Factfinder's crossword

Saturday 17th May

Across

1 Pretentious nonsense or bunkum (coll) (4)
3 Tiny creature, as a mouse or invertebrate (10)
10 William –– (d1328), churchman who became Bishop of St Andrews and a Guardian of the Kingdom (9)
11 A thick-bodied, dull-coloured lizard (5)
12 Town in Vietnam, due west of Da Nang (5)
13 Yellowish, or marked with yellow (8)
15 Relating to one of the signs of the zodiac (7)
17 Black vulcanised rubber (7)
19 Rare term meaning to prepare for action (7)
21 The bases of pillars (archit) (7)
22 A particle that has a single magnetic charge (8)
24 Sir William –– (1782 - 1850), Edinburgh-born painter who became President of the Royal Scottish Academy (5)
27 A plantain which is grown in the Philippines, or its fibre (5)
28 Surrender territory back to a country or government (9)
29 A composite plant (Inula helenium), formerly cultivated for its medicinal root (10)
30 Short strap round the leg of a hawk (4)

Down

1 Former fishing village in Ayrshire now a retirement and holiday resort (10)
2 An Egyptian dancing-girl (5)
4 Belonging to a region of ancient Egypt west of the Nile delta (7)
5 A sirenian of the warm parts of the Atlantic and the rivers of Brazil (7)
6 A German type of automatic pistol (5)
7 Release from constraint, or give free rein to (9)
8 An officer of the Yeomen of the Guard (4)
9 A coal-tar colour, producing fast olive greens (8)
14 Light scudding clouds preceding a storm (10)
16 Having the form of a pitcher-shaped structure, with contracted mouth (9)
18 A potsherd or tile which was used for writing on in ancient Egypt (8)
20 Action or experience which inflates one's good opinion of oneself (3-4)
21 Northern English town, the birthplace of the inventor, Richard Arkwright (7)
23 Port, commercial and cultural centre, the third-largest city in Japan (5)
25 Major river port and industrial centre in eastern Belgium (pop around 200,000)
26 The refuse left after wine-making (4)

Last week's solutions

Across: 1 Larkspur, 5 Strang, 10 and 11 Newbattle Abbey, 12 Release, 13 Chevron, 14 Breeds in, 17 Sards, 19 Hadal, 21 Thowless, 24 Glamour, 25 Catchup, 27 Lytta, 28 Thermidor, 29 Amends, 30 Starosta.

Down: 1 Lanark, 2 Rowel, 3 Scavage, 4 Uptie, 6 Tracers, 7 Ambergris, 8 Guyanese, 9 Bel canto, 15 Red Castle, 16 Saturate, 18 Shigella, 20 Leopard, 22 Latimer, 23 Sparta, 25 Crest, 25 Hades.

3 May competition winner: Mr K F Macaskill, Edinburgh.