FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Westerkirk-born stonemason, bridgebuilder, etc (1757- 1834), elected the first president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (6,7) 10 A depilatory of lime and orpiment (5) 11 Instrument for measuring a current of fluid (9) 12 An instrument for stopping bleeding (9) 13 A fillet for the hair (5) 14 Country in eastern Europe (80,134 sq miles; pop 9.5 million), independent since 1991 (7) 16 Distinguish by the eye, or by understanding (7) 18 A unit of brightness, one lumen per square centimetre (7) 20 Eastern animal like the leopard, used in hunting (7) 21 A capital city in northern Africa (pop about 1 million) (5) 23 A final demand, or statement of terms (9) 25 Having the same properties irrespective of direction (9) 26 Old copper coin used in the Ionian Islands (5) 27 A European poisonous weed naturalised in America that resembles parsley (6,7)

DOWN

2 Hermann _ (1877 - 1962), German author who wrote Steppenwolf (5) 3 A genus of the buttercup family (Thalictrum) (6-3) 4 A wide-extended horizontal sheet of low cloud (7) 5 Discharged or expelled from the body in any way (7) 6 Emits gas or vapour (5) 7 To go back to a previous state (9) 8 Edinburgh-born priest (1811 -82), appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1868 (9,4) 9 Ayr-born musician (1928 - 91), who was principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra (6,7) 15 A common flatfish of the plaice family (5,4) 17 Crush objections, etc (coll) (9) 19 A character in the Disney film, Bambi (7) 20 The waxy layer on the epidermis in plants (bot) (7) 22 Chapters in the Koran (5) 24 A collection of tips to be divided out later (5)

This week’s prize: a Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus set, to the first correct entry opened at random. Entries must be received by Thursday. Cut out the crossword panel and send to: Factfinder’s Crossword, The Scotsman, Level 8, Orchard Brae House, 30...