PUZZLES

Crossword and sudoku brain-teasers.

ACROSS

1 Painter from Suffolk remembered for his landscapes of the English countryside including The Hay Wain, The Cornfield (The Drinking Boy), Dedham Vale and Salisbury Cathedral From The Bishop’s Ground (9)

6 Underground parts of plants such as the crocus, dahlia, winter aconite, chionodoxa (glory-of-the-snow) snowdrop and narcissus (5) 9 Food made by nectar harvested by bees, used to naturally sweeten tisanes, dressings, marinades, flapjacks and glazes and many cakes around the world (5)

12 General term for quantities produced by machines, or for the data sent from computers to VDUs, printers etc (7)

13 Reading —; general name for a regular social gathering for a circle of friends to discuss books/literature (5)

14 Historic luxury car marque established in 1906 that was taken over by Aston Martin in 1947 (7)

15 With the world’s largest permanent display at the Keukenhof and used to symbolise perfect or deep love, the national flower of the Netherlands (5)

16 The Country Diary of an — Lady; illustrated nature diary by teacher/artist Edith Holden that became a best-seller (9)

17 Fête-like community gatherings with stalls, amusements and exhibits of local gardening/ craft/cookery achievements (5)

18 Root vegetable with varieties including Désirée, Duke of York, Maris Piper, Jersey Royal and King Edward (6)

19 Capability Brown’s successor as England’s pre-eminent landscape gardener whose work can be seen at Dyrham Park, Cobham Hall, Longleat Estate and Sheringham Park (6)

21 — for Strings; a movement forming Samuel Barber’s String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 with modern adaptations by William Orbit and DJ Tiesto (6)

25 Abbreviation of the month in which harvest festivals and “calling the mare” ceremonies take place (4)

27 Greek god of fire, blacksmiths, craftsmen, metalworking and volcanoes with the Roman equivalent Vulcan (10)

28 Any one of the blank white spaces in a crossword to be filled with a letter (5)

31 Geographical study of rivers (10)

33 Pastry shells for fillings such as pâté, gravadlax with soured cream, smoked salmon, caramelised apple, custard or soaked prunes (10)

35 — Rides; 1830 William Cobbett book (5)

36 King of the Swiss mountains overlooking Zermatt; an emblem for Alpinists which is one of the highest summits in the Alps (10)

38 Guy rope bracing a ship’s mast; or, part of a corset that was historically constructed from whalebone (4)

40 The —; band who released their first single Hand in Glove in 1983 (6)

42 Author born Eric Arthur Blair in India in 1903 who described his vision of the future in

Nineteen Eighty-Four (6)

43 Collie character in a novel by Eric Knight that was adapted into a film (6)

47 First cultured by Mikimoto Kōkichi in 1893, a gem worn by a girl depicted in a painting by Johannes Vermeer (5)

48 Device combined with a loudspeaker for an instrument such as an electric guitar (9)

50 Bodily organ containing billions of neurons connected to synapses; the core of the nervous system (5)

52 Actor whose notable roles include Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (1939) and Maxim de Winter in Rebecca (1940) (7)

53 Spanish word meaning “friend” (5)

54 Either of the two annual occasions around March 20 and September 23 when day and night are of equal length (7)

55 Cloth worn around the body to support a baby; or, a type of catapult (5)

56 Word linked with “sauce” for a condiment such as HP or Daddies (5)

57 The largest extant land animals (9)

DOWN

1 Small plot of arable land; or, the tennis player who took over from Anneka Rice on Treasure Hunt (5)

2 Folded sheet of paper with a decorative design for short messages, usually sold in a pack or set (7)

3 Instruments forming part of a jazz band; the cries of the animals stated in 57 Across; or, the coronas of daffodils (8)

4 General name for a container that can be in the form of a creel, hamper, pannier, punnet, seedlip, skep or trug (6)

5 Anglo- Irish author whose novels include Letters for Literary Ladies, Castle Rackrent and Tales of Fashionable Life (9)

6 Person who writes life stories (10)

7 Italian painter whose works can be seen in the Brancacci Chapel, Florence (5)

8 Greek goddess of the moon (6)

9 Novel by the author of About a Boy (4,8)

10 Known as the Green City, the capital of Guangxi in southern China (7)

11 The Tower poetry collection author (5)

18 Travel IDs of a kind not needed by the Queen (9)

20 An animal written about in a rural novel by Henry Williamson (5)

22 Building or portico with eight columns, such as the Parthenon (9)

23 Naturalist who inspired Lenny Henry’s “grapple me grapenuts” catchphrase (7)

24 Coastal body where the river meets the sea, and fresh and salt water mix (7)

26 Character portrayed by string instruments in a suite by Prokofiev (5)

29 Triangular fabric piece sewn into a skirt to make it flared or “swooshy” (5)

30 Little farm/plot for self-sufficiency (12)

32 Nickname of the train Gerald in Wilbert Awdry’s The Railway Series (5)

34 Welsh county, largest town Aberystwyth, site of Cardigan Bay (10)

37 An ace shot in golf (4-2-3)

39 Architect and dramatist who designed Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace with Nicholas Hawksmoor (8)

41 Grand duke of Muscovy 1462–1505, known as “the Great” (4,1,1,1)

44 The longest river in Ireland (7)

45 Only capital city beginning with “Z” (6)

46 — London; contemporary arts fair held annually in Regent’s Park (6)

47 The —; season of annual concerts first instituted by Henry Wood in 1895 (5)

49 Instrument with keys historically made from ebony and ivory (5)

51 Largest of the Cyclades isles (5) SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY WITH YOUR CONTACT DETAILS to Friday, PO Box 6519, Dubai, UAE or email them to gnppromotions@gulfnews.com. Winners need to collect their prize from the Gulf News Dubai office. Details are sent to winners via email. Entries are open to everyone, but winners have to be UAE residents.