FACTFINDER’S CROSSWORD

Dear Reader,

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic we are suspending competition entries for all our prize crosswords. Puzzles will continue to appear as normal but no entries will be accepted or prizes given.

We hope to return to normal as soon as possible.

The solution to this week’s Factfinder crossword will appear next Saturday as usual.

Stay safe!

Across

1 High ranking four- star officer in the RAF

( 3,5,7)

9 Major seaport in north- west Russia ( pop

about 350,000) ( 9)

10 A German prisoner of war camp for officers

( 5)

11 A fishing village in the Highlands ( pop about

1,000, north of Inverness ( 5)

12 Waste or dross, or a secretion that is

reabsorbed ( 9)

13 A short pictorial poem on a pastoral theme

( 5)

15 The wife of King Arthur in the Arthurian

legend ( 9)

17 Lay open, or explain the meaning of

something ( 9)

19 The depth of soil turned up in cultivation ( 5) 21 A genus of composites including wormwood,

sagebrush, etc ( 9)

23 The place of departed souls in the Hebrew

bible ( 5)

24 A piece of wood or metal on a ship to which

ropes are attached ( 5)

25 Inversely heart- shaped, as a leaf ( bot) ( 9)

26 Legislatiion ( 1701) which guaranteed the

Protestant succession ( 3,2,10)

Down

1 A mineral, a basic chloride of copper ( 9)

2 A benefice held by a clergyman in the Church

of England ( 7)

3 Any shrub of the genus Erica ( 5)

4 Edward __ ( 1857 - 1934), Worcester- born

composer of the Enigma Variations ( 5)

5 A green mineral, basic copper carbonate ( 9) 6 F D __ ( 1882 - 1945), US politician who was

President from1933 to 1945 ( 9)

7 Relating to Greece or the Greeks ( 7)

8 Conforming to the law ( abbrev) ( 5)

14 A recurring theme ( fig) ( 9)

15 W E __ ( 1809 - 98), Liberal politician who was Prime Minster four times between 1868 and 1896 ( 9)

16 Anglo- Saxon king of Kent ( c 552 - 616) ( 9) 18 Forbearing or long- suffering ( 7)

20 The fourth Sunday in Lent ( 7)

21 A capital city in west Africa ( pop over 4

million) ( 5)

22 A type of neck- tie with wide pointed wings

( 5)

23 River rising in the Lusatian Hills and flowing

250 miles into the River Havel ( 5)