Crossword and Sudoku brain teasers.
ACROSS
1 Nicknamed Plum, the novelist remembered for his tales about Bertie Wooster, valet Jeeves and the Blandings Castle and Drones Club sets (9) 6 _____ and drakes; game of skimming stones across the surface of water (5) 9 Dog _____; shrub with pale pinkish-white flowers scrambling over hedgerows, country lanes and woods in June-July (5) 12 _____ of 77; organisation of developing countries within the United Nations (5) 13 Signed to The Beatles’ record label Apple in the 1960s and knighted in 2000, a favourite composer of the Prince of Wales who wrote Song for Athene (7) 14 General name for the digits forming magic squares or sudoku puzzles (7) 15 Thin strip stretched across the finishing line of a race; or, a word linked with “measure” for an item found in a sewing basket (4) 16 Inventor of the first practical telephone; or, an item attached to a pull to summon staff in a large Victorian household for example (4) 17 A joint of the body prone to lateral epicondylitis with repetitive overuse through sport, gardening etc (5) 18 Cowboy or cowgirl’s art or skill of roping cattle from horseback with a lariat in Western riding (5) 20 Director whose films include an adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and the forthcoming Dumbo (6) 21 Triangular-shaped section joining the handle and the blade of a cricket bat (6) 22 Known as a portière when covering a doorway, an item made by a draper (7) 25 First name of the cookery teacher on Ladette to Lady; or, from the Latin meaning “sea dew”, a fragrant woody herb with lavender-blue flowers (8) 27 Number of lives of a cat according to an old saying or myth (4) 28 Table ______; sport and game also called whiff-whaff or ping-pong (6) 33 Oliver Sacks’s memoir about sleeping sickness that was made into a film with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams (10) 34 Process of unwinding after work, busyness or a stressful situation (10) 36 Musical style demonstrated in the sinfonia from Bach’s cantata No. 156 Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe (6) 37 Abbreviation of a French phrase traditionally appended to an invitation (4) 38 Nymph transformed into a bear and set among the stars as Ursa Major (8) 41 Depicted in Frans van Mieris the Elder’s Pictura (An Allegory of Painting), an artist’s board for mixing colours (7) 43 UEFA ______ League; football tournament contested annually by many teams (6) 44 Novelist who wrote Room at the Top, The Vodi and The Crying Game (6) 47 One of a pair of similar items of furniture represented in Vincent van Gogh’s painting Bedroom in Arles (5)
49 Wood _____; also called herb bennet, plant food of grizzled skipper butterfly larvae (5)
50 A roll of fabric or wallpaper as a unit of measurement; the world’s fastest man; or, a flash of lightning (4)
51 Unit used to measure a horse’s height; a part of the body used to symbolise a mudrā; or, a bunch of bananas (4)
54 The _______ Code; set of mandatory rules governing proper road use by drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians (7)
55 Chilled Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Assam, sencha or other tisane, often flavoured with sliced citrus fruits or herbs (4,3)
56 Character in the Disney version of the Danish fairytale The Little Mermaid (5)
57 To the _____ Born; BBC television sitcom with Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles (5)
58 Button on a computer keyboard used to perform a carriage return (5)
59 Novelist who wrote the tale about George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men (9)
DOWN
1 Isle of _____; land containing Osborne House, Cowes and parts of the Heritage Coast; host of an annual music festival (5)
2 Another name for a pipette (7)
3 Flower cones of a plant known as wolf of the woods used in brewing or dried to decorate beams in pubs (4)
4 Author of the Little Grey Rabbit books (6)
5 Item of stationery traditionally sealed with red wax and a signet ring (8)
6 Yellow-flowered weeds with downy seedheads known as clocks (10)
7 Source of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, home to the hawksbill turtle and Mesoamerican Reef (9,3)
8 Bread-based lunchtime snack or meal which derived its name from the title of John Montagu (8)
9 Person who enjoys ambulating through the countryside or over coastal paths (7)
10 Embryonic plants sold in packets by Suttons or Sarah Raven for example (5)
11 War poet who wrote Counter-Attack (7)
19 Photographic device with variable focal length for close-ups (4,4)
20 Creamy mozzarella-like cheese (7)
23 _______ Bloomers; bloopers series that was hosted by Terry Wogan on BBC1 (7)
24 Protected by the goddess Pomona, food cultivated by a pomologist (5)
26 Word linking with cocker, springer and clumber for three breeds of dog (7)
29 Merchants with online shops (1-7)
30 The capital of Costa Rica (3,4)
31 Breakfast, brunch or lunch dish served with hollandaise sauce (4,8)
32 Slovakian cyclist competing for his fourth consecutive rainbow jersey at this year’s UCI Road World Championships (5)
35 Shorts, leggings, trainers, jerseys, trackpants etc collectively (10) 39 In IT, a unit of digital information (8)
40 Restorative treatments with thermal spring water, steam, aromatherapy etc (3,5)
41 One of the Springwatch presenters; or, a designer noted for bridal gowns (7)
42 Horticulturist who presented Gardeners’ World from 1969-76 (7)
45 Song by John Lennon (7)
46 ______ Ranger; yuppie stereotype coined in books by Peter York and Ann Barr (6)
48 First isolated in 1894 by Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay, a noble gas, atomic number 18 (5)
52 Any one of the mutant travel machines created by Davros in Doctor Who (5)
53 Fine cotton fabric used for summer dresses, patchwork, scrunchies or lavender bags; or, a grassy area for croquet, quoits or garden parties (4) 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. Solutions will be given next week. The last date for entries is July 24. The winner of this crossword will be announced on August 3. The winner of the July 6 crossword is Hares Shehab.