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Across 1. to calm; to lessen in severity; to mollify; to relieve 3. An -------------- diamond will cut glass. 4. This cool response almost certainly reflects legal caution, but also a bland faith in the regulatory system. 6. The till was now 20 deep with impatient customers clutching their coffee pots and blenders - and then I discovered the real --------------- of the shop assistant's life: 8. From that day he abode at the court, wearing, with a face awry at the fineness of them, such clothes as were provided for him, and eating delicate foods.

Down 1. to leave behind; to give something up 2. stick; staff; wand 5. to encourage; to support 6. According to the society, water voles, otters, redshank, snipe and lapwing and wetland plants such as marsh orchid and bog pimpernel had declined as a result of over-abstraction and drainage over many years. 7. The very idea that there could be a -------------cast suspicion on the whole operation.