Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1468621
16 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 MAY 2022 ACROSS 1) Wine stoppers 6) One-pot meals 11) High-arcing hit 14) Sports venue 15) White-sale item 16) "Ciao, Brutus" 17) Cable alternatives 20) Be aware of 21) "Oh, me!" 22) San Diego player 23) Bigheadedness 24) "___ Flanders" 25) Easy to control 26) AT&T, for one 28) Coffee house? 29) Grand Coulee or Aswan 30) John Lennon's lady 34) Drivel 35) Semi-gloss alternative 37) Is able 38) Alphabetic characters 39) Bare-bones bed 40) "___ all in your mind" 41) Playful marine mammal 45) Adjusts wheels 47) Advise caution 50) Eggs, to Nero 51) Spiral-homed antelope 52) "Art of Fugue" composer 53) "Wheel of Fortune" action 54) Time for cartoon watching 57) Donned the feedbag 58) Really dumb 59) Tiny weight 60) Cardinal, e.g. 6J) Merchant's successes 62) Urged (with "on") DOWN 1) Coffin 2) Certain citrus fruit 3) Come out with a modi- fied version 4) Homophone of 46-Down 5) Actor Mineo 6) "It's ___ Rock and Roll to Me" 7) Destroy completely, as a car 8) Some meadow creatures 9) "With this ring, I thee ___" 10) Like some blouses or shoes 11) Pretentious 12) Partly coincide 13) Old-fashioned suit? 18) "7 Faces of Dr. ___" (1964 flick) 19) Cul-de-___ 24) Beside the point 25) Stingless male honey- bee 27) Blue shade 28) College course division 31) Bagpipers' garments 32) Aces, sometimes 33) O'er and o'er 34) "Do you want to hear a secret?" 35) Filled to the gills 36) Appliance for smooth- ing cloth 37) Assemble in proper sequence 39) Victim of Brutus 40) Short-tailed lemurs 42) Hitting the bottle 43) Demonstrate clearly 44) Traveled far and wide 46) African antelope 47) Batman Bruce 48) Apexes 49) Greek "P" 52) Canaanite deity 53) Like a bug in a rug 55) FBI evidence, at times 56) Lobster coral Solution to last week's crossword The answers to today's crossword will be published in next week's Midweek edition Weather Fair Visibility Good Wind South Southeast force 4 becoming force 4 to 5 Sea Slight TODAY TOMORROW Crossword WEATHER FAIR PARTLY CLOUDY 31 0 / 20 0 28 0 / 20 0 FEELS LIKE 31 0 FEELS LIKE 28 0 Parliament's Public Accounts Committee meets for the first time as conciliatory tone marks difference from previous legislature Government accedes to Opposition's request for Electrogas probe to continue in PAC KURT SANSONE The Electrogas power station contract will continue being probed by parliament's Pub- lic Accounts Committee, MPs agreed in the first meeting held today. Government MPs on the com- mittee ditched normal practice and gave up their chance to put the first item on the agenda by agreeing to the Opposition's request. However, Labour Party MP Andy Ellul made it clear that the Electrogas debate could not drag on forever to the detri- ment of other issues. The National Audit Office's report on the Electrogas con- tract was being discussed by the PAC before parliament was dissolved as a result of the gen- eral election being called. Former energy minister Kon- rad Mizzi was testifying and had not yet concluded his tes- timony despite several appear- ances characterised by pointed exchanges between him and Opposition MPs. The Electrogas contract probe started in December 2020 and the Opposition had presented a list of around 100 witnesses it wanted to be questioned. PAC chair, Nationalist Party MP Darren Carabott, said the Opposition was requesting the continuation of the discussion on the Electrogas contract. He said all testimony and docu- ments that had already been presented will be preserved to avoid repetition. Government members did not object but insisted that a timeline be set. "We are agreeing that the Electrogas contract will con- tinue to be discussed but let us agree on a list of witnesses and when these will be heard because there are many other important issues that require a discussion," Bedingfield said. PN deputy leader David Agius said putting a timeline would be akin to cutting the discus- sion short, suggesting that if the probe dragged on, the PAC should hold a second sitting during the week dedicated to a subject of government's choice. But Agius made it clear the Opposition had no intention of wasting time. Eventually, MPs agreed that the Opposition present a list of witnesses it wanted to appear in front of the PAC and that the committee should meet more frequently if the Electro- gas contract probe dragged on. Despite taking a few digs at each other, MPs in today's meeting adopted a more con- ciliatory tone than that which characterised the last legisla- ture. The PAC is the only com- mittee to be chaired by the Opposition. The PN MPs on the committee are Darren Car- abott, who chairs it, David Agi- us and Graham Bencini. The Labour Party MPs are Andy Ellul, Glenn Bedingfield, Alex Muscat and Clayton Bartolo. The three Opposition mem- bers and Ellul for the govern- ment did not serve on the PAC in the last legislature. The next sitting of the PAC will be held on 31 May at 2pm. The first meeting of the Public Accounts Committee agreed to continue probing the Electrogas contract