the charity founded in Slimbridge by ornithologist Sir Peter Scott in 1946 (8) 28 Latin/genus name of the buzzard (5) 30 Fruit such as a gordal or kalamata (5) 32 480 grains or 28 grams (5) 34 Ingredient forming the basis of bread, pastry, batter and some sauces (5) 35 Art or science ascertaining one’s position by means of a map, compass, Garmin, Suunto or the North Star (10) 37 Ancient Greek polymath, student of Plato, founder of the Lyceum (9) 38 ‘Diamond City’ in Northern Cape (9) 41 A bunch or flowers; or, with ‘garni’, a bundle of herbs (7) 44 __ _ _ _ _ _ War; period of conflict including the Charge of the Light Brigade (7) 45 Traditional Indian greeting (7) 46 Civil engineer ranked as one of the pioneers of railway development (5) 48 Item on which breakfast/cups of tea may be served in bed (4) 49 __ _ _ _ Campbell; breed of duck from Gloucestershire, kept for eggs (5) 51 Book/greetings card with 3D scenes or figures that appear when opened (3-2) 52 Animal known collectively as a husk (4)