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Observer March 13, 2008 27SUDOKUFill in all the squares so that every
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DCryptic clues and quick clues 8212use the same grid,but
remember the answers are different and must not be mixedCryptic cluesQuick cluesA
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1.Vast (10) 7.Intone (5) 8.Dull (7) 10.Always
(8) 11.Serene (4) 13.Property (6) 15.Disclose (6) 17.
Sad to say (4) 18.Autocratic (8) 21.Blow up (7) 22.
Darkness (5) 23.Tenacious (10)
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1.Commerce
(5) 2.Compute (8) 3.Die (6) 4.Fall (4) 5.Ignorant (7) 6.
Speed up (10) 9.Involve (10) 12.Answer (8) 14.Tread
on (7) 16.Alcove (6) 19.Taut (5) 20.Stud (4)A
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1 & 21 Across.Don't go
into the vaults blindfold-
ed! (4,6,3,4)
7.Should be an expres-
sion of disgust in the
Old Testament (5)
8.Neater hairdresser (7)
10.This mixed could do
poet harm (8)
11 & 14 Down.Will this
give the dimensions of
the teleprinter strip? (4-
7)
13.Calling the man
back to have gin cocktail
(6)
15.He got confused by
East German poet (6)
17.He will be seen dur-
ing the National Anthem
(4)
18.Insurance allowed
for bed-linen (8)
21.See 1 Across
22.He's a lot involved
with the start of philoso-
phy (5)
23.Poison a beautiful
Italian girl (10)
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1 & 20 Down.For a
snack I'll get ham (5,4)
2.Exhausted - uncon-
scious - money used up
(8)
3.Profound part for a
Shakespearian actor (6)
4.It's just a description
of a blonde (4)
5.Defensive mound to
block up with one piece
(7)
6.A series of remarks
associated with run-
ning? (10)
9.A second choice? (2-
8)
12.Certainly not
descriptive of factory-
made yarn (8)
14.See 11 Across
16.A little work in gar-
bled code is enclosed
(6)
19.Plant revealed by
Australian aborigines (5)
20.See 1 DownANEWPORT author
has drawn upon
wartime memories to
produce her first
novel after more than
30 years ofwriting non-fiction.Katie Thear, 68, who has
previously written 22 books
advising smallholders on raising
livestock, started writing
Hearing
the Grass Grow
three years ago
after deciding to branch out into
new territory.
The novel, which is published
tomorrow (Friday), tells the story
ofa pretty Women8217s Land Army
girl, a German prisoner ofwar
and an injured English fighter
pilot who are embroiled in an
unfolding drama in their Welsh
village.
Mrs Thear began to write about
smallholdings in 1975 because she
felt there was not enough advice
available for farmers competing
with large commercial operations.
She founded the magazine Country
Smallholding
with husband David
that year and was its first editor.
However, she more recently
decided the time was right to move
on to a new subject, and it was
then that Hearing the Grass Grow
was born.
8220It8217s hard to pinpoint exactly what
it was that made me decide to
write about something else, but I8217d
wanted to write a novel for many
years and I guess I8217d had enough of
writing about livestock,8221 she said.
8220Once I got the project under way
and created the characters, it8217s
almost as though they took on a
life oftheir own and the story
began writing itself.8221
Like the characters in her book,
Mrs Thear, who lives in
Tenterfields, grew up in a small
rural community on North Wales8217
Lleyn peninsula.
She moved to Liverpool
with her family when she
was four, but returned
to the village during
school holidays to
stay with relatives.
She said: 8220Looking
back on it, it was a
peaceful little haven. Many of
the children evacuated there
during the war chose to stay
rather than return to the big
cities.
8220We had German prisoners of
war working in the fields, which
was a strange sight. They were
supposed to be kept under guard at
night but they were quite free
really. Some ofthem learned to
sing hymns in Welsh, which
proved very popular, and some
even stayed behind after the war to
marry local girls.8221
Katie, who has three
grown-up children, is
now halfway through
writing her second
novel. It will be set
considerably closer to
home in East Anglia.qHearing the Grass
Grow,
published by
Broad Leys
Publishing, will be on
sale at Bishop8217s
Stortford bookshops
Boardmans and
Waterstones from
tomorrow (Friday
March 14), priced
1636.99.Interview......................................By JAMES
BURTONFrom farming to
fiction...FIRST FORAY INTO FICTION:
Newport author Katie Thear
has had her first novel
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