general knowledge crossword 856 in telegraph

[kiwikid]

this weeks cross word in the telegraph is a beuty
stock for quite a few
5 a anther name for soapbark tree qui----
7d benevbolent creature in folklore

[mazie]

5 I think is Quillaja, which is too many letters. alternative spelling shown as Quilaja

How many letters in 7d please?

[kiwikid]

7 down benevolent creature in folklore
assuming quilaja is correct then it is a five words
a-b -i- b- the -i-e
8down bracken like frosty encrustation on window (two words) a-e -e-n
26a mechanical device in instructionsla programme two words 8 & 7 T------- machine
18d obsolete word meaning verdure g-e---h
2 down informal australian expression 4 3 3 5
c-m- t-e -a- p---n

[mazie]

8d is Ice Fern

[mazie]

18d Greenth

[mike230348]

come the raw prawn (don't ask me why!)

[mazie]

26a teaching machine ?

[ventpeg]

5a) the answer is Quillai

the last letter i is the starting letter for 8d) which as stated above is Ice Fern

this explains 'come the raw prawn -

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/come+the+r aw+prawn

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term =raw%20prawn